Phosphor bronze and regular bronze

[Jesse G]

I've been wondering about the different aspects of regular and phosphor bronze strings. Anyone have any input about what differet styles abd different applications each type is good for, and so on?

[Freeman Keller]

Anyone have any input about what differet styles abd different applications each type is good for, and so on?

 

 

yeah

 

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1556148

[EvilTwin]

All personal preference. Usually it comes down to someone preferring a "darker" sounding set of strings, or a "brighter" one.

Where it gets confusing is how the manufacturers label 'em.

For instance, D'Addario labels their 80/20 bronze strings as "extra bright," while they say their p/b's are "rich/warm."
http://daddario.com/DADFaqAnswer.aspx?ID=276

OTOH, Martin labels their strings the complete opposite of D'Addario -- Martin says their p/b's are brighter than 80/20 bronze.
http://www.martinguitar.com/strings/faq.html

Then there's a company like Dean Markley who markets their p/b's as being "very bright"; technically brighter than their 85/15 bronze. (http://www.deanmarkley.com/Strings/Acoustic/PhosBronzeAc.shtml)
But then they change their minds with their Alchemy line of strings, in which the bronze is supposed to be brighter than the p/b's.
http://www.deanmarkley.com/Strings/Acoustic/GoldBronzeAc.shtml
http://www.deanmarkley.com/Strings/Acoustic/GoldPhosAc.shtml

Moral of the story? You gotta play a set yourself to decide.