Guitar Strings

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I like lights and mediums on my acoustic. I dont buy the fancy coated strings. I think bronze/phosphor is perfect for acoustic.
beginners can benefit from light gauge strings as they are not as hard on the tender fingertips.
I use GHS, Martin, or any brand that is available.
Elixers Ive tried but didnt like the feel. later, I put them on a lap steel for slide playing. they seem to last.

for electric guitars I use Ernie Ball Super Slinkys. 10-46. they are nickel wound. I like the feel and sound of nickel on my electrics.

Is there any easy way to determine what gauge string is on a guitar, other than taking it to the store with you?

i personally like elixir's on my acoustic and rotosound's on my electrics. for my acoustic, i put lights on it because i like the sound better. my electrics are all different because i like to have different sounds out of each of them.

Elixirs are good, I also like DRs.

Does anyone else here use DRs?? I really like them but I don't know many people who use them. They are hard to find so I just ordered some off the internet....

mods please delete double post sorry :(

*goes to corner*

Is there any easy way to determine what gauge string is on a guitar, other than taking it to the store with you?

If you have another set of strings to reference them by you can easily take two strings in your hands and lightly bend them. By the resistance you feel you should be able to figure out if they are the same size bigger/smaller etc.

I dont buy the fancy coated strings. I think bronze/phosphor is perfect for acoustic.
Ditto, although I absolutely detest them for the first week or so - far too jangly and tinny. Once they've settled in and lost that edge a little I love 'em though, and they stay in the 'zone of tone' that I like for a long time.

I've had a set of John Pearse "new medium" phos-bro strings on my Seagull Folk for a few weeks, and they still sound very good.

Misanthrope, you might like the DR Sunbeams. They have a "played in" tone - not dead, just warm with very nice sustain. And they last quite a while.
Review: http://www.maurysmusic.com/dr_sunbeam_strings___todd_s_review

I've got them on my Breedlove right now, and I personally prefer brighter strings for fingerstyle, but these are excellent for flatpicking and light strumming. Definitely worth a try if you like 'em slightly toned down.

jwishart77: As you can see I've tried DRs, but I'll keep experimenting with other brands for acoustic. I do like their "pure blues" nickel electric strings (pure nickel wrap, rather than nickel-plated steel) and have them on both of my electrics. Their High Beams sound great for stainless steel bass strings, but I don't like the lower tension on my short-scale bass (or the weird feel of stainless steel strings.)

Cheers Slej, they sound perfect (no pun :wink:). I'll give 'em a go next time I restring...

I would suggest that you get into Medium strings as soon as you can and also try using thicker picks if you use them, try this, line up 3 picks 0ne light one med. 0ne heavy and then strum or pick your guitar alittle bit with each one you'll notice a big differance in tone, I second the motion on bronze/ phospher strings, personally I use the Martin brand(medium's) I.ve also started using Martin's 80/20 bronze .013's alittle less break-in than the bronze phospher, I've had a set on my Takamine nashville for 3 weeks now, I play that guitar 2-3 hours a day and it's still in the tone-zone, the best thing that you could do is try different types and brands untill you find the sound you like, look at it like ear training....

I,m a newbie too, only been playing for 2 mos., get some Addarios 10 thru 47. They will be really bright with a light pick so use a heavy one, but your fingers will thank you. When you get some calloses on your fingertips you can move up to 11-52's your guitar will sound much better with these, hey a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, take care.

I,m a newbie too, only been playing for 2 mos., get some Addarios 10 thru 47. They will be really bright with a light pick so use a heavy one, but your fingers will thank you. When you get some calloses on your fingertips you can move up to 11-52's your guitar will sound much better with these, hey a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, take care.

I use Martin, mediums to acoustic guitars and GHS or Ernie Ball 10-46 to electric guitars.

/ Nick