@@MaurysMusicDo you think it would be technically possible for Martin to make Kovar strings with a different finish ? Bronze-coloured Kovar would be nice.
Yes, great tone. Also personally speaking for my style of play, they beg you to strum them and bluegrass. A little too much string noise for my fingerstyle technique/ tendencies. I’d give them a 9/10 though. Jury still out on how long they sound fresh vs price point but strings are the least of my guitar-ing expenses and I’d rather compromise elsewhere!
So much of this boils down to each person's subjective opinion. Elixir: Tried 12s on HD-28. They just don't work for me. Too slippery, and the coating seems to take some ring out of the low E. I think Taylor strings their new GS Minis with Elixir 13s. I have less of a tone issue there, but it's still a slippery string, and I just happen to prefer a little more grip. Maybe it's bad technique on my part. I just feel like I have more control with a grippier string. Martin Lifespan PB 12s (MA540T) - Tried on HD-28. This is what I assumed came on my HD-28 from the factory. (It is not.) They were close. They are more appealing to me than the Elixirs, but there's something weird going on with the D string. There's such a resonant quacky overtone or node or something if I strum the D string in the wrong spot. That "wrong spot" is just south of the sound hole, where my picking hand just happens to line up. I hit it a LOT unless I make a conscious effort to pick around it. That node is still there on a mahogany (DM) or HPL (DXM) guitar, but it's a lot less obnoxious. This only happens with the D string, and only with the 12 gauge MA540T. It goes away on the 13 gauge MA550T. Otherwise, I generally like the 540T on the DM and DXM... but this is where I'd be willing to give the Kovars a try. I'm guessing they would work better on the DM. It can be a little zingy with new PBs. As for expense.... meh. I'd be spending $15 on a set of Lifespans, so it's really only $5 that I wouldn't need to spend anyway. Martin Lifespan PB 13s (MA550T) - Stock HD-28 string, and I loved it out of the box. They sing, the D string doesn't screech, E flat standard tuning can shake the rafters, they last forever. Friends have told me, "It sounds like a concert." If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! That’s very interesting about the light gauge D … and you make a great point about coated strings not being grippy.
@@MaurysMusic Yeah, I don't quite understand the D string phenomenon either. Part of me was curious if you've ever heard of such a thing. I've heard of "wolf tones", but I don't think that's quite what I'm hearing. I just know it's there on the Lifespan lights, and mediums make it go away. My best guess is there's constructive interference at a certain bad wavelength, possibly from the thickness, tension, or density of the alloy. Their powers combined... it throws a shrill overtone that the rosewood dread is all too happy to amplify. If you change string gauge, you change which frequencies are impacted by thickness and tension. Now instead of those overtones aligning for a brash screech, the overtones coexist peacefully, and possibly cancel out their more offensive contributions. 550Ts are simply gorgeous on the same instrument. It's just a guess. Like I said, it's there with 540Ts on the mahogany dreadnought as well, but the mahogany controls it better. I don't remember hearing this at all with D'Addarios on the DM. I might go back to D'Addario for that guitar, but they really don't last as long as the Lifespans. That's why I'm open to trying Kovars on the DM. It might solve the zingy PB effect, get rid of the 540T D string squawk, and last longer... all without having to go to 13s.
@@MaurysMusic Open only, and it’s actually worse with 12s dropped to E flat standard. Maybe the nut slot is too wide for the 12s? But it’s a little bit moot at this point. I intend to keep the HD-28 strung with mediums for the foreseeable future.
Ok, so here is something weird. I hope I can explain it well enough. I think I am going partially tone deaf. When I listen to RU-vid videos, I CAN discern an audio difference between tonewoods and strings, and different guitars. Like Martin to Taylor to Blueridge. But, lets say I am in a guitar store, playing a GS Mini Taylor Mahogany or Koa, then play a Martin Road Series, or a heavy Art & Lutherie made from Cherry, to my ears, I hear no audible difference between them. So I don't know if I am hearing the characteristics of what the microphone is picking up, or if the EQ of the recording, is making the difference? Or maybe my ears are trained to hear the recording, rather than the guitar itself, or whatever the case may be. Either way, I need to learn how to differentiate what I am hearing, so I can hear the real sound of the guitar. I know this is why it is so important to play one for yourself. But marketing influence directs the ears to listen to certain nuances, and 1 You Tuber's equipment can be, and usually is vastly different from one to the next. So one does not get the accurate sound from a video. So when you try the product in person, but do not hear what you were expecting, it leaves, at least me anyway, confused & disappointed. So in the end, I walk away deflated scratching my head, wondering why the one I tried, sounded nothing like I expected it to.
The sound of a guitar "under ear" will always be different than the way it sounds when you're in front of it listening to someone else playing it "at you". Guitar sounds "on video" will surely be affected by RU-vid, the mics used and the room they're recorded in ... but IMO those are 2 different problems. If you feel you prefer the sound of a rosewood Martin over a mahogany Martin based on a video - but when you're in the store you can't tell them apart ... that's surprising to me FWIW.
@@MaurysMusic I actually prefer the warmer sounds of Mahogany over Rosewood. Although, you have certainly opened my ears up to the idea that Rosewood ain't so bad. 😂
