Thoughts on medium strings for a J45

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by MattM

I use John Pearse 80/20s on my rosewood J-45. To me the improvement over lights on this guitar is night and day. Ren Furguson once told me he thinks the .13s sound especially good on the 45Rs due to the darker sounding rosewood (said it makes them "less introverted" or something like that).

I use medium gauge John Pearse phosphor bronze on my Gibson Advanced Jumbo, and so far that's what my new AJ-inspired Howard Klepper "KJ" has had on it, too (though it's been in California so far, and not up here where I can experiment with gauges and alloys.)

Rosewood guitars often sound best to my ear with 80/20 alloy strings on them, but I always try both alloys on any new guitar, just to check. I get surprised often enough by which alloy turns out to sound best on any given guitar that I never just assume one or the other will be best, I always try both.


whm

[darylcrisp]

i've got a new Keb Mo Gibson at the house, L00 size, lights are okay on it, but i've found the new Daddario EJ24's to help it sound excellent. These are basically a light set EJ16 but adding a 56 on the low E, and beefing up the B and high E to 13/17 respectively. The Keb Mo has a 25" scale, i tend to stay dropped a half step from standard tuning on anything, and even lower.

it makes a huge difference imo and in some ways easier feeling to play

d

[Triumph1050]

For my rosewood dreads it's a toss-up between DR Sunbeams and D'Adarrios for me.

Both in medium.

[OleGibby58]

I use mids on my country western, but thats mainly because it is braced more heavily than the SJ

Just FYI...I've had three SJs ranging from '44 to '68, a '65 C&W (basically an SJ in blonde), a number of J-45/J-50s from the early '50s thru modern models, three Hummingbirds from '65 thru '72 and a 2003 Advanced Jumbo RI + few other assorted Gibson dreads. All of 'em could handle mediums and did except for the '72 Bird when it had some problems. It 'handled' 'em as far as the bracing etc. but the action was high due due to other stuff.

My point is that any Gibson dread in decent condition from any era is braced fine for medium gauge & often sounds great with 'em so it comes down to personal preference. Lights do play easier, for sure, though on some of my J-45/J-50s I really couldn't tell a difference. So I'd never hesitate to try mediums and then see if your fingers like 'em.

[RussMason]

There is a middle ground, and that is light-medium strings. Martin makes a few varieties and I especially like the M545 strings. They are mid-way between lights and mediums and sound good. As well, the strings are a wee bit more flexible than mediums and of course don't have as much tension on the bridge.

John Pearse also makes light-medium strings and the 80/20s are very good. I do not care for their phosphor bronze strings at all.

[SalFromChatham]

I just put D'addario EJ17's on my Sheryl Crow (Gibson Country Western reissue? short-scale). I couldn't get a chance to take her through the paces really, as I had to put number three to bed. I will warm it up tonight though!. I am happy to hear the medium's sound great on your J45.

[GibbyPrague]

I took the OP's advice about trying mids on the J-45 so I put on last night DR Sunbeam 13's on my SJ. Have to say I wholy concur the change for positive is night and day. 13's really make the guitar come alive, get the top shaking a let that Gibson rumble really come out.

I had the same revelation when I first put on 13's on the CW, its nice to have this feeling repeated.

Also, as strange as it sounds I finf it actually easier to fret with 13's, almost as if the strings are more in place and stable than when using 12's.

Highly recommend giving it a go.

Cheers.

[SalFromChatham]

EJ17's a big thumbs up on my short scale Gibson. Wow. I also did call a guitar technician and asked if mediums were ok on these Gibson acoustics, as Gibby ships them all with lights. He said, "of course. any x-braced Gibson will love mediums for strumming. Gibson puts on lights because most guitarists tend to be "newer", and lights feel better on their fingers, and Gibson wants that".

[GibbyPrague]

Yep, I think that makes sense. I would hate to be newbie with mediums.

But Im convinced that mediums are perfect for mahogany Gibson dreads, the jury is still out for me whether they are right for rosewood Gibsons like the SWD.

That will have to be the next experiment, tried it in the past and wasnt convinced but I know now it was with the wrong strings for thiat guitar.

Originally Posted by themissal

EJ17's a big thumbs up on my short scale Gibson. Wow. I also did call a guitar technician and asked if mediums were ok on these Gibson acoustics, as Gibby ships them all with lights. He said, "of course. any x-braced Gibson will love mediums for strumming. Gibson puts on lights because most guitarists tend to be "newer", and lights feel better on their fingers, and Gibson wants that".

[dablues]

Keep in mind that you may have to adjust the truss rod to compensate for the increased tension on the neck from medium strings.

[GibbyPrague]

Yes, it might need to a small tweak although its no real problem at the moment.

Originally Posted by dablues

Keep in mind that you may have to adjust the truss rod to compensate for the increased tension on the neck from medium strings.

[ecw21]

Excellent news, Taylor Prague. I'm glad you enjoyed the switch.

Eric

[OleGibby58]

He said, "of course. any x-braced Gibson will love mediums for strumming. Gibson puts on lights because most guitarists tend to be "newer", and lights feel better on their fingers, and Gibson wants that".

Just to clarify: that is the case for any Gibson dreadnaught from any era IME and perhaps for the Montana modern small-bodied Gibson flattops, but I'd not put mediums on a, for example, a 'vintage '30s L-series small body. They are pretty lightly built. Same for some of the '40s and later LG-series. I put mediums on my '53 LG-2 for awhile and while it truly spoke with authority the top did lift a bit much for my tastes so I went back to 12s. Too bad really as I played that guitar tonight with my 'garage band' and while it's great with the 12s, it was a small cannon with mediums.

Glad to hear folks are trying mediums on their dread and liking it. Cool!