Source for single monel guitar strings?

[Jill McAuley]

Hey all, I'm wanting to try monels on my tenor guitar, but having difficulty finding existing sets of monel guitar strings in the gauges I use - I've no problem buying several different sets of strings so that I can mix and match to get the following gauges but so far the only sets I've found mean compromising with a lighter G string or heavier A string, which I'd prefer not to do - here are the gauges I'm looking for:

12/20w/30w/45w

or

12/22w/32w/45w

I'm in Ireland so hoping to find a European source, which may limit my options.

[fox]

What exactly is a monel string? Some sort of vintage string?

[Jacob]

Monel is a group of nickel alloys, primarily composed of nickel (from 52 to 67%) and copper, with small amounts of iron, manganese, carbon, and silicon. Stronger than pure nickel, Monel alloys are resistant to corrosion by many agents, including rapidly flowing seawater.

[Jill McAuley]

I use monels on my acoustic guitar (Martin Retro Lights) and on my mandolin (D'Addario Monels) - they're like Marmite, folks seem to either love 'em or hate 'em and I'm firmly in the love 'em camp, so thought it'd be good craic to try them on my tenor guitar as well if I'm able to find the gauges I like.

[Bren]

You might try Newtone strings in England.

I don't see more than one or two of your desired gauges there in the linked Monel sets, below, but maybe they can make monel singles.

https://newtonestrings.com/shop/mich...uitar-strings/
https://newtonestrings.com/shop/mich...uitar-strings/

[Jill McAuley]

Cheers Bren, worth a try!

[Jill McAuley]

Think I found a solution - Curt Mangan does monel sets and I can cobble together something close to the gauges I want and then have the leftover strings as spares for my acoustic guitar!

[Dagger Gordon]

Buying a set of guitar strings certainly can be a solution.

I use 42, 32 or 30, 22 or 21, and 11 or 12 for my octave mandolin - depending on availability.
In effect these are a guitar 5th, 4th, 3rd and top strings.
As I also play a 10 string mandolin, I can use two sixth strings for my bottom D, so I would only be left with a B string.

I use Phosphor Bronze, and in practice tend to buy single strings as required, but I carry a pack of guitar strings in my octave case as spares. So if you can find strings you like in a guitar set and can accept that you will have some spares ones you might not use, that would work ok.

[Seonachan]

I went down this path a couple years ago, after discovering Martin retros for my 6-string, and also wound up getting a few Curt Mangan packs to piece together a set for my 0-17T. I didn't like the tone in the end but it was worth the try. And the extra strings come in handy as spares that work in a pinch on an acoustic or an electric.

[Jim Garber]

Think I found a solution - Curt Mangan does monel sets and I can cobble together something close to the gauges I want and then have the leftover strings as spares for my acoustic guitar!

I found that Curt Mangan page also. I was a fan of Monels but these days have chosen D'Addario NBs which are cousins and similar thought I find them a bit warmer. Looks like D'Addario sells them as singles at least in guitar gauges: https://www.daddario.com/products/gu...wound-singles/ though not avalable directly from them at the moment.

[Charles E.]

So Jill.....do you partake of the Marmite too? Not that I do, never heard of it until your post. Sounds "funky".

[Jill McAuley]

I found that Curt Mangan page also. I was a fan of Monels but these days have chosen D'Addario NBs which are cousins and similar thought I find them a bit warmer. Looks like D'Addario sells them as singles at least in guitar gauges: https://www.daddario.com/products/gu...wound-singles/ though not avalable directly from them at the moment.

Ah, great to hear - I actually have a source for single D'Addario NB strings here in Ireland, which will work out considerably cheaper than ordering the Curt Mangan monels from the States - I'll give the NB's a try first, thanks for the heads up Jim!

- - - Updated - - -

So Jill.....do you partake of the Marmite too? Not that I do, never heard of it until your post. Sounds "funky".

Oh I do indeed - Marmite on toast with breakfast every morning! A teaspoon of Marmite is also great to add to soups or stews as well!