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Still experimenting with strings! My favorites so far:
1) the Martin monel retro strings, sound amazing. I put a set on one normal, regular scale acoustic and I did have an A string just “pop” before it was even at tension, which was disappointing, but I’m not sure was martins fault. I replaced it with an extra Ernie ball earthwound I had in my string box, which is how I know knits how different they sound. Something full and ancient sounding about them.
2) the Ernie ball “bell-bronze” strings endorsed by john Mayer, just hit shelves a couple months back, these also sound full and rich, I went with 10s (maybe 10.5??) in these for fingerstyle stuff, I prefer 12s in most cases, but they are beautiful for single notes and still sound great strummed. The real magic happens when you “pinch” a base not with a higher note, it’s almost like you are using a slight reverb effect, they sing together for just an I stand longer into the next 16th note!
3) Santa Cruz parabolic low tension, 11s. These don’t sound special or magical, but they sound good and balanced, they hold tune well, and they have lasted as long as elixirs do and feel better to boot.
Full disclosure, I’m a bit neurotic about string changes, I keep a spreadsheet of what was changed when and probably change more that I really need to.