Hall Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 I have played lights for the sake of my instruments for years. But, I play alone now. Of my acoustics, I have three guitars I am seriously thinking of going to mediums on for tone & volume; a Custom Bird, J-150 and a Martin D-41. I have used mediums before, from time to time, on these same guitars without any adjustments and never noticed a need for such. I can't imagine going up to mediums would require a truss rod adjustment and I don't want to get into messing with my setups. Still,when I read here, it seems a lot of folks feel a tweak is required. I'm curious, what is the all round general thought on this? :- Thanks. Groper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 No rhyme, reason, or physics will explain this so that I am convinced of a predictable pattern, you just need to try different gauges. You will know when things are right. As to "heavier strings - more volume - big boom", I suppose that is the general idea, but it reaches a point where the stiff action far outweighs any other gain. Recently I was doing some work on a much maligned unnamed guitar of mine and I realized I had no strings on hand other than a set of Martin 14-59 left over from the 70s. Wonderful tone but stiffer than a board and I was a tiny bit concerned about the increased tension on the neck and top. I bought 3 sets of old D'Angelico 13-58 for five bucks a pop, figured I'd use them somewhere. I put a set on the guitar in question and again, the tone was wonderful but it was still too stiff. It didn't respond to a light touch but really boomed when I cranked on them. Not the most universally acceptable situation. Thinking back on that particular guitar, it had 12s when I got it and they gave that particular guitar the right balance of volume, flexibility, responsiveness, yadda yadda. The one right beside it might go better with 13s, the next one 11s. No substitute for trying them out and finding the right mix. As to truss rod.... yeah, it's likely it may take a tweak but it won't hurt to put them on and let it sit a couple days before making an assessment. Going from 12s to 13s isn't a radical change, nothing that will make it explode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanC Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I find this a topic dear to my heart. Over the last 12 months I've progressively increased string guages on pretty much all of my guitars. Archtops and Acoustics to 12's and solidbodies to 11's. On one guitar I put 13's which made it sound a lot better as I was about to sell it and now I'm happy enough to keep it. However I agree with ksdaddy in that its important to try different things out and see what happens. There is no really standard answer. Each guitar can be different. I have one Les Paul with 10's and another with 11's. Both are different! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc McMaster Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Moving from lights to mediums on a 6-string flattop usually will require a truss rod tweak for the neck relief to be right. The key word is usually. Every guitar is different and there's not a hard and fast rule, but be prepared to make a 1/8 to 1/4 turn on the rod with the heavier gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOESTONE Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Sort of on topic. I put D'Addario Chrome Flats 12's on my Flat top Cf-100E cause I read somewhere that they would be better than Bronze with the P90 pup. Gauge is the same. I use these on my several electrics. Well now I'm putting them on some other acoustics I own. Perhaps not as brilliant a tone but a mellow and balanced tone just the same. I love the feel of flats. Anyone else tried this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Rondack Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Now there are these... I have them on my Dove Artist and my Western Classic and like them very much... something in-between... not "bluegrass gauge"; really in-between from top to bottom. Martin M145 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermionik Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 . Heavier gauge with the same string length and pitch means more tension. . More tension pulls the headstock towards the bridge more. . Some guitars change imperceptibly, some move enough to affect action and intonation. . Suck it and see. . ksdaddy is the man to listen to. He's been there and done it to more stringed things than most of the rest of us put together. So pay close attention to his advice. Always. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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