Fantastic strings as usual. I've bought mandolin, bass & guitar strings from Curt and at this point just assume the strings will be great (which they always are).

First off, I'm not a typical guitarist. I have my own approach to the instrument, steeped in tradition, but with a twist. My guitar of choice is a Rickenbacker 370, and my goal is a clean warm jazz tone, plus a smooth brightness. Not a typical situation, certainly, but unexplored territory is a great source of inspiration. I appreciate heavier gauge strings for a sound with more meat, that speaks with more authority. And I spent some time trying out various 12-to-50-something sets from the various manufacturers, and taking notes. I heard something special with this Curt Mangan set. It's in the *attack* of the note. The attack is different here. It's bigger, it carries more punch. The effect is subtle, but it also responds to the way I play, and I've developed a technique that brings it out. It helps to use a heavy gauge pick, traditional celluloid material, for the resonance, and the pick resonance seems to work with the attack. I can control how the attack speaks with the energy I put into each note. Especially with the neck pickup alone. Then dial in a little of the middle pickup, and I've revoiced the attack. Very cool. (Mixing in the middle pickup is a very common electrical mod to the Ricky 370.) That impressed me. So yeah, when I try out a new set of strings now, the first thing I listen for is the attack.