John Pearse SILKS and Ebony bridge pins results show.

[Whalebot]

One word, lack of sustain, OK two words. And I'm guilty of putting the two on at the same time, FK told me to do a compare, but I'm impatient and I hate changing strings. So, I'm 90% sure that the SILKS took out some of that sustain I love in exchange for the easiest strings on my fingers this side of my classical. I'm playing an open mic with the git tonight and then by the end of the week I'll work my way around to trying the Martin Fingerstyle 80/20s. Sorry Freeman, I'm not doing my due dilligence.

[Freeman Keller]

Did the pins work OK?

 

I was wrong when I told you I had tried Silk Fingerstyles and had some issues with them. What I have tried is their PB's (I am a big PB fan) and I really like the tone - quite bright on my little fingerpicker - but they are really noisy. Some of the squeekiest strings I've played in a long time. I was going to take them off this weekend but I'm waiting for some ivory pins (I will A/B them ).

[Queequeg]

Interesting. As I said, sillks always strike me this way, although I hadn't tried these particular strings.

thanks for reporting back.

[Whalebot]

The pins worked fine, oddly, I think I like the look of the plastic ones. I did hear some creaking and cracking when I tuned up the strings, but I attributed that to the wooden pins. I used a mirror and checked the bridge plate and everything is seated properly. The strings are nice, less volume and sustain, but I expected that. The John Pearse PB silks have silk wrapped around a thin inner core of steel and then a wound PB over that. Odd, but easy to play.

[Queequeg]

 

Originally posted by Whalebot The strings are nice, less volume and sustain, but I expected that. The John Pearse PB silks have silk wrapped around a thin inner core of steel and then a wound PB over that. Odd, but easy to play.

 

Silks are easier to play due to lower tension.

from a Todd Stuart Phillips review of these strings (if you'd like to read it in its entirety) http://www.maurysmusic.com/john_pearse_silks___todd_s_review

I am paraphrasing from his review:

The official Pearse copy says "This is NOT a silk and steel set." It also says that their "triple annealed mild steel is pulled through a draw plate to make an extra skinny core. Onto this is wound a silk multifilament which cushions a phosphor bronze winding." In other words, that pretty much makes them a silk and steel set, since the steel referred to is the steel core with the silk being the fibrous sheath that covers it. Regardless, this kind of construction results in a string with lower tension.

So they may not be the right strings for DADGAD, drop D or other alternate tunings, where you are starting out with reduced tension to begin with.

[kwakatak]

Originally posted by Freeman Keller Did the pins work OK? I was wrong when I told you I had tried Silk Fingerstyles and had some issues with them. What I have tried is their PB's (I am a big PB fan) and I really like the tone - quite bright on my little fingerpicker - but they are really noisy. Some of the squeekiest strings I've played in a long time. I was going to take them off this weekend but I'm waiting for some ivory pins (I will A/B them ).

 

Hehe - yup, that's my impression of Martin SP Fingerstyle 80/20s: cheap and squeaky, but otherwise a very comfortable string to play. They kind of feel like they have lower tension but I don't understand (or even care) why that is. As long as I have fun playing a guitar strung with them without it imploding from the strain I'm OK with it, which is why I had no qualms at all putting them on my plywood Kay, though this time I went with the PBs and they aren't quite as bad on the squeak-o-meter.

[Dave W.]

I have a set of ebony pins and a set of JP S&S waiting to go on my new OM-21, so this is a good heads up. I just put on a set of Elxir Nanoweb lights and am not particularly overwhelmed. I went to them to help reduce string squeak, and it really didn't make that much difference, but I did loose on the tone end. I have always used DR Rare's (PB), but have recently tried their Sunbeam round cores. To be honest, the guitar came with Rares on it, and I went to the Sunbeams after taking them off. I don't know how long the guitar was at the dealers with the Rares on it, and it may also have something to do with the guitar opening up during the time I have had it, but the Sunbeams seem to have amazing sustain. This is the first guitar of this quality I have owned. I will play the Nanowebs for another week or two, then put on a set of DR Rares and probably D'Addario PBs before going back to the Sunbeams. By then I will have a much better opinion on the Sunbeams, but they do seem to make a noticeable difference. I will hold off on the ebony pin change until I have a better feel for the sound of the different strings.

[exhaust_49]

Nothing is better than these King Pins I got from John Pearse. There made of bell brass and add sustain.

[Queequeg]

Nice noodling, Kwak. And that's a much nicer arrangement of Water is Wide than the one I learned.

Ed G is one of my favs.

[babablowfish]

Nothing is better than these King Pins I got from John Pearse. There made of bell brass and add sustain.

 

I agree!

 

I tried Ebony bridge pins and found that they really damp down the toe and sustain. I've still got them but will never use them again.