Martin Retro Acoustic MTR13 Bluegrass-Gauge Guitar Strings, Tony Rice’s Choice, Monel Nickel

I'll never buy another kind of string. I got my dream guitar. A Taylor 812e 12 fret. It's v class. But it's naturally more bright than even a Taylor should be because the v bracing. So I researched strings. Tried everything and saved these retros for last. This was the soloution to my problem. The retros were made for Martin tone. A vintage sound. It lets the tonewoods shine through better. You can hear every note better. It's louder. It has more sustain. It can handle strumming better. It's not as bright and will tame a bright guitar. They have less finger squeak. They bend easier. They are easier on your fingers. And they last the longest out of all the string materials and break in fast. These are perfect. Especially for your Taylor. Maybe you're looking for a soloution to the same problem I had. This is it. Couldn't recommend these more. They far surpass even coated phosphor bronze in my opinion and at half the price. I'm shocked more don't know about them. The seller was on time with shipping.

Tony knew what he was talking about when he recommended these strings, my Martin never sounded better

Awesome strings.

Great strings! If you're looking for bright, probably not for you. I like the way these strings sound after a little break in time. If you're playing grass, you're more apt to like them (in my opinion). Obviously, it's gonna be a personal preference. The price is right if you change your strings a lot.

Retro/Monels are my favorite Martin strings - for sound, longevity, feel, and even the fact that they don't leave any smell on my fingers. However, they use non-standard gauges, which takes some getting used to. In particular, I would prefer a .17 B string in this set. the .16 B is slightly floppy compared to the rest of the set. There is a Monel set with .17 B (Laurence Juber's choice), but comes with lower guages for the A,D, and G.

I’m thrilled with these bluegrass strings! They’ve brought newfound tone to every guitar I’ve put them on. I’ve put them on two acoustics, a twelve string and two semi hollow electric guitars. A little bridge modification on the acoustic guitars and , WOW! What tones and twang! My guitars have found a new voice and have come alive! I have had three people inquire and have shared the info of my find. Very happy with these strings!🎶🎵🎶🎶

Great alternative vs the modern conventional strings (bronze). I've used phosphor bronze (preferred, 20 years) with an occasional 80/20 bronze thrown in. I really was hoping the Monel's would project more bass response. They do not, they kind of reduce the thump actually (more lower range response with age), bronze alloys definitely have more bottom range. The Monels tend to round out the guitar a little better. They give more "old school" country jangle and allow for more "overtones". As far as generating "woody" sound, I definitely hear it. When I first put them on, I thought of grandma's old piano with what i'm guessing had Monel strings as it didn't have new strings since the '70's. I don't know about the "smooth" description, I would say the give it more a mid range bump & jangle. I put them on a straight braced Standard D-28 and they took a few days to break in. I generally liked them the first day, and better as they aged. It's been 2.5 weeks and I intend to replace with some of my on stock phosphor bronze to see the difference again after break-in and use, but all ready intend to start using the Tony Rice/ Monel with regularity in the future. Absolutely worth a try or occasional experiment. You definitely need to give them a few weeks to break in and give that used string kind of tone.

I usually use Elixer nano webs 12-53 on my guitars. When I got my new HD -28 Martin It had Martin SP Authentic strings on it. They sounded good but It was missing something. So I changed them out and put on my trusty Elixers. It still didn’t sound like I thought it should. Don’t get me wrong even cheap strings on an HD-28 will sound amazing. But it wasn’t the sound I had in my head. So I started to look at the Martin Retros and read the reviews especially the negative ones and thought I’d give them a try......Wow! They are awesome. Just what my HD needed ,made it come to life. Just the sound I was looking for. Warm and full just the right amount of bass but also has enough midrange to cut through without being thin and tinny. They have a little more string squeak then Elixers but not enough to change my mind. I literally just put these stings on 10 min ago and had to write a review. No break in time needed. I’ll bet they sound better after a week or so though. I’m not a fan of 80/20 but love phosphor bronze. But on my Martin HD I’ll be using Martin Retros from now on. These are the Tony Rice 13-56 Retros.

2、4、5弦がミディアムより若干細ことが影響しているのかフラットピッキングがすごく弾きやすいです。

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I use Martin strings on my D41. I'm liking the sound of the monels on the guitar.

These strings are amazing on a vintage Martin guitar

Well worth the money