[Zentar]

14 ga Strings

Im thinking about using the 14 gauge strings on a 50s hollowbody. It has just had a professional neck reset and is in good to go shape. Im looking for a warm rich jazz tone from a neck pickup only.

Is there any reason I should avoid 14 guage? 13 is as heavy as I ever used and that was on modern acoustics.

[ksdaddy]

The only guitar I ever dared to go 14 on was a 50s Hoyer archtop acoustic. It was a 16" non cutaway and came to me in two pieces, neck and body. It may have had a rod or some kind of reinforcement but not adjustable. I kept going heavier until I got to 14-59 bronze round wound. Nothing would make that neck move. The strings laid on the neck like they were magnetized there. Not sure why I sold it but it was pretty dumb. It would have made a good foundation for an indestructible jazz box.

[Versatile]

I used 14-60's on a great Maccaferri acoustic flat-top copy a la Django Reinhardt...

Eventually abandoned them due to skin peeling...

Pat Martino has been known to favour 14's on his signature guitars...

They do pull quite heavily so take care with set-up and truss rod etc

V

[capmaster]

There's nothing wrong with 14 gauge sets. To my feel flatwounds play more comfortable than roundwounds anyway. Fretting should be no problem, but be prepared that bendings are stressful and ineffective. Viewed the other way round, accurate intonation will be comparatively uncritical.

[sparquelito]

The good thing about 14's is that you don't have to go to the music store to buy them.

Just drive by a cell phone tower (normally unattended), and bring your bolt-cutters.

Clip clip, snip snip, and you drive home with all the heavy-gauge jazz strings you could ever want.

[capmaster]

sparquelito, on 23 October 2016 - 03:44 PM, said:

The good thing about 14's is that you don't have to go to the music store to buy them.

Just drive by a cell phone tower (normally unattended), and bring your bolt-cutters.

Clip clip, snip snip, and you drive home with all the heavy-gauge jazz strings you could ever want.

Aside from that there's probably not only mechanical tension but also voltage, you might get a result like this:

[sparquelito]

But at least there will be some smooth jazz guitar being played afterwards.
On strings sturdier than battleship chains.

So it's all worth it, in my book.