stephanie Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 Hello I was wondering if someone could help us. My daughter has a beautiful epiphone hummingbird guitar. It sounded wonderful until we went to change the strings which, unfortunately changed the sound completely. We miss the old sound and we would like to find out what the original strings were and then go and buy some. Or at least find some that would give back that full,rich sound. Please help us! Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtufguy Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 What brand of strings did you put on the hummingbird ? The more important question is did you use the same gauge strings as the ones that you removed ? Strings can be a very personal thing to guitar players. Everyone has their favorite. The elixirs seem very popular and are suppose to last three to five times longer than uncoated strings. Here is a site I found that explains the different elixir strings http://www.shorelinemusic.com/accessories/elixir.shtml I'm not positive but I believe the Hummingbird came from the factory with light gauge strings. I would check and see what gauge you replaced the originals with first. Let us know how you make out. Good Luck Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theDeuce Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 I dunno if there is any way to know what strings were on your guitar. There are endless brand, size and type choices. I think folks that write to Epiphone to inquire are told to use Gibson Masterbilt strings. Here's a copy of a post I left earlier this week regarding strings I use. >>I use D'Addario Phos. Bronze when I want good and cheap and Elixir when I want my favorite. I'd recommend 11's to break in your fingers and then move up to 12's. You can choose either 80/20 (brighter sound) or Phos. Bronze (warmer sound). Next time try the same size of the other type and see which you like. Nickel strings are for electric guitars with pickups under the strings, not acoustic/electric with p'up's under the saddle. I'd also recommend not bother with mixing sets until you have more experience. Similar to nylon string guitars, the bass strings are wound, the treble are plain. The 3rd string (G) can go either way, but is usually wound on acoustic.<< If you are mostly strumming open chords you may want to try 13s. Just know that if you're not used to them they can make your fingers sore. But on the other hand they prolly give the best, most full sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubstar Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 I use D'Adarrio EXP13 extended play 80/20 custom lights: .011 .015 .022 .032 .042 .052 sound great, warm, full, long lasting...tried elixirs and disliked them immensely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtufguy Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 What brand of strings did you put on the hummingbird ? The more important question is did you use the same gauge strings as the ones that you removed ? Strings can be a very personal thing to guitar players. Everyone has their favorite. The elixirs seem very popular and are suppose to last three to five times longer than uncoated strings. Here is a site I found that explains the different elixir strings http://www.shorelinemusic.com/accessories/elixir.shtmlI'm not positive but I believe the Hummingbird came from the factory with light gauge strings. I would check and see what gauge you replaced the originals with first. Let us know how you make out. Good Luck Mike I also forgot to ask..did you buy the guitar new or used. If you bought it used, you will probably never know what brand of strings were on it. Unless you bought it from a music shop and they could probably tell you what their "house brand" of strings is (assuming they cleaned the guitar up for resale). Also, you said you liked to sound the guitar had with the old strings, do you have any idea how old they were ? Guitar strings sound a LOT different with age. New strings always have a brighter sound to them. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyroadman Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Stephanie - While not specific to the Hummingbird models, here's the reply/information I received from Epiphone about strings on Masterbilts - perhaps you may want to contact them about your guitar - hope it helps: AbbeyRoadMan REPLY: Sorry about the confusion! All Masterbilt steel-string guitars come from the factory with Gibson Masterbuilt .012-.052. It will not void your warranty to use medium-guage strings, it will just require the appropriate neck adjustments to accommodate for the increased neck tension. I hope this information is helpful! Thanks for the inquiry! Best regards, Benton Cummings Gibson Customer Service 1-800-4GIBSON service@gibson.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theDeuce Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Hey, I wonder if Benton is related to Burton!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt the Cat Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Hi I have a H'bird which now has a bone nut and saddle and brass bridge pins. I string 'er up with Elixir 80/20 Nanoweb Mediums (13-56) With that combo she absolutely sings! Can't put her down Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanstreak1281734111 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Hi I have a H'bird which now has a bone nut and saddle and brass bridge pins. I string 'er up with Elixir 80/20 Nanoweb Mediums (13-56) With that combo she absolutely sings! Can't put her down Matt did you do that yourself or go to a shop? If a shop which one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YerDugliness Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 did you do that yourself or go to a shop? Unfortunately, it will probably end up being a combination of both. Let's talk about the saddle first. The saddle is the piece that the strings sit on down on the body of the guitar. I've bought replacement saddles from Bob Colisi @ http://www.guitarsaddles.com The saddle is a a project you can probably accomplish by yourself. Check out Mike's thread: http://forums.epiphone.