I’ve been playing a lot of acoustic and have always strung with 12 gauge strings.
It’s only dawned on me I could try 11s or 10s and I wonder if this might make fingerpicking easier.
What does everyone else play ? Any strong opinions?
Hi Lewis,
My acoustic came with .012-.053 so that’s what I got used to and have used ever since. I’ve never felt the need to use a lighter set.
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Hi Lewis, I use 12s. I recall your last post regarding volume when finger picking. If you went with lighter strings you’re not going to get the same volume.
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Cheers! But do you think I’ll be able to pick with more force if the string is lighter?
One thing I did notice was that on my two acoustics, ones a dreadnought and the others a grand auditorium cutaway I tend to prefer finger picking on the grand auditorium. And was not just the size, it was the feel of the strings that I’ve got on it.
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If the string gauge is lighter you would find it easier to play but you wont get the same volume and punch as you would get with the 12s you have on the guitar currently.
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I’m just reading that the grand auditorium is generally seen as better for fingerpicking
Think I need to go to a shop and try out a few guitars. I bought my last one online. Think trying them out even more important for acoustics somehow
Grab a set of 11s and 10s try them out. It’s not hard!
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The one that I got was a Cort Gold A6 and find that fantastic for fingerstyle and blues. Its got a vintage tone to it. It’s definitely worth trying out a few and forget about the name on the head stock. Also worth trying out some different strings. The ones that I am using on it are XTAPB1253.
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Consider that if you go from 12s to 10s you might well need a truss rod adjustment. I did. A lot less tension on the neck with the lighter strings.
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I like the feel of 12s, but the tension is too much for me. I go between classical (very low tension) and steel string (can easily be twice the tension of nylon).
So I am landing on low tension strings. I like the Straight up Strings brand, currently have GHS round core and next will try some Newtone Heritage (round core).
Low tension strings like this can shave 15-40 lbs off the tension total, yet still feel like thicker strings. They probably do decrease available volume though, similar to lighter gauge strings, I imagine.
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I like Silk and Steel 12’s, they’re lower tension than normal strings but are a bit quieter, if you’ve got an Electro it’s easy to compensate.
On my 24.75 scale guitars I use 12s on my 25.5 scale guitars I use 11s
Usually Elixir coated strings
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A lot of people like silk and steel, but I haven’t bonded with it. Not sure why, it has all the qualities I should like. Ah well. I am unique!
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Phosphor bronze 11 to 52 By Stringjoy for me. Does make, I find, finger picking much easier.
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I currently use phosphor bronze 10s. An old friend used electric guitar 10s. Many on this forum like the newer silk and steel strings. I’m think of trying them soon.
I just strung with 11s on my dreadnought and finger picking a lot easier and I’m getting more volume. Less string tension means less effort to pluck. No wonder I was finding it hard before !
For strumming the sound is a bit weedier but don’t think any issue if you’re playing plugged in anyway - dare I say I find the sound possibly more musical to my ears but could just be in comparison to the old year old strings I replaced.
I also don’t think they’re going to be great for down tuning so I’ll use 12s for that. But we can’t have everything!
I’ve been using Martin SP 80/20 Bronze Custom Lights (11-52). I’m happy with those. That said, I’m not super picky about string gauges. You get used to whatever you’re using after a small adjustment period, in my experience.
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Elixir phosphor bronze 10s, to give myself less string tension to overcome with my old hands.
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I have only used drop D for down tuning on my 11s and found no problems at all.
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