10's on an acoustic

menamestom

My acoustic came alive when I switched to 13's. Can't imagine 10's being any better than an electric with a boss AC-3? 12's the most versatile, best of both worlds and at least drive the top. Only takes a few weeks to go from sore fingers to a nice sound, worth the effort. Or you could try silk and steels?

BigLicks67

I used 10's on my Martin for years - it sounded okay to me and it's better than RSI.

I'm back on 12's now though - but as a temporary measure it's worth a try after all there are no medals.

MattFGBI

Go hybrid. 10's on the treble strings but 54 to 32 on the bass strings.

Travisthedog

I went for 11's Ernie ball Earthwounds

Much easier on the fingers and I could hear no noticeable tone differences

Sassafras

Travisthedog said:

I went for 11's Ernie ball Earthwounds

Much easier on the fingers and I could hear no noticeable tone differences

How do the earthwounds differ from, say, Daddarios or Martins?

I've often wondered about the earthwounds but never tried them.

Travisthedog

As an acoustic virgin I have no point of reference mate!!

crunchman

menamestom said:

My acoustic came alive when I switched to 13's. Can't imagine 10's being any better than an electric with a boss AC-3? 12's the most versatile, best of both worlds and at least drive the top. Only takes a few weeks to go from sore fingers to a nice sound, worth the effort. Or you could try silk and steels?

I once played an acoustic with 13s for an hour or two every day for 3 weeks.  My fingers didn't get used to it.  They just hurt.

It's not just the tips of the fingers either.  They may be what is the sorest in the short term but heavy strings do put strain on your joints etc. in the longer term.

Phil_aka_Pip

My Gretsch Jim Dandy is wearing 10s. I'm going back to 11s next.

menamestom

crunchman said:

menamestom said:

My acoustic came alive when I switched to 13's. Can't imagine 10's being any better than an electric with a boss AC-3? 12's the most versatile, best of both worlds and at least drive the top. Only takes a few weeks to go from sore fingers to a nice sound, worth the effort. Or you could try silk and steels?

I once played an acoustic with 13s for an hour or two every day for 3 weeks.  My fingers didn't get used to it.  They just hurt.

It's not just the tips of the fingers either.  They may be what is the sorest in the short term but heavy strings do put strain on your joints etc. in the longer term.

If the guitar is set up well with a well cut nut and decent action, 13's can be fine. Sometimes I do play tuned down a step, which 13's work well with. What ever gauge if it's a constant fight there's no need to play through the pain barrier! That said, i've been playing acoustic for over 20 years and never had joint pain, but most of that is with 12's. 13's on the wrong guitar could be hard work.

Octahedron

Just out of interest... what's the heaviest acoustic strings? Bass strings don't count (acoustic bass).

I have played 13s (unintentionally), and 12s (intentionally) but that's about it. Do they come any thicker than that? 

Andyjr1515

My OM model has 10s on because of arthritis issues. Was happy to sacrifice tone but to my surprise couldn't tell any difference (and its a very good sounding guitar)

ICBM

I've never seen anything bigger than 14s for a standard guitar, and even those are rare now - they're the old 'heavy', where 12s are 'light' and 13s are 'medium'. There are some specialist sets for resonators - for slide in open dropped tunings - that go as high as 16s.

Samgb

I use 10s on both electric and acoustic. Never had a problem tone wise. Last set i tried 11s on the Yammy LL6 just to test and i found it uncomfortable and it didnt sound any better. If anything it lost a touch of woody mids. Usually i buy Martin but ive currently got my first ever set of Elixir Nanowatchamacallits on. They sound a bit bright for me but if they last months im willing to compromise!

Im about to try 11s on my electrics as an experiment on t'other side of things.   

Bidley

I use 10s on electrics (11s on Gibson scales) and 12s on acoustic. I mostly need the extra string tension, I find it a little easier for fingerstyle. That, and drop D, DADGAD, Eb, drop C# etc require bigger strings, I find.

mellowsun

Might be worth trying Newtone Heritage strings

http://www.newtonestrings.com/acoustic_page.htm

These are low tension strings that feel as supple as 10s but are 12s.

Alnico

I've just tried 12's on my 12 string and it's wrecked my fingers and my wrist.

The action need to be lowered a bit, i know that but even so it's just too much.

Elixir do a set for a 12 string of 10 gauge which i am going to try but that means the high 'G' is going to be an 8 !

Whatever i do i have to go to a lower gauge, i know i can't play it like this.

Elixir's are £20 a set so it's a bit of a gamble but with the jangly nature of a 12 string i can't see 10's being a problem.

Fingers crossed (Gently !)

Sassafras

12s sound really heavy on a 12 string.

The lightest ones I've come across are Daddario EJ41: .009 to .045

Alnico

Sassafras said:

12s sound really heavy on a 12 string.

The lightest ones I've come across are Daddario EJ41: .009 to .045

Thanks, That makes me feel a little better.

I am going to try the 10's this weekend and see what happens.

hobbio

Shit @Alnico, are they the ones I gave you? I thought I'd ordered 10's mate, just checked back and I'd ordered 12's. I didn't bother looking at them too hard cos I knew I wasn't going to actually restring it!

Sorry dude

Alnico

hobbio said:

Shit @Alnico, are they the ones I gave you? I thought I'd ordered 10's mate, just checked back and I'd ordered 12's. I didn't bother looking at them too hard cos I knew I wasn't going to actually restring it!

Sorry dude

Hey man don't worry.

I am also not happy with how much tension they put on the neck. I saw they were 12's and thought nothing really much of it but it's all part of the daily learning curve, it's no problem at all. I am grateful you gave me a new set anyway, that was a really nice gesture.

It sounds like a bloody orchestra, it's such a nice guitar, i'm really happy with it. I am actually glad it's happened this way as it's forcing me to set the guitar up the way i want it, which in turn is forcing me to get to know it better as an instrument, instead of just picking it up and playing it. I am going to file the saddle down by 2mm and fit the 10's next weekend. The nut is fine at the height it is and there's nothing wrong with the way it's cut, i just need to set the whole thing up for me.

But all that aside, the sound it makes is amazing and it stays in tune perfectly.

'Norwegian Wood' played on this just blows me away and i'm finding new things to play again. With the set up and strings right, it will be amazing.