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=6283 The nut (the slotted piece at the end of the neck by the tuners) is another matter altogether. Even if you order a replacement nut from Bob Colosi, you would likely need the services of a luthier or a good tech to install the nut. Every part sold by Bob (except for bridge pins) is intentionally made slightly oversized so it can be specifically fitted to the guitar. That requires not only sizing it for the width of the neck, but also slotting it for strings. That slotting part is the piece that requires a luthier or a tech, unless you want to invest hundreds of $$ in slot files. The fretboard nut will need 6 slots, each of a different size approximately the size of the string that will sit in the slot, and that process is cheaper for a luthier or tech to perform than it is to buy the slot-files to do the job yourself. As for bridge pins, I've never had any brass pins, but I must assume they can be purchased at music stores in "standard" sizes. When you order replacement pins from Bob Colosi he requires some very specific measurements from your present pins (or, alternatively, you can send him the pins from your guitar and let him take the measurements) in order for him to machine the replacement pins so that they will fit. Read Mike's (BigTufGuy) thread I linked above and you'll see that when the pins arrive they will probably fit perfectly out of the box. So, to answer your question, the pins will fit without any work, the saddle will need VERY LITTLE final/finishing work and you can probably do that yourself, and the nut will require the services of a luthier (recommended) or a good shop technician, so it's a bit of all of them, eh? As for your issue with the sudden change in the tone from your HBird, before I went to all that trouble described above I'd just buy an assortment of strings in various gauges and change them around until you get the tone you're looking for. You already know the HBird is capable of creating the tone you like, after all it did so before you changed strings. One caution I might add is that if the guitar had old strings on it when you got it, they will have, for lack of a better term, a "mellow" tone to them that relates more to age than to the brand/size/variety of string. As strings age, the sound changes. Most of us who have played for a while ((37 years now for me) tend to percieve the change in sound as "dead strings" rather than "mellow", but for a new guitar player who likes that "mellow" sound, the tones produced by a new set of strings can sound strident or harsh. It's just the more active nature of the new strings. If your case is one similar to what I described (new to guitar, bought one with the "mellow" sound and lost it when you changed the strings), you might want to play the present strings for a while and see if they mellow down, that might be all you need to do........in my experience, lighter gauge strings tend to be a bit brighter and do not last as long, medium gauge strings offer a nice compromise between ease of playing, tone, and longevity, and heavy guage strings offer great tone and longevity but are difficult for most except the most seasoned player to tolerate (very hard on the fingertips!). Hope this has helped a bit, meanstreak.........we all search for "that sound". I play Dean Markley Alchemy GoldBronzes on all my guitars in light gauge (.011"-.052"), but every now and then I get to play one of my guitars with medium-light gauge strings (.012"-.054") of the same type and I always put that guitar down thinking I'll switch my other guitars to medium-light gauge for "that sound". It can be elusive...... [EDIT--meanstreak, I just now realized you are from England. There is also a source of quality bone and TUSQ ( a form of synthetic bone) parts in England. His name is Gary Bowles, he lives in Towcester, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, and here is a link to his eBay store....if you do decide to upgrade your saddle/nut/pins, he's closer to you: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/TREE-ROOT-products_MUSIC-GUITAR-ACCESSORIES He has an excellent reputation on another forum on which I contribute.) Dugly :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt the Cat Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Hi meanstreak I got the work done at Hobgoblin in Crawley. They did an ok job and at the end of the day, I didn't fancy arse-ing up my guitar by trying myself! Always worth paying someone else if you're not sure. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanstreak1281734111 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Thanks for the info Dug, I actually live pretty close to you, I originally come from Clear Lake, Texas just south of Houston. I'm in the UK for a couple more years and really missing my Epi PR-150 I had to leave at home. I picked up a cruddy Encore off eBay for about £15 that has action as high as the Empire State building and it's driving me crazy! I'm really just learning to play and the high action makes it very difficult as my hand gets very tired very fast. I'm going to get a new guitar and was thinking I'd buy a DR-100 or DR-200, but not sure how good the action will be and not that knowledgable about how to improve it. I'm really wanting a Hummingbird but not quite sure if I should splash out the money for one when I may not be able to bring it home with me when the time comes! I was also thinking about getting a Dean AK48 as the price is only £109 and it comes with a hard case, or perhaps a Peavey Jack Daniel's AG1 as it's only about £120. It's really difficult as I can't seem to find any shops that have one to try out in my area. I'm very weary about just ordering a guitar over the net without being able to actually try it out yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanstreak1281734111 Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Hi meanstreak I got the work done at Hobgoblin in Crawley. They did an ok job and at the end of the day' date=' I didn't fancy arse-ing up my guitar by trying myself! Always worth paying someone else if you're not sure. Matt[/quote'] If you don't mind saying how much money did all that work cost you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt the Cat Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Hi meanstreak They installed a pickup at the same time which I supplied and charged about £90 for the whole job. If you're after a Hummingbird, I suggest you wait and buy it in the US as ther's more choice there and a whole lot cheaper too. They're hard to come by here in the UK and if you find one new it'll cost about £230 now! Patience is a virtue my friend! Just think how nice it'll be after playing that encore! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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