String Survey

We answer this one a lot.

Electric - Rotosound 10's (in the yellow packaging)

Accoustic - Rotosound Country Gold 11's (Phosphor Bronze)

12-string Accoustic - D'Addario EJ41 Phoshor Bronze X-Light

Nunber 1 Classical - Hannabach 815 Low Tension

Number 2 and number 1 backup Classicals - Augustine Blue

Number 2 backup Classical - D'Addario EJ45 normal tension.

and Martin 80/20 Extra Light on my Backpacker

Best,

A :-)

Alan , how do you treat it when you bass strings of classical guitar break ? (My 'D' is esp troublesome !!)

Also , on an average , how many months it takes you to change the strings on your classical guitar ?

I just put some D'Addario Silk&Steel (.11-.47) strings on my accoustic last week. Plays and sounds like a dream.

On my electric I was using Ernie Ball not even slinky 13's
Switched to GHS 12's then 10's. I was playing drop tuning with the 13's. The point is my neck is fine. I'm going to try the D'Addario 10's next for the electric. Still waiting to pick out acoustic strings.

You all have left the jury out in my head, I've decided to bring the acoustic to guitar center, walk in, and tell them how I want my strings to sound. I want to keep the same size though. So I'll bring it in, why not.

D'Addario XL 10's...electric....gonna change to 11's as soon as I run out of strings.

D'Addario EXP Phosphor bronze 16's used to use 17's, which sound better.

If you use 16's on the acoustic, instead of trying 11's, try a set of 13's. I most say they did sound nice, but personally my hands couldn't take it.

SRV played the electric with 18's - food for though all you people with 8's and 9's. 13's do make good rock and blues strings.

Alan , how do you treat it when you bass strings of classical guitar break ? (My 'D' is esp troublesome !!)

Also , on an average , how many months it takes you to change the strings on your classical guitar ?

I haven't broken a string for a long time, but when I do then the whole set comes off; not just the broken string. That said, I'm paranoid about it happening - I take three guitars out with me on a Saturday afternoon when I go out to teach my younger students, and I took two to my last couple of exams just in case I did have a string let go.

I restring every three months - I play as much as I can and I find that after that long the strings are shot.

Best,

A :-)

Went to GC today, and Picked up new strings. I decided to go onto MF and find the bestselling acoustic strings and try those first. The actual best seller were some nanoweb strings, which were like 16 dollars a set. Forget that! So I went with the second most popular, the Martin Acoustic SP Phospor Bronze Lights. I'm going to record myself playing the old strings and then playing the new strings, just to hear the difference. For the electric I picked up D'Addario XL 11's. One size up from the GHS Boomer 10's. I might record myself again just to hear the difference. Also picked up a Korg Tuner, because I'm probobly going to sell my Behringer Combo, and because I need something for the acoustic. I'll post those recordings if they work.

How do i get the old strings out of the bridge? I have these little pegs.

Loosen the old strings, then get your hand into the sound hole and push them up with a nickle or something. If you're lucky they'll fall out, but sometimes they need a little encouragement.

A pair of wire cutters work well for getting the bridge pins out, just be careful!!

You can also buy a string winder from your GC, They have a tool for removing bridge pins, (its on the part that you put over the tuning key on your guitar.)

Took a little more force than I was ok with at first, but now the new strings are in the acoustic. The Martin Acoustic SP Phosphor Bronze 12's are nice, but at least right now they are a bit too tinny. I'm going to try D'Addario's next.

On the electric, havn't changed out the strings yet. Might not ever, I'm looking to sell it soon.

D'Addario XL 9's on my Strat

D'Addario XL 10's on my Tele

Gibson Brite Wires 10's on my LP

Dan