Newtone (and other) strings?

sockeye

Has anyone here tried the gypsy-style strings made by Newtone/Malcolm Newton?

I've had very good experiences with bronze-wound Newtone strings. They not only sound & feel great, they seem to last forever without going dead or breaking.

I'm curious about their "gypsy" strings. They have two "brands": Gitane and Django but damned if I can tell what the difference is. They are not copper/silver wound, howver, but wound in bronze or nickel. The gauges are right though. Ian Cruickshank seems to have high praise for them.

I'm interested in finding some strings that sound like the Argentines but which break less. Any other recommendations for strings that sound like the Argentines do, but are made with a bit higher QC? I've tried Gallis, and I'll try some more. How about GHS? Dell'Arte? Gitane? Pearse? Manouche-Tone/Guadalupe? Lenzner?

thanks in advance...

John

Colin Perry

I tried the Lenzner 12's, just to see what it be like using a heavier guage. I thought they sounded terrible, but it's hard to say whether it was the strings, or just the guage being too heaby, and choking off the tone. I've had really bad experience with newtone strings for my archtop. They arrived dead and corroded before I even put them on. People all over seem to rave about them, though, so I must of just received a bad batch. I am most interested in trying the guadalupe strings.

MontereyJacques

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Bob Holo

Definitely agree w/ Ted & MJ.

I went through a period of trying every string available. Their comments described my experience.... Stiff Gallis... dead Lenzers etc...

As for the Guadalupe strings. They hold a special place in my heart as being the most expensive bad strings I've ever played. They were very much like the Lenzers - dead, soft & breakable. I bought 3 pair for $45 and knew within an hour of stringing up my axe that it was $45 down the drain because I wouldn't have the heart to pawn the remaining two sets off on anyone.

I play Savarez 10s but I up my E & B strings one notch... I haven't found a big difference in getting generic strings for the unwound. I think JustStrings lets you order single loop-end 11s & 15s by the dozen (one of those discounters... just strings / big city / ...) Michael has the best service/price on Savarez if you order in bulk.

MichaelHorowitz

Hi Bob,

I also have single strings...see:










Single
Strings








I don't bother to stock argentine high E and B strings...there is really no difference in the unwound strings so I use the less expensive John Pearse.

scot

I prefer Argentines, too. For me they have the best hand and the best sound. But I have never had the problems with them that I hear about - never had a bad set or even a bad string. I usually play 10-15 hours a week and can get two to three months out of a set before the G begins to unravel. I am diligent about wiping them down regularly when I am playing too. I also try to play with a very light touch - I try not to move my RH any more than I have to. I have learned to get the volume without thrashing the guitar at all.

The Argentines that were around before the current "New Concept" strings were extremely fragile. When I was starting this style I found that if I pressed Argentine strings against the frets the way I did playing old-timey music on my Gibson, the strings began to unravel in only a few hours. It was hard to obtain the strings, so I taught myself to fret the strings with the minimum pressure needed to get a clean tone. This improved the life of those strings by many hours. The old ones did sound great - the wrap was really soft - and I wound up buying all I could find to record with.

Another thing I do to improve both string life and pick life is to always buff out any rough edges on my picks. The pick sounds better and is easier to use. Plus a pick that has a highly polished edge does not erode - it's the rough surface that catches on the string and wears away both the pick and the string. It's especially true on tortoise picks - I have a couple of 20 year old tortoise picks that still don't show much wear because I polished the bevel after each use. Once the edge has a good smooth surface, keeping it polished is easy. I use a 4-in-1 nail file. A final tip - according to Sarrane Ferret, tortoise picks should be soaked in olive oil for several months before using them too. I don't know what the reason is but I soak mine every so often...

Best
Scot