Tried lighter acoustic strings

[JB_From_Hell]

I’ve always been a 13-56 acoustic string user. Occasionally I’d try the poorly named Bluegrass sets (12-56), but always went back to 13s.

I decided to try 11-52 on my 60-something Gibson SJ, and really wanted to love them. I guess they’re a *little* easier to bend, but A LOT less in overall sound. It’s less dynamic, less full sounding, and just overall worse. Pretty bad overall trade off for being slightly easier to play.

The funny part is, the guitar isn’t hard to play with mediums. Yeah, minor third bends are questionable, but the action is reasonable low, and sounds awesome. Slide playing is obviously infinitely better, too, unless you like that all buzz kind of sound.

 

[PFDarkside]

100% agree. I hate the rattly tin can sound of an acoustic with strings that are too light. I’ve found for my specific guitar, “bluegrass gauge” is ok (12-56) but I really think everyone needs to try their acoustic with the string gauge it was designed for.

If all you are going to do is plug an ovation in and use the piezo lighter gauge is fine but the sound of an appropriately strung traditional acoustic is glorious!

 

[NegativeEase]

I'm usually 13, tuning is more reliable, sound is slightly bolder acoustically, harmonics and character of the frets is livelier and most important for me -I like the "bounce" from stiff stings returning from hammer ons etc... the instrument "bounces" more which is way more fun to play -especially if you are doing Leo Kottke type bluegrass playin.

-It's actually similar to playing a Chris Squire bassline on a 4001 versus a Pbass -the Ric's scale and tension is just more natural for that type of hammer on/bouncing rhythmic playing.

 

[ehdwuld]

I like the smaller extra light 10_46 sets on acoustic

12s are just too much for me

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I like the smaller extra light 10_46 sets on acoustic

12s are just too much for me

Is your guitar setup properly? For whatever reason, lots of people think mile high action is necessary. I haven’t measured it, but mine doesn’t feel that much higher than my electrics.

 

[Bogner]

It is amazing how much difference a gauge change can make on an acoustic. I like the 13's and at times tune down a step or half step (all strings equally). I could live with 12's if I had to but anything less for me doesn't sound or feel right.

 

[Mincer]

I honestly don't mind lighter strings, especially since most of the time playing, the guitar is plugged it. I am hearing the pickup system more than the guitar at that point.

 

[ehdwuld]

I honestly don't mind lighter strings, especially since most of the time playing, the guitar is plugged it. I am hearing the pickup system more than the guitar at that point.

When I play acoustic it's usually late at night And I just want a softer sound anyways

I just put the pickup in my only acoustic without it
And if I play out, like you said, it won't matter

when I got my hummingbird it came with 12s
The action was taller
it was much louder.
sounded great. But was hard to play

When I put the 10s on the action went down to where my electric guitars sit

And it plays effortless

I like it

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Different strokes, I suppose.

My dad had the action on this SJ really high, because that’s what bluegrass guys did back in the day. I sanded the saddle a bit, and made it much lower. I’m not going for a quieter alternative to electric, so I was happy that it didn’t lose any volume and got much easier to play.

 

[solspirit]

Mine are strung up with 10's and the classical has light tension now. I just got some 11's, 12's and medium tension strings.
What will I have to do as far as set up goes? I don't really know much about acoustics.

 

[NegativeEase]

I have to be honest here -I didn't know stringing acoustic with 10s was even a thing.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Mine are strung up with 10's and the classical has light tension now. I just got some 11's, 12's and medium tension strings.
What will I have to do as far as set up goes? I don't really know much about acoustics.

If you go to the 11s, maybe nothing, but maybe tightening the truss rod a little, no more than a quarter turn if it plays good now.

If the action’s too high once the truss is adjusted, you can remove the saddle and *carefully* sand the base of it to make it lower. Take off small amounts at a time, and keep it level while sanding. If you go too low, it’ll need a shim or a new saddle.

Otherwise, there’s not much to adjust.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I have to be honest here -I didn't know stringing acoustic with 10s was even a thing.

I have a cheap 90s Alvarez that’s bridge needs reglued. My interim fix was putting 10s on it. The guitar didn’t sound bad with 12s or 13s, but it sounds like a toy played through an iPhone speaker now. I gave it to my oldest son, and probably won’t worry about fixing it for real until the bridge actually comes off.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

I use 10s or 11s on acoustics. I don’t care about the acoustic output as much as playability.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Semi-related, anybody using plastic nuts, saddles, or bridge pins, replace them with bone, Tusq, or wood for the pins. Get the blanks, do it yourself, and it’ll cost less than a single pickup, with a very noticeable improvement.

 

[Artie]

I have a cheap 90s Alvarez that’s bridge needs reglued. My interim fix was putting 10s on it. The guitar didn’t sound bad with 12s or 13s, but it sounds like a toy played through an iPhone speaker now. I gave it to my oldest son, and probably won’t worry about fixing it for real until the bridge actually comes off.

I don't know if this is a direction you want to go, but they do make those pins that double as bridge clamps.

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-ha...-pins-2-0.html

And I'm reading not-so-great reviews of them. Also, the manufacturer sells them for much less.

https://bigrockmfg.com/?page_id=46

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I’ve thought about those. Might be a good way to fix it, it’s not a great guitar anyway.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Got an XT 13-56 set with D’Addario points, and the Southern Jumbo is back to peak form. Speaking of the XT strings, I’m not usually a coated string guy, but these sound and feel great. Wouldn’t have guessed they were coated if I didn’t know.

 

[ehdwuld]

I gave up on coated strings a while back

The Elixir strings sounded dead right out of the pack

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I tried Elixirs a long time ago, didn’t like the sound, feel, or price. I’ve used D’Addario EXP coated mandolin strings, liked them, but they still felt coated. It cut a lot of string noise, so it wasn’t bad. The XTs really just feel like normal PB strings. Could see switching between them and the Nickel Bronze, whichever I’m in the mood for.

Curt Mangan’s acoustic strings are excellent, too. He makes a really cool 12.5-55 set that feels like 12s but has the snap of 13s.