walkingdecay
C.O.G.
Posts: 1,676
My main instrument is: brownish and rather small.
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Post by walkingdecay on Aug 11, 2014 20:58:29 GMT
10s mostly. Comes from playing primarily electric for years and being influenced by Jerry Garcia's control of the strings with slight fingerbends and vibrato. I go crazy and use 11s on my Selmac job.
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Post by alexkirtley on Aug 15, 2014 20:54:10 GMT
Looks like I may be going back on my original opinion of 13's, I love the sound but the action on my Docherty is not yet able to go very low (neck is too straight even with truss rod loosened off) so the higher than preferred action and heavy strings are crippling my left hand after playing for a long time, next string change I think it's back to 12's for a while.
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Post by chris501 on Aug 21, 2014 12:39:28 GMT
I've found it varies depending on the guitar. My little Brook Lyn sings with 11s and 12s just stifle it in some way. 13s on the Recording King RD310 are awesome though, and that guitar definitely loses something with lighter gauges. I've spent a fortune on strings recently, different brands, gauges etc and am totally confused!
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minorkey
C.O.G.
Too many instruments, too little time
Posts: 2,992
My main instrument is: hurting my fingers!
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Post by minorkey on Aug 21, 2014 13:06:37 GMT
I like light strings, I like to bend.
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 2,324
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Post by colins on Aug 25, 2014 10:42:40 GMT
This is one of those questions that crops up regularly on guitar forums, and of course there are as many opinions as players as to the best gauge.
Player styles are different, are you playing just for yourself or are you gigging are you using picks or nails, do you play a factory made guitar or a custom made one. I found that I always had to go up a gauge when playing a factory built guitar, Martin, Taylor etc as they are built using standard measurements and brace profiles, so are built generally heavier than needed using Sitka spruce, it's that warrantee thing that the bean counters are paranoid about.
When I started making guitars for myself I found that I could go down a gauge, to 12-56 as heavier strings could overdrive the top with my fairly light construction. My favourite string for standard tuning eventually became Custom Lights 11-52, which is what I now build for. For my DADGad guitar I had it fitted with 13,17,24,32,42,56.
One word of warning with a custom guitar, before you go up too many gauges of string, talk to the guy that built it, putting 13s on a guitar built for 11s means not only that the geometry of the guitar will change, with maybe bridge rotation and relief issues and such, but that carefully intonated saddle is now out by quite a bit. If someone comes back to me and really wants to up a gauge from the one the guitar was made for, then I have to make a new saddle and nut as well. If they want to go up two gauges, well be it on their own head.
So, feel free to play around with gauges on a factory guitar, as they tend to be overbuilt to a formula, but be more cautious on a custom made guitar.
Colin
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Post by vikingblues on Aug 25, 2014 22:10:26 GMT
I found that I always had to go up a gauge when playing a factory built guitar, Martin, Taylor etc as they are built using standard measurements and brace profiles, so are built generally heavier than needed using Sitka spruce, it's that warrantee thing that the bean counters are paranoid about. Just wondering about what you were saying there Colin and thinking you could maybe clarify if I'm thinking wrong / barking up the wrong tree. In a batch of pieces of guitar soundboard/top of the same type I assume there are variations in the ideal thickness that a skilled builder would use when building by hand. Let's say for example between 2mm and 2.5mm. So when a factory build is about to take place on a batch of this wood - fully mechanised - they will need to set the level at 2.5mm plus a little bit to be on the safe side for warranties. The ones that should ideally be 2mm then end up way too thick, and maybe(?) much less responsive. So there's the need for heavier gauge strings and a more forceful playing style to get the guitar to sing? Good advice about talking to the builder on what a guitar can take without damage. Possibly some of us need to consult a medic too about what the hands/fingers can take without damage. Mark
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colins
Luthier / Guitar Maker
Posts: 2,324
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Post by colins on Aug 25, 2014 22:51:42 GMT
Correct, with factory made guitars, they build for the worst case scenario. For any model they will design a top thickness and a brace profile. All of that model will be built that way, there is no guy sanding and flexing the top, or carving braces for a particular response. The sanding machine will be set up for say 2.7mm and the braces taken out of the brace bin and glued on, no top tuning. To ensure that they will not have every other guitar back under warrantee they build to the worst case scenario, so tend to have heavy tops and are over-braced. So to get the heavily built top to respond, you need higher tension strings. As I said I build my guitars for custom lights or lights, there should be no need to go to anything heavier, in fact they will be detrimental to the voice. I played for something like 45 years, and yes started out in the heavy strings are better camp, but ended up in the lighter strings are sweeter one. And that's before I start talking about neck stiffness and bridge deadening. It's a complex subject!
Colin
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