String comparison video from The Washboard Resonators

[lonelyjelly]

Hey all

An excellent video here from The Washboard Resonators' Martyn aka Leeds City Stompers on different string material options for your reso.

I failed the test, hopelessly!!!



Lew

[pete1951]

A good shot at a very difficult thing to demonstrate.
My deafness, though not extreme, can hardly hear any difference between strings, but I am sure some younger ears out there will have leant something.
Pete

[blueshome]

Not young but there was a clear difference between each. Would have been interesting on a triplate too. I’ve not try Monel but have been using nickel for years. Apart from the sound they feel slightly softer to the touch and last longer before the tone goes than PB. As for coated strings, they sound more like old strings from the start.

[Pickers Ditch]

I'm using MM Monels on all of my acoustical guitars, including the 12string, these days.
I like the feel of them, they last longer and when my ears are 50% operational on a good day I prefer the sound of 'em.
I never really got on with PB strings, don't know why, just didn't like them - too zingy? Dunno.

[slide496]

Thanks for posting. Good to see the word about MM Newtones getting out more. Phosphor Bronze user.

Spring is in the air,
H

[Michael Messer]

Lovely video from Martyn. I could add a few points that might be of interest, but Martyn has done a great job. Thanks Martyn, if you're reading this :-)

I have used phosphor bronze MM strings on all my resonator guitars since we started making them in 1992. With or without my name on the packet, they are fantastic strings.

I mostly use nickel MM's on my electric guitars because I like the feel of the round cores. Sometimes I like the hex cores of MM Electric Slide Classics, but mostly I use nickel MM Resonator Strings on my electrics. I have also tried monel MM Resonator Strings on my electric and they're great too because they have round cores. I have monel MM's on my M32 at the moment and they're very nice, but I think on the whole I'm a phosphor bronze user.

Having said that I am now curious to do some tests with nickels and monels as I haven't tried them on my main working guitars for a very long time.

It is not possible to really hear exactly how guitars sounded in the 1930s because the recordings only have a narrow bandwidth, so bass and highs don't exist.

What I do find interesting is when people talk about how long strings last and "weeks and months" come into the frame. Recently at home for the past year I have changed strings less often than I usually do, but it is still fairly frequent. When I'm gigging I change them every day, or maybe every other day.

I am not sure I agree with the comments I see about "I use nickel strings because the old blues guys used them". They also drank Sterno and ate pig's feet.

Shine On
Michael

[Stevie]

Careful MM! My old Dad used to pressure cook pig's trotters. They made the house stink. I think it's related to having been an evacuated war baby- you ate what you were given. He used to drink the greens water after sunday lunch and always polished off the skin on the custard (crême Anglais!) too. That in turn was inculcated into me, and now I'm thankful that I'm ready to eat pretty much anything. I draw the line at trotters and tripe though ;D

e&oe ...

[Pickers Ditch]

Boiled pigs hocks, cooled and sliced up to make a ham and piccalilli sandwich are one of the good things of life only bettered with having peaches and the skin of the custard for afters.

...and I still prefer monel strings.

[Michael Messer]

Maybe I am missing something. I have as I said earlier used monel strings on my electric and on my M32 Dobro, and they sound and feel really good, but I haven't really tried them on my main guitars. I am going to spend some time with monel strings on them and and see how it feels.

Shine on
Michael

[Stevie]

The only one I guessed correctly was the Monel. I have Monel on my MM and I like them, but I'm not well known for changing strings (!) so it's a while before that will be necessary. When that situation does eventually arise, I will probably go with the Monel again but based more upon longevity than subjective *toan* analysis. I am a convert to round cored strings though- I'll say that much and I have MM to thank for that. After a solid recommendation from an American friend, I bought a packet of round cored DR strings to try for solid body electrics, but that's all part of the ten year plan ...

I note that on the DR packet that I purchased, the warning not to cut to length is only visible if you tear the cardboard envelope right open. Open the cardboard envelope flap and remove the strings and you'd never know, which is a serious error on DR's part in my view.

e&oe ...

[purpleorange]

I really like the Newton double wound archtop strings for my resonator, they sound and feel great.

I will try the monel strings just to make sure I am not missing out.

[leedscitystompers]

Hi all.

Thanks for the share and kind words.

It’s a tough subject because it’s so subjective. So much more one could add and also other people will know more than me but even this video is all part of the learning curve.

TBH I wanted to try for myself because I’d ended up reading up on the sound differences and reading so many subjective accounts I’d gotten confused.

Just trying them back to back seemed the obvious thing to do and the secondary idea was to just film it and get a video out of it.

I’m more confused now funnily enough. I liked them all in different ways. I think MM has it just right though. The authentic sound is an odd one. I too don’t eat pigs feet so why play nickel strings? Perhaps I should stick to phosphor bronze and eating hummus.

Some of your comments are interesting. My nickel last well too... the ones on the rusty Duolian are still pretty great and have been on since August. I too was also surprised how similar they were. The differences weren’t as pronounced. Did a gig outside a community centre today with the monels. In battle they seemed a bit flat to my ears.

We’ll revisit this subject and share better info in the next few months;

The band are currently recording podcast interviews with various experts and musicians (to be released in series soon) and a future episode will be an in-depth look (with a number of world experts) at resonator guitars so we’ll cover; guitar type, set up, string choice, pickups and maintenance etc.

Hopefully in time we’ll have all the guitar info and cool stories of great musicians resonator weirdos like us want to hear!

[Stevie]

Thanks muchly Martyn. For me it's impressive in itself how folks like you make such good use of your time that you can set aside sufficient to do this kind of thing. I know there's "lockdown" but that's not everything. +10!

e&oe ...

[leedscitystompers]

Thanks Stevie.

It takes time. We always wanted to do more YouTube but never had time to fully commit.

Covid changed that!

Doing it has opened many doors to wonderful people and has helped lots to choose guitars or get into resonators do that’s good!

🎯

[gordon]

Enjoyed the video, I did. Thank you Martyn for doing these.
I like them especially for the crazy expressions, all the sledgehammering, mashing, laser-eyeballing the like button, makes me laugh. Keep up the good work!