Straight to Setup or Try Lighter Strings

[davidbeinct]

I have a new guitar, a Breedlove concert size. I bought it because although I love the sound of my Guild, the size of the dread wears on my shoulder if I play for more than a half hour or so. The Guild is wearing 11s due to a local tech's feel that it's eventually going to need a neck reset, and 11s will put that off. I'm not a good enough player to really "need" heavier strings either.
The Breedlove came with 12s, and although those seem pretty light in theory, they feel stiffer. I cannot be sure it's not a setup issue, but I did check relief on both guitars and they're both at .010 with the first fret capoed and the 14th fret held down. Something about the stiff feel of the Breedlove leads me to believe that maybe a setup could help, but I also wonder if my ego is just not letting me admit how much easier 11s are for me. Should I throw some 11s on there or just bring it to the tech who setup my Guild? He's got a good local reputation and definitely got the Guild to a nice spot vis a vis playability.

[rmp]

if it was me,, if I trust and have a good feeling about the work he's done, yes. get it setup. Any new guitar, especially an acoustic will almost always benefit from a good setup tech doing their thing with it.

[vindibona1]

Have you thought of reducing the neck relief further? Some of my guitars have as little as .007". Believe it or not, you can feel that little of a difference. In fact, when my guitars get a little more difficult to play, that's the first thing I check- and often adjust.

Beyond that, why don't you try DR Sunbeams which have round cores (rather than hex)? They play 1/2 gauge lighter than hex core light strings and sound terrific on many guitars. They're cheap too. You can find them regularly for $6.50-$7.50/set.

[bufflehead]

I prefer to get my guitars set up with the strings I'm most likely to use.

Great guitar, by the way, the Breedlove concert size. It's my most fun guitar to play.

[zmf]

Good advice so far.

String with 11's since they feel good.

I've gotten away with relief set to no gap, but relief adjustment won't take care of issues at nut or saddle.

It's a new guitar, so get a setup to suit the string gauge and your style of play.

I've found that, after I set up a guitar, I've been surprised a couple of times that a good luthier was more aggressive than me in sanding down the saddle, with no ill effects on tone or playability.

You trust the luthier, so have him check out your new guitar.

[donlyn]

Simple solution is the best. You've been used to 11's for a while, so why not put them on your new Concert? Especially by using the same brand and gauge, hopefully you will be able to notice differences in the guitars more by eliminating a different string issue. Not saying that this will bring out the best in your new guitar, but it will give you a good grounding.

If you decide to have the set-up done asap, just request those same brand and guage (11's) strings be used. The idea is to help you adjust to your new guitar.

You can always try new and different strings later, but you will have a better base to work from. Baby steps.

Is your Concert a short scale by any chance? My Taylor 412e-R Concert is a short scale and plays nice and easy with that bit less tension.

Not recommending this for you, but only for informational purposes, I use Elixir PB HD Lights on it, a gauge which combines Light bass strings (.053) with Medium treble strings (.013).

Good luck and good string hunting,
Don
.

[TBman]

I play finger style and I prefer a flat fret board. I use mediums on my lower tunings and lights on my guitars in standard. If a guitar feels hard to play the set up should be tweaked.

[Brucebubs]

Throw the 11's on the Breedlove.
If it still feels the same take both guitars to your guy and ask him to make the Breedlove play like the Guild.

I did it years ago with a new Martin 12-string I bought and my Guild F-412 and it worked out great!