Which acoustic string gauge do you prefer?

That’s on the horizon.

1 Like

D’addario 10-47 phosphor bronze

On acoustic ?

1 Like

Well I use D’addario 9 42 gauge on all my Guitars including my electro Acoustic if you should`nt use them why sell them.

The last time I changed strings on my acoustic (ok, actually it was the first time I changed the strings myself ) I replaced my 10s with 11s. I absolutely love how they sound and feel, but as a 1.5 year beginner I wonder if I’m doing myself a disservice. My test chord is the F barre - I’m improving, but still only get a clean chord about 50% of the time. I’m getting ready to change strings again. What do you veterans think - should I go back to the 10s, or stick with the 11s? FWIW, I’m using D’Addario phosphor bronze. And FWIW #2 - my electric has 10s, and I don’t notice much difference in my fretting accuracy on that guitar. If anything I may be a bit worse because I play that guitar less often. Thanks in advance!

@judi I’m sure Justin said on one of the lessons about the practicing the F chord on the electic to develop the technique and on the acoustic to develop the strength.

1 Like

Well, is your F barre chord success rate better with the 10s? If yes, go back to 10s. If not, I guess it doesn’t matter. Have you checked the action at the nut end of the neck? If it’s too high, fixing that will make a much bigger difference than the strings.

1 Like

One point - the wider the difference between your acoustic gauge and your electric will mean more adjustment in switching between them.

12s to 10s is a bit, 13s to 8s is a lot etc.

True, but if you have the hand strength for acoustic 13s you’re unlikely to need 8s on your electric.

Ah, good question! My success is similar on acoustics with 10s and 11s, and my flaws are similar too. Thinking I’ll stay with the 11s then because I really do prefer them!

Thanks to all for your input. Asking a beginner what she “prefers” can be a bit of a Pandora’s box! :bat:

Yes, on acoustic.

1 Like

Martin (the guitar manufacturer) has a decent article discussing string gauge.

For myself, I prefer light gauge strings for acoustic, e.g. D’Addario 12-53 - they have a good balance of playability, durability, volume, etc.

Full bends on the G string are still challenging for me with 12s, but that just means I need more Finger Gym time. :wink: I’ve also noticed lighter gauges feel significantly easier to play when I’m accustomed to a thicker string, so that’s another reason I don’t like to run 10s or 11s on my daily driver.

Put some 11 -52s on a few days back, replacing the 10s.
Like these better for sound. Hard to beat the sound of 12s I played for the 1st few years but going to stick with these for awhile. As others have noted, age and handicaps make for easier playing with lighter strings.
Rock on

For 6-string, I generally prefer 11s because I find them an easier gauge for fingerstyle on my dreadnought with relatively tight string spacing on a narrow fingerboard. That said, I’ve had bluegrass strings (12-56) on since mid-July, and like them well enough, but I have to be quite disciplined not to accidentally mute strings.

Fir 12-string, I’ve used 10-48 or 10-46 in standard tuning until trying 9-42s, which are much easier for flat picking and barre chords. When picking individual notes up and down the fingerboard, I don’t get the fret buzz I’ve often experienced with the larger gauge, and have not sacrificed any tone or volume. I restrung with GHS 9-42s back in mid-July, and also have D’Addario 9-45s. I’d highly recommend this gauge to any 12-string players.