Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Phosphor Bronze strings and tone

What are people’s thoughts about these? I like the way they feel; they especially make moving up the fretboard easier because they have less friction. But I find their tone is a little muted compared to non-coated strings. It could just be my imagination. Comments?

Not a fan of coated strings, especially Elixer polyweb. I’ve never tried the Nanowebs… they may be good… I hear great things about them.

Everything you said is exactly what I find (I play guitar)… Less friction and less noise also when changing positions and sliding, but they sound dull to me.

Are you speaking of a specific brand or just coated strings in general?

Good 'ol regular phosphor bronze is hard to beat , especially for the price.

I should be fair and open minded and try some of the newer coated strings, I guess they’re improved with the newer technology. Sometimes being old school can lead to missing out on something new I may actually like!

Here’s a string to never buy (IMO)… DR Dragon Skins… I tried these once and they felt horrible and were the noisiest strings I’ve ever heard. But the feel was the worst. Can’t describe it but I just wanted to wash my hands after touching them. I’ve tried regular DR strings because Steve Kauffman was endorsing them and he told to try them. I honestly didn’t like them either. It’s hard to beat D’Addario EJ-17’s. Sorry for getting off the actual topic!

J.W.

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The equivalent benchmark for mando are EJ-74s.