Hello,

I have some Red Cards on the way. I don't remember trying them. I got my guitar back from my luthier as I wanted a faster set up. The strings he had on there were Savarez Cantiga? With cristal trebles. The feel was really not good for me, though the sound was good. I changed for my usual La Bella 820Rs, and the feel is good but the sound just does not work on this guitar it seems. I guess my love affair with those after 8 years or so is coming to an end. I will try Luthier 20s maybe next. I need to get that rattle. The set up is low but still quite clean which is fine, but I am wondering if a lower gauge may give me more of that sweet flamenco fret buzz.

I am not sure if this will help but if you go to my web site and listen to the examples of only guitar then these are played with D'Addario , if you watch the movies these are with Luthier blue card, if you go to my youtube account the Tarantas ( Gerundino for sale) is with Augustine Imperial blue.
It might give an idea but of course I guess we all have to try strings and find which is ok with our guitar and feels good for us.
Saludos
Tomás

thanks so much for this. I will definitely try all of these brands. Here are some that are on their way

D'addario EJ45, Luthier Red and Blue, Savarez Red Card, and Aranjuez 200. I have realized that the beloved La Bella 820 reds are just not that great on my new guitar. All of your strings sound nice to me, must be the player Tomas!

H

TheTocaor wrote:Hello,
The set up is low but still quite clean which is fine, but I am wondering if a lower gauge may give me more of that sweet flamenco fret buzz.

A lower tension might give more buzz, but from my experience a low tension string sounds dull compared to a medium of the same brand. High tension are harder to manipulate for flamenco, so best sound and playability for me is a medium tension.

What is your action set at? Distance from strings to top and distance from string bottom to fret top at 12th fret? If you want some more sweet buzz just take the saddle down a bit. Lowest I could get the Dominguez without excessive buzz was 2.6mm and my Tsiorba is at 2mm with just a bit of buzz if I play hard. I use medium tension strings on both. You may find that the amount of buzz changes with drastic humidity changes if your action is real low. Keep experimenting and you will find the combination just perfect for you.

Hey Sam,

for sure I will stick with medium tension I think. Especially since this is a 660mm scale and my understanding is that medium tension is more like hard tension with a scale more than 650mm. I think the Luthier 20s may win out. I remember liking them a lot and they do seem like a go to string. The string height at the bridge is 8mm from the top.

Interesting conversation. Different guitars and different players. I wonder how much playing style affects different strings. The length and shape of your nails, how much nail/flesh make contact with the strings and what force you use. When I use a nail hardener I get a very different and usually better sound.
I have tried Hannabach 828MT (black trebles) and loved them. I'm ordering them again. They felt very good and lasted a long time. They made me want to practice picado which is something I should do more often. Hannabach 827MT (red trebles were not that good).
My regular brand string is Savarez 540 Alliance. Good sound and long lasting on both my Cedar top and Cypress top. I liked La Bella red 20 years ago. They sounded fantastic on the old Cedar top, but only lasted for 2 days. These days they sound thin and metalic on both guitars. I have a set of La Bella 820 Elite (black trebles) that I will try next. I was disappointed with Conde Hermanos 735 and have stopped using D'Addario. Pro Arte EJ45 was once my regular brand, but for me Savarez Alliance is much better. Luther is another brand I will try in my next order. I have read good reviews about them, especially the basses.

Thanks very much for your input, I have actually been wondering about the Hannabach 828, I believe they are new? I will give them a try at a point as well. I really loved the Savarez Alliance 540 as well back when. Thing is ever since I got a new guitar, it's kind of a clean slate. I can't say x or y strings suck because I am basing that on my old guitar, a 145 Raimundo, a very different guitar than the cedar top concert model I have now. I keep eliminating and adding strings that are worth a try. I have actually ordered some Daniel Mari 300s. Anybody know these? Heard a lot about them from the internet. It is going to take a year to figure out the best fit I think, but that's part of the fun! I guess...hehe