MA130 Authentic Acoustic Superior Performance Silk and Steel Guitar Strings - .0115-.047 Custom Review

Perfect for small body guitars!

For Dreadnoughts and other large body guitars, I agree with other reviewers, these strings are easy on the fingers but overly bright and lack body and volume of heavier strings. Now, put them on a small body guitar and it's completely different kettle of fish, as they say. I have a couple of small body guitars and I've always been frustrated with the boominess of the low E, A and… read more D strings. As you know, if you have one, the short scale means you need thicker strings to maintain tension. The problem with this is that the lower wound strings can sound boomy as they overdrive the small spruce or mahogany top. To solve this, I went to StingJoy and bought a set of custom 12-47s. It worked! To my ears, my Dreadnaught Junior and McPherson Touring guitars sounded so much more balanced while maintaining tension top to bottom. Now, to save money, I have turned to Martin MA130 Silk and Steel strings. I am willing to give up a bit of tone to save $ per set. If you have a small body guitar, you should test these affordable strings and see if you agree with me.

---

Cancel Comment

Buying them again

I taught myself to play guitar about 50 years ago, but rarely picked up my guitar until about a year and a half ago. At that time I could only play "The Boxer", "The goodbye Girl", and "American Pie". But over the last year and a half I slowly learned more and more songs, to the point that in May I decided to treat myself to a new guitar. I got an Orangewood Mahogany Sage Live.… read more The strings were not really bad, but I would have preferred a warmer sound and a different touch. I replaced them after watching a Youtube video of someone who said they had replaced theirs, but I wasn't crazy about them either. I don't remember how he ended up contacting me, but Steven Steward of Sweetwater talked to me and after asking me several questions suggested I get the Martin Authentic Acoustic Superior Performance Guitar Strings - Silk and Steel. I couldn't really say I believed him, as I basically don't trust sales people, but I decided to buy the strings because he sounded really sweet. . . notice that play on words( Sweet like sweetwater). He was really a nice sincere sounding person, like a grandson might be helping his old grandmother. AND HE WAS RIGHT. The strings are perfect with my new guitar. I am almost positive I have played every single day accept for the day before yesterday. My have arthritis in my hands and just don't have the ability to stretch and press certain chord formations. The strings actually helped. I can watch TV and play at the same time. I am taking advantage of the sale and stocking up.

---

Cancel Comment

These strings make barre chords much easier

Light silk and steel strings lighten and lower the action on your guitar, making barre chords much easier to learn and play. Some people say heavier strings sound better. I don't know about that, but I do know what does sound bad - when you can't play the chords you need. Seriously, chords in general, and barre chords in particular are hard to learn because they require you to… read more use tiny little muscles that you've never really exercised before. It's strength training. If you start training with too much weight you won't be able to make much progress. Try these strings. You'll be glad you did.

---

Cancel Comment

Awesome Strings

These strings are great!!! Regardless of whether they are made for newer players or older players they just sound awesome! I use them on all three acoustics I own. They are now my go to string.

---

Cancel Comment

A Fingerstyle Guitarists Dream...

I bought a Martin OM-28 in March 2020 that came with MA 540T strings which worked just fine. As an experiment, I decided to try the MA 130 Silk and Steel strings just to see what would happen. The results blew me away. These strings are amazing and transformed the OM-28 into my dream guitar. I come from a classical guitar background and play fingerstyle almost all of the time.… read more The bass strings are mellower, don't over power the trebles and the balance is basically perfect. They are also less abrasive so I don't need to use a thumb pick to prevent my thumbnail from wearing away. I never thought that I would play any kind of classical music on a steel string guitar but these strings have changed my opinion. Note: If you're a fingerstyle or flat pick player who likes to bend notes and get "grungy" or you're a chord strumming player, these are NOT the strings for you. If you're a fingerstyle player who likes "pretty guitar", you will almost certainly like these strings. Bottom Line: I changed the strings on Saturday and after a 4 hour playing session, I ordered 7 more sets to make sure that I don't run out anytime soon. These are a keeper for sure. Very highly recommended.

---

Cancel Comment