My guitars sound better with light gauge strings!

[Gypsyblue]

Why?

Same reason my guitars sound better when the action has been lowered a bit so that they're more comfortable to play.

It's because I play better when the guitar is easier to play and when I play better my guitar sounds better.

Even though medium gauge strings might give the guitar a slightly deeper, louder and more solid tone, if I can't bend the strings easily and play chords comfortably the guitar doesn't sound so good.

So my acoustics sound better with light gauge strings and fairly low action - because my playing makes them sound better.

Why struggle with high action and heavier strings than I'm comfortable with?

I don't.

[jds22]

Billy Gibbons would agree.

[fregly]

If you spent a couple months with mediums exclusively your hands would get conditioned to them. I've never had the experience where changing to mediums made a guitar sound worse. Sometimes it feels like the guitar takes a little while to adjust to the extra compression (or whatever). Mediums really do sound better as long as you can get on top of the extra tension.

[Judson]

Yep ... I heard him say (on Live From Daryl's House) that he used extra lights and he learned it from BB King.

Originally Posted by jds22

Billy Gibbons would agree.

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by Judson

Yep ... I heard him say (on Live From Daryl's House) that he used extra lights and he learned it from BB King.

That's my setup on everything. But "different strings/strokes for different folks." Whatever & however you like to string your guitar is the way to go.

[jds22]

Originally Posted by RRuskin

That's my setup on everything. But "different strings/strokes for different folks." Whatever & however you like to string your guitar is the way to go.

Exactly.

There are lots of ways to skin a cat.
As long as the cat gets skinned who cares how you did it.

[BoneDigger]

I generally use light gauge strings on all of my guitars, most of which are dreads. I don't think it hurts the tone at all.

Todd

[6L6]

Agreed.

When playing fingerstyle I wear a plastic thumb pic and two metal finger pics (National 0.013's). Consequently, getting more volume is never a problem!

I string all of my acoustics with LIGHT gauge PB strings. On a couple of them I do change the first string to a "13" for a little more definition.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Gypsyblue

…Why struggle with high action and heavier strings than I'm comfortable with?
…I don't.

Hi GB...

Right decision made for the right reasons. As a teacher (for 38 years now) I don't put stock in the heavy strings = better tone argument.

It may provide a bit more volume, but as a former owner of an acoustic studio, I can tell you from experience the tone doesn't change when you put heavier strings on. I've done sessions with the same guitars and different weights of strings, and they don't shift in tone with heavier ones. The pick-attack sound changes some, and the ratio of sustain changes a tiny bit, but it still sounds like the same guitar in recordings.

I also don't have issues with people who like heavier strings, but if a guitar is setup properly for your style, and your comfort, then you play more fluidly and musically than when wrestling with the instrument.

And the argument that you need to build-up-your-strength is totally dependent on age, physical capabilities and limitations due to DNA, disease, age etc.

For me, it's not a matter of strength, I can barre all day long on a medium high action guitar with medium strings. But fingerstyling tends to go thud thud instead of flowing musically, and my full step bends (two frets worth of bend) are laid aside.

Hope you continue to enjoy playing your guitar as much as you sound like you are at present!!!

[brianmay]

Originally Posted by jds22

Exactly.

As long as the cat gets skinned who cares how you did it.

In all likelihood . . . the cat

[fazool]

This is timely - I was just in a disagreement thread over this topic yesterday and today.

I too prefer extra light strings and ultra low action.

There are tonal differences however that the string effects (not "affects).

In an acoustic, a heavier string (and a longer scale) will have more string tension and require more force to get the string vibrating (basically you have to pick/strum the string harder to get the same string response). That string response has more energy behind it and will vibrate the top more.

Think of the difference between throwing a ping-pong ball versus throwing a baseball. Other dynamics like wind resistance and inertia come into play but it gives a good visual "feel" for the phenomenon. The baseball hits harder, transmitting more energy.

Some acoustic guitars respond to greater energy input. For example, some dreads sound muted, without good note separation, at soft volumes but, when you really strum them hard, they open up tonally.

It's the exact opposite situation of what's referred to as "head room", when you have too much energy, the soundboard gets overdriven and the notes get muddied.

So how hard you drive the top is absolutely crucial and every guitar will be different. A direct factor to that is the string tension which is determined by gauge and length.

So case #1 is acoustics: on the same scale length guitar, string gauges will change the response of the soundboard.



The second (less related) case is electrics. A lighter string has less mass and when it vibrates through the magnetic field of the pickup creates less flux, generating a lower electrical signal.

Now, usually with an amp you can compensate for this by simply "turning up the volume", however you are changing the output profile by amplifying all strings and each one's mass change is a non-linear change due to cylindrical geometry. SDo, you may be creating more or less separation between strings by changing gauge and cranking the amp.

So, case #2 is electrics: yes string gauge will affect the sound of an electric.

[Solosdad]

I re-strung my guitars all with Thomastik-Infeld Spectrum 11's and love them. They have all the tonal projection I need and sound wonderful. easy on my fingers!

[jds22]

Originally Posted by brianmay

In all likelihood . . . the cat

Hah...

[roylor4]

The amount of volume drop off also seems to be linked to the lightness of the guitar build and it's overall responsiveness.

I use DR Rares - 11-50 on my E6OM and RK. There was a noticeable (but not huge) loss of volume on the RK (it originally came w/12-52's I think). Maybe 10% difference or thereabout.

The E6OM didn't seem to lose any volume so the change had to be minute.

I put DR Rares 10-48 on my AC522 and it's still thunderously loud.

As a massage therapist and a self defense instructor I already put a lot of "wear and tear" on my hands - they are my primary tools. I play strings that make the guitar sound good and make it easy and fun to play.

More fun playing (aka less work) = more time playing. At least for me.