Now I'm wondering if my ears have gone deaf. I've been using the same brand-- Martin Marquis strings-- on my old '64 Gibson for 20+ years, with frequent changes & have noticed no change in tone. My old J-45 "Rosewood" has the Rosewood bridge instead of bone, so it is a softer sounding instrument to begin with. Plus, I am a "fangerpicker" & only use a flatpick when I absolutely have to so that I won't hear that crisp sound all of you are getting. The string packs I have are all from an order a few months ago, so I do not have them right off the current assembly line. Is it possible that there are some too-old-out-of-date strings out there that a couple of 'Catters "coincidentally happened" to get? I'm very curious now if I/we should change brands. I'd like to hear from the manufacturer if they are doing anything different (if they'd really tell us!). Or, if there is some reason why they think this is happening. Can we find out? Anybody out there have eyes or ears in a "Martin" string factory? Inquiring minds of we pickers want to know!