Gibson L-5 strings

[Tone]

Following previous recommendations that these strings give an authentic vintage sound, yesterday I put a set of 11-52s on one of my Strats and I have to say I'm rather disappointed.

Sustain is good (but you'd expect that on any set of new strings) but the strings don't sound very bright: in fact they sound quite muddy, particularly on the lower strings. The Elixirs I took off sounded much brighter, even though they'd been on the guitar for six months

Has anyone else experienced this or is it possible that I just have a duff set?

Tony

[Bojan Drndic]

I have been using Gibson L-5 strings (12-56) on my Strat for many years, in fact ever since the late Roberto Pistolesi told me that they were the closest thing to what were once Gibson Sonomatics, which as he said, the Shadows used both on Strats and Burns exclusively throughout the entire early period. I am extremely happy with them and I still use them.

The reason they are not bright is that they are wound with pure (or close to pure) nickel and not nickel plated steel. Such strings are brighter. And even brighter are strings wound with stainless steel, which, in my opinion, are not suitable for Shadows music at all.

I cannot imagine why you even want a bright sound if you are playing Shadows. If you listen to almost any Shadows song, you will notice that even though the sound can be, twangy, it is never harsh or trebly. Listen to Shotgun, Theme From Shane, Giant, FBI, Golden Street, The Savage, and so on . . . there is no trebliness. In fact, both the lows and the highs are quite subdued and you have more pronounced mids, quite full, mellow, never harsh, or even bright . . .

I don't know what Hank uses nowadays, I know that he used DR strings for a while (also pure nickel wound), but I'm pretty sure that he always used pure nickel wound strings. I don't think bright strings are good for Shadows music. Although, they would have been if Hank had used them

[Tone]

You've made some interesting points there Bojan. Perhaps it's just a case of my ears getting used to the strings. I'll keep trying.

Cheers.

Tony

[rogerbayliss]

Bojan is correct about using pure nickel wound strings and most early rock n roll was born on nickel and heavy strings typically 13's back then. They do give a thicker tone and the early HBM sound is not as bright as many think it is !

Some of the twang on the bottom strings came from the way the plectrum was used and the thumb clashing with the strings. Hold the plectrum so only a small amount sticks out between thumb and fingers and whilst playing try and bounce the side of your thumb off the strings to get the twang you need.

A fellow Hankie at our club started using them recently (L5 11's with wound third) and his sound to my ears was much better.

[les]

Hi Bojan,I absolutely agree with you,THE sound is definately not about loads of treble,As if a strat hasnt got enough almost untamed treble to cut ears off by way of its pick-ups.in fact i personally work soley off the bass and mid controls,I dont think that i have touched treble or presence controls in thirty years ! ............. really good compression also plays a big part in obtaining a great live sound,It certainly caps the raw top end. Best wishes, Les.

............ Anyone remember the old flatwound monopole strings ?

[Bojan Drndic]

I use flatwounds (Thomastik-Infeld) on my Rickenbacker and it gives a very recognizable vintage sound that today's guitars cannot produce; it is definitely the sound of many 60's groups . . . although, regrettably it's totally different from the Shadows sound and I find myself hardly ever playing the Rick any more

[jaybee]

Hello Les,
Greetings from NZ.
It seems no-one is prepared to own up to remembering Monopole strings - well I am.
I remember them well from the early 60's here in New Zealand.
Later, Gibson Sonomatics became my regulars and I used them until I stopped playing in '69.
I believe the L-5s are the closest thing available now and I'm tempted to get some from the US to try on my Strats.
Cheers,
JB

[Deleted]

Hi Tony,

It's a long time since we last spoke .. but ..

I've tried these strings, indeed I have a set on a Strat right now, but I just haven't got around to changing them. My personal assessment is that they're lack-lustre and certainly do not give me the sound to which I have become accustomed and which you have heard on my sound files. However, I've no doubt that others will think differently - fair enough.

Frankly, if you're looking for the vintage Shadows' sound, then my advice would be to stay clear of these. I am unchanged in my resolve that well worn heavy Fender strings (12-52 or 13-56) are what you need if the vintage sound is what you're after. If you're not comfortable with the weight, try the new Fender Original Nickel wound - 150JL - 12-50 with a wound third, which are a good compromise. Not widely available, but you can get a set from Soundslive for £4.11.

All the best,

Ian

[26rednef]

Hi.

Bojan is correct on the sound and it may be so that Hank used flat wound strings, at least on his Gretsch CG and he used very low action on all guitars and hard picking with much fret sound, many other bands form the same time period had much more tribally sound one was The Spotnicks.
I use the pure Nickel wounded strings but I have Stainless steel frets on some of the guitars I use for Shadows music and it gives a bit brighter sound so to get real close I have to roll of the top a bit.

Kind Regards,
26rednef

[keithinalps]

Hi Tony .Try Newtone electric masters 12/52 (w3rd)

[Tone]

I had another long session with the L-5 stringed Strat yesterday and, despite the favourable comments on this thread, I still thought they sounded muddy and lack-lustre (a good description, Ian).

I sold my two unused sets at a club meeting last night and thanks, Keith, for the suggestion but I'm going back to Elixirs.

Tony

[martyn]

I used Monopole flatwounds back in the sixties and as an experiment I recently tried some D'Addario 11-50 XL Jazz Light Chromes (flatwounds) thinking that if Hank actually did use flatwounds back then, as has been claimed by some, could I reproduce something sounding vaguely similar in terms of tone?
No, was the quick answer. I removed them after just two days as they made my usually very bright mex strat (57/62s) sound as dull as ditchwater - in fact very unstrat-like, if that's acceptable grammar.

Now I'd been using Elixir 10-46 Nanowebs for a long time prior to this experiment but had always been frustrated by the time I had to wait for their extremely springy new sound to soften a tad. I play mabe an hour or two late every night at home (using headphones to keep 'the boss' happy) and it takes around three weeks before the strings dull down enough to reach their ideal tone (for me). The silly thing is that they're actually designed to keep this freshly installed sound for a long time, which is fine if you like the new string sound for some material but for Shads stuff I prefer to have a subtler tone - just not as dreadfully dull as those tapewounds produced, though.

I've recently abandoned the Elixirs in favour of D'Addario EXL110 Nickel Wound (10 - 46) Regular Lights as they give me the right sound almost immediately. Not new but not starting to go off yet sort of a sound. They won't maintain that sound for as long as the Elixirs but then they're not so expensive either and I don't have to wait so long until they sound right to me.

Just to confound this statement, my local luthier recommended Fender 10-46 250R nickel plated steel Regulars as he claimed they were made for Fender by D'Addario and were essentially identical - whether or not that's twaddle I don't know but as he'd run out of the D'Addarios I'd been buying, I came home with a set to give them a try just to see how they sound and I'll let you know after they're fitted - if you've not lost the will to live by then, of course . . .

Cheers,
Martyn