Acoustic Strings

I have only had my Ovation 257 Clebrity delux for a couple of weeks now and I'm a really slow learner but I feel like some of the bad sounds my not be my fault (probably is though). The overal tone seems high to me.

Any way I was reading through past post about some guitars come with cheaper strings and up grading would inprove the tone.

To tell you the truth I did not even strum the guitar before I bought it. Not knowing how to play I just picked out a color I liked. I went back the next week and talked to the salesman and was told that Ovations have a higher tone due to the plastic backing and that I was probably not fretting the string right.

Not knowing anything about guitars how do I know what to ask for in selecting new strings. There are a lot of brands. I may have purchased the wrong style guitar for the sound I would like to hear but would like to try some different strings if anyone thinks that would help. I have also read about a higher quality bridge will help. Again being a beginner at this I'm sure where to start.

My Ovation can also be pluged in but I will probably not buy an amplifer for a few months. If that makes a difference in the type of strings to purchase.

Sorry for this post being so long.

Ed

First off, the pickup in your guitar is built into the bridge, where it senses the string vibration. It does not depend on magnetic interaction, so you don't have to get steel 'electric' strings.

You should get a good set of bronze-wound strings, light guage. For acoustic guitars, something with a high E string sized at .010" or .011" should do nicely.

I recommend buying some kind of tuner, so you can be sure the strings are set to the right pitch. Even one of those Pan-pipe types, with reeds, is enough to keep you fairly close to proper pitch. This is important, because unless you have 'perfect pitch' (the ability to accurately know what pitch a particular note should have), you will gradually tune the guitar further and further away from true pitch because you think it sounds wrong.

Ovation makes good guitars. If you just had to buy a guitar without trying it out, you made a pretty good choice. The plastic back makes some models sound a bit 'glassy' compared to some all-wood guitars. This is like comparing the sound of a Fender Stratocaster to a Gibson Les Paul. Neither one is 'right', they're just different.

I just got back from droping off my guitar. After spending some time with the luthier I found out the strings were flat and the neck has a dip in it. Causing me to have to press further than I should normally have to.

He also recommended the .011 strings.

He is going to dress up the frets a little and true everything up. He said it should sound better and be a little easier to play. I have to wait untill Saturday to get it back. He had to caution me it will still be hard just easier.

I can hardly wait to try out the changes. I'm such a kid.

Oh, I did purchase a Fender tuner "AG-6" when I purchased the guitar. I am a bit curious about how the strings can be flat or bad and the tuner still indicates the guitar is in tune. The way I understand it is you can still tune to the note but the sound does not last. Is this correct?

You were spot on with your recomendations, thanks.

Ed

I'm so glad to hear that its turning out well for you.

The English laguage is a terribly frustrating thing for people to learn as a second language, because words can have so many different meanings. ('just an aside).

Your strings are 'flat' in the sense that they sound 'dull' another word with many meanings. New strings have a rich, full, sound that you will instantly recognize as an improvement. 'Sustain', which is how long a plucked string will continue to vibrate, should also be improved.

For all the folks struggling along like me, after getting my guitar set-up for me it plays a lot easier.

The string pressure needed to keep the buzzing from happening on the 4th and 5th strings has go to be 50% less. Damn near got that "C" cord down now.

What I was told was done, the nut cleaned up, one spacer removed form the bridge, the bow removed from the neck, lighter strings .011, and dressed the frets up a little.

It plays a lot easier, and has a "cleaner sound". I was working a lot harder than I should have been. Hey, I didn't know, but I do know.

I feel a lot better about my purchase and would recomend all beginners like me that just grabed one off the shelf to get it looked at. Best $30 bucks I've spent in while.

Ed