Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: 5F6-A on October 19, 2013, 08:31:34 AM

Title: Changing Acoustic guitar string gauge... improvement?
Post by: 5F6-A on October 19, 2013, 08:31:34 AM

This is my acoustic guitar:

auditorium size, 650 mm scale
not as heavy in the mids as a Martin 000, more European sounding I guess...
spruce top, rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, all solid.
lr baggs m1 + ibeam pickup system

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/5F6-A/acoustic_zps28549165.jpg)

I've moved from using 11-50 to 12-52 (Newtone 12-52. Double Wound Master Class. Roundwound),

Impressions:

- Action has raised from 2/32" to almost 3/32" at the 12th fret.
- Sound -and feel- is more "solid", there is slightly less zing to it.
- It requires a stronger strumming/plucking hand to get the notes ringing.
- Volume has increased (I think) slightly but not massively.
- The sound has morphed slightly from more "Taylor" to more "Martin" if that makes sense...

Overall, there have been a change. Is it for the better? I don't know. I'm leaving the strings to settle a bit for an extra 24 hours ( I DON'T stretch roundwound strings as this negatively affects their tone and lifespan) and give them a go again.

Anybody has had a similar experience??

Title: Re: Changing Acoustic guitar string gauge... improvement?
Post by: Keven on October 22, 2013, 12:32:50 PM

Bigger strings cause the soundboard to vibrate a hell of a lot more. personally i go for 13-56 for any acoustic i have to play on. sounds huge :)

Title: Re: Changing Acoustic guitar string gauge... improvement?
Post by: 5F6-A on October 22, 2013, 03:16:10 PM

interesting...

Title: Re: Changing Acoustic guitar string gauge... improvement?
Post by: Plenum n Heather on October 23, 2013, 02:12:19 PM

I use silk & steels on my acoustic (Ovation Legend) and have only found them in one gauge, so I cannot answer this one! :)