Best strings for my Martin?

[mwaynew]

Hey guys- I have a Martin D16-RGT. I'm in an 8X10 home studio. The ceiling and two walls are covered with high grade carpet pad and the remaining walls are bare. The floor is carpetted. I realize that my room may be "too" well sound-proofed, which is why I'm facing the bare walls when recording. (Bare with me, I'm being as specific as possible). I'm using two small diaphram condensers- MXL 603s. I'm recording a clean signal. The music is mellow- bare finger picking and light stumming. I cannot seem to find the right strings for the sound I want. Clean, clear- not 'tinny' but low cut. I've tried Martin SP lights and mediums and DiAddario lights and mediums. The mics are two feet away from the guitar at the 12th fret and over my right shoulder. Suggestions? Thanx!!!

[Big Kenny]

If those strings don't get you the recording you want, the answer may lie in eqing. Big 500 sweep and eliminate the low end.

[Danny Love]

Try some Elixirs.

You said you tried the D'Addario's. I use D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Medium's. These sound really, really, nice in my opinion. For both fingerstyle and soft or aggressive strumming.

Also, as Big Kenny said, it may not be the strings. A dead environment that isn't treated properly can exaggerate bass problems or the "boomyness" (usually the "body" part of the guitar around 240Hz). If that's the case, back off the mic a little or use an EQ, or rearrange the room.

[crazydoc]

Maybe a change of mic position would help. Closer will give you more proximity effect to increase the bass (and less room sound), as will moving them or pointing them a little closer to the sound hole.

Have you tried different guitar locations in the room?

How does the guitar sound to your ear with the different strings (unmiked)?

[mwaynew]

Originally Posted by crazydoc

Maybe a change of mic position would help. Closer will give you more proximity effect to increase the bass (and less room sound), as will moving them or pointing them a little closer to the sound hole.

Have you tried different guitar locations in the room?

How does the guitar sound to your ear with the different strings (unmiked)?

Hey Crazydoc- regarding your last question- the unmiked sound. After listening to the guitar track over and over, I decided it was actually too mid-rangey. I tweaked some EQ til it was clear that I needed to redo the track. That's when I gave the strings (Martin med. at the time) a good listen. I switched to some D'Addario med. and decided that they sounded better than the Martins when strumming. But they seemed a little dull when picking. These are both high quality string sets, but I guess I was hoping for a happy medium. It's probably the small room more than anything else. I've moved the mics around to different 'standard' positions. Do you think the phospher bronze are the best choice in this case? What do you think of the Elixers? Thanx for the input.

[crazydoc]

Sorry mwaynew - I know nothing about the sound qualities of different strings. I'm still on my 30 sets for $30 I bought at Sam Ash a few years ago for steel string acoustic, and the 48 sets for $95 at http://www.stringsbymail.com for classical.

I was just thinking that mic placement and room acoustics probably made a lot more difference in the recorded sound than brand or type of string.

Of course, the most important determinant of recorded quality would be the player's performance ability.

[Track Rat]

GHS Boomers light gauge (.012's) phospher bronze. My favs. I tried the Elixers (they came on my Taylor and I tried them on my Martins too) and didn't like them at all. Plus they're way over priced. YMMV.

[muttley600]

I thought long and hard about posting in this thread. Why because the answer isn't down to just strings. If I give one of my guitars to two different players it sounds different, why because the way you approach the guitar also defines the sound you get out of it. One of the best players I've ever met once described it as "pulling sound from a guitar" by which he meant that the way you hit the string and where and how hard and when makes more difference than just about everything else.

Now I'm no recording engineer, thats why I hang out here to learn from those that know, but I would suggest you take a bit of time to examine you style and what you are attempting to achieve. It's one thing being able to play it and another being able to express it. Get it sounding right to you and your more than half way there. The strings you listed are fine but the nuances between different sets wont make a huge difference to your sound until you learn to handle the dynamics of the instrument. I guess what I'm saying is don't put the cart before the horse.

I'm not saying that your playing technique is poor just that it is often overlooked in the signal chain. Swapping mic positions is going to do more than swapping strings. Improving technique and putting some feel into the playing is first base. secound, third and fourth are mics, strings arrangements.

Don't judge yourself too hard, try things out and always move on if it doesn't work, but you should only be looking at the difference between strings when you have everything else under your fingers. If you have then I put D'Addario J16's on mine but thats just me.....Good luck.

[chrisharris]

Originally Posted by mwaynew

I'm recording a clean signal. The music is mellow- bare finger picking and light stumming. I cannot seem to find the right strings for the sound I want. Clean, clear- not 'tinny' but low cut.

You might give the phosphor Bronze nanowebs from elixir a try for that specific sound. They're kind of a different animal in terms of what most people are used to hearing from elixirs. I'm actually a fan of elixirs for recording, but it has more to do with deadening string noise for me than the actual sound of the strings, but I recently tried the bronze elixirs, and they may be what you're looking for.

Downside is that if they're not, you've just wasted a whole buncha' money on one set of strings, lol.

Good luck.

[JMarcomb]

my takamine is a little on the bright side for an acoustic.. so i use the polyweb elixirs because they has a little thicker coating to de-crisp the sound a little

they'll take a little crispness out of your sound,if thats what youre looking for, along with less sqeaks and increased string longevity

[chrisharris]

Here...I don't know if this'll help you or not, but I had the bronze strings on my Larrivee so I recorded it to give you an example.

It's 2 tracks. On shitty "rhythm" that I cloned and offset, and then an even shittier "lead" with the same guitar. I tried to keep it really simple so that you could hear the strings...well that, and I obviously suck.

But besides the natural chorus created by offsetting the track, there's nothing else on it.

http://betteroffdad.com/MP3/bronzeelixir.mp3

Good luck in your quest for tone.

[mwaynew]

Great responses guys. Huge help. I generally won't post a question until listening fatigue sets in and I need to start fresh. Hearing so many opinions and suggestions makes some things so obvious. My bare finger picking style can, in fact, be inconsistant and the room is small. I'll work on things before blaming strings (Thanx muttley600)