Strings, marvellous things

Hey guys

So here's a question. I've been playing guitar on and off for about 5 months now. I have an acoustic Fender Catalina(probably a low end Fender, i have no idea) and when i started playing, it already had medium strings on them. Didarios i think. I'm thinking about backing up to some light strings. I'm thinking it'll be softer on the fingers. But will the sound be affected much by going to a lighter string? Also, who makes good strings these days? Any favorites ?

A couple of points:

Lighter strings may be easier to play, but there is a penalty in terms of reduced tone. "Thin strings make 'thin' sounds". You may also find that the reduced tension of lighter strings requires your guitar to be set up and adjusted to suit.

Acoustic guitar strings tend to be a size or two heavier than the equivalent for electric guitars. A medium/light set of acoustic strings is likely to have a .012" high E string. That would be considered very heavy stuff on an electric!

I use D'Addario strings on all of my guitars, electric and acoustic. I'm sure you'll be getting a lot of alternate suggestions from other members here. String choice is one of those intensly personal things that people get kinda touchy about! :D

ernie ball strings are the best

If you change gauge you will probably need to reset your intonation. This is not hard if you have a good tuner as all you need to do is adjust the scale length at the bridge until your open note and the note fretted at the 12th fret are the same (only an octave higher). If there is a following wind you will not have to mess with your truss rod and all will be well.

Im using Ernie Ball 10s and 9s on my strats and PRS 9s on the CE24 at the moment. The PRS strings are a little more expensive and Im still tiring to decide if there worth it !

Originally posted by Dr_simon
If you change gauge you will probably need to reset your intonation...

... which is tricky bit o' business on a Fender Catalina acoustic! ;)

Hummmm, maybe I should look more closely at the question before I start banging on about something completely different ! I do know (being mr wanting to save face smarty-pants) that stewmac.com make a bridge intonator for acoustic guitars that just slips under the strings at the bridge. I looks to me like a totally cool idea though I don’t know what it will do to a finely tuned action having never actually put my hands on one.

[Edited by Dr_simon on 08-01-2002 at 07:16 PM]

Originally posted by taylormarkow
ernie ball strings are the best

I've gone full circle. A few years ago I worked in a guitar shop and had the opportunity to try a lot of different kinds of strings. Here's what I came up with for my personal tone preferences:

Electric: Ernie Ball 10's to 11's
In a close second: D'Addario 10's

Acoustic: Elixor Stings....hands down.
Distant second: D'Addario 12's to 13's

You have to pick the gauge your most confortable with. I found that Elixor Strings gave me brilliant tone on acoustic and lasted very long...but they only lasted a few days on my electric and didn't sound as good as Ernie or D'Add.

Now back to your first question:

Will the tone be affected? Absolutely. Anytime you go to a heavier gauge string your tone will thicken up a bit naturally. Think of playing the note "E" on the first string...then the second string, then the third and so on...with each thicker string the tone becomes a little thicker...more rounded. Tone is very subjective. Everything you do with your hands, type of pick, strings, guitar, the room your in...EVERYTHING affects tone....even down to the brand of 9-volt in your stomp box.

[Edited by fendermonkey77 on 08-02-2002 at 12:34 PM]

hey guys

everyone here at guitar tricks has been an awsome help. It's guys like you that keep beginers like me going. I get really frustrated from time to time trying to play chords smoothly and consistently sometimes, but you guys give me the motivation to keep trying.

That having been said. I have a bunch of different brands of strings to try out now. I have Fender tuner by the way. It cost me like 40 bucks or something. It gets the job done. I also was given a little suction cup thingy that i can put on my fender catilina and then into my tuner. I'm sure later on down the road, when i'm in my forties, playing with the boys out on the porch, that i won't be needing a tuner anymore and i'll be having arguments with these buddies all the time about how my ears are going and whatnot, but for now, the tuner does it's job.

I don't think i'll be doing any mod's to my guitar just yet. I think i'll learn some songs first, maybe play in a bar or 2 with some buddies and perhaps then i'll have a reason to upgrade, hehehe. Thanks again guys.

Cool...keep it up man!

Originally posted by fendermonkey77
even down to the brand of 9-volt in your stomp box.
[Edited by fendermonkey77 on 08-02-2002 at 12:34 PM] [/B]

You must use some crazy batteries... ;)

I play 12s to 54s on my electric, and the set of D'Addario's goes up about $8 AU (about $4.50 US from the .11s to the .12s, which is very annoying. I'm not going anywhere with this thread, sorry...

Originally posted by Bardsley

Originally posted by fendermonkey77
even down to the brand of 9-volt in your stomp box.
[Edited by fendermonkey77 on 08-02-2002 at 12:34 PM]

You must use some crazy batteries... ;) ...[/B]

Actually, some stomboxes are sensitive to the voltage level of the battery. A fresh battery, with its higher voltage, can make it sound different than one that is running low.

Originally posted by Lordathestrings

Originally posted by Bardsley

Originally posted by fendermonkey77
even down to the brand of 9-volt in your stomp box.
[Edited by fendermonkey77 on 08-02-2002 at 12:34 PM]

You must use some crazy batteries... ;) ...

Actually, some stomboxes are sensitive to the voltage level of the battery. A fresh battery, with its higher voltage, can make it sound different than one that is running low. [/B]

Rumor has it...Eric Johnson, tone freak extrordinare, can tell you the brand of 9-volt in your pedal. I read somewhere I think he likes Duracel the best. What a nut!

Originally posted by Lordathestrings
Actually, some stomboxes are sensitive to the voltage level of the battery. A fresh battery, with its higher voltage, can make it sound different than one that is running low. [/B]

I have no doubt about that, in fact, I have noticed it quite often, it was the brand thing that made me sit up and think. If someone can really tell the difference in brands, well, they are slightly more pedantic about tone than I am. Most of the time, I'm happy if the battery still has enough power in it to work for a whole gig, especially my DD-5, which is an absolute power junkie (I normally use external power, but sometimes it just isn't possible).

I'm curious, how often do you guys change your strings? I just thought about it the other day when i picked up my guitar and my strings are like a year and a half old. I'm thinking it might be time for a change, hehehe.

My all time favorite strings are the " Hey What's on Sale" brand, alot of music stores have their own house brand thats less than half the cost of the premium stuff and about 3/4 the quality, when you find a brand you like, the best deal is to order them from one of the parts suppliers, I wish I would have known that years ago when I was buying a couple of sets of Martin Marquis a month.....

A year and a half? Oooh, I'm seeing lots of green grime and some really horrible tuning problems. I change mine about once a month when I have the cash, though sometimes I forget and might go up to three months maximum on a set of strings.