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  • Santa Cruz Strings

    Posted by JoeT on April 29, 2022 at 8:07 am

    I have decided to give Santa Cruz strings a try, I bought some low tension ones for my Martin 000-18 and mid tension for my Martin D-13E, still too early to tell on their performance, but not a fan that the mid tension ones are not labeled, I had to mic them for their correct placement. The low tension ones are labeled low E to high E.

    Just an FYI………..Rock on!

    JoeT replied 2 years, 6 months ago 6 Members · 11 Replies
  • 11 Replies
  • Loraine

    Member
    April 29, 2022 at 10:41 am

    Enjoy the strings @Joemama . New strings make it feel like a new guitar. That’s really odd that they didn’t label or even color code the strings. That must have been an inconvenience.

  • JoeT

    Member
    April 29, 2022 at 11:29 am

    Lovin em so far, they hold tune, and I guess the quality of the guitar helps out too. I’m fortunate to have the means and the know how, it was just a heads up to the average bear. Thanks Loraine…………….Rock on

  • jumpinjeff

    Member
    April 29, 2022 at 11:55 am

    I like the Santa Cruz strings. They have a different albeit pleasing feel on both hands. What I really don’t like is their price. I don’t like them enough to overcome my dislike of the price and buy them on a regular basis but if family asks what I want for b-days or Christmas: Santa Cruz strings. I buy my D’Addario Ej-16 in bulk so my string cost is between 3 and 4 per set. This make Santa Cruz strings 5X more expensive. I am also kinda miffed they don’t sell in bulk at a discount. But hey good for Santa Cruz, more power to them. They make more money off their strings than they do on making guitars.

  • JoeT

    Member
    April 29, 2022 at 2:04 pm

    I agree with ya Jeff, I had a hard time coming off the hip for them, They are good strings, I’m told they will last 6 months, we’ll see, not sure they will be a regular diet, whereas I can get Martin strings locally at a third of the price.

  • ChuckS

    Member
    April 30, 2022 at 7:30 am

    @Joemama – I tried out the low tension Santa Cruz on my trusty old 1974 Guild G-37 about 1.5 years ago and have stuck with them ever since. They sound and feel good. I did, however, find that it really takes a week or two for them to hit their stride. Agree that they are pricey, but they seem to last at least twice as long as others. I use the same Christmas list trick as @jumpinjeff to help offset that.

    About 9 months ago, I picked up a 2011 Martin HD-35. Have not tried them on this beauty yet.

  • Kristin1

    Member
    May 1, 2022 at 12:16 am

    @Joemama I had the chance to try out two identical Martins Dreadnoughts. Same model, same woods, same everything – except one was 2013 and the other was 2014 produced and a little less played. The 2013 had Santa Cruz low tension strings, the 2014 had Martin strings.

    The playability of the 2013 was much better. I had expected a difference, but not such a big difference. But what surprised me even more was the difference in sound.

    I like the Martin sound better, but the playability of the Santa Cruz strings is more important to me. So I decided to use up all Martin string sets I already own – but afterwards it will be Santa Cruz strings only.

  • JoeT

    Member
    May 1, 2022 at 6:55 am

    Thanks Chuck, I’ve had them on both the 000-18 and the D-13E almost a week now, They sound good, you know the saying if it’s not broke don’t fix it lol. Kristin, that’s interesting that you have low tension on your Dred, I put mids on mine, I still have some light Martin ones laying around so they will get used up before any more purchases.

    Thanks a lot

  • Marty73

    Member
    May 1, 2022 at 8:15 am

    Santa Cruz strings is all I use on my guitars. Have been now for 3 years. 😊🧙‍♂️😎

  • JoeT

    Member
    May 1, 2022 at 9:44 am

    Thanks Marty, good to know 😀

  • Kristin1

    Member
    May 1, 2022 at 11:02 pm

    @joemama

    LOW tension wasn´t the original idea for the guitar. The dreadnought was given to a professional to check it through and to put on some mid tension strings. But the professional mentioned that he played his 1972 D-28 with low tension strings and strongly recommended them…

  • JoeT

    Member
    May 2, 2022 at 6:07 am

    Good morning Kristin, Good to know, maybe I’ll try them on my dred, I’m also kind of leaning towards not liking the sound the SC low tension ones give on my 000-18, might go back to the Martin lights on that one. Thanks, have a good day.

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