Joe M Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 This question sorta goes along with another post I have about a buzzing b string on my J45....one of the suggestions is to try medium gauge strings. I'd like to try them but isn't the guitar made for light gauge strings? In other words, would putting mediums on the guitar harm it in any way?
EuroAussie Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 I don't own a J-45 (yet) but I do own a country western which is a close cousin. I can tell you that going from light to mids on the CW made a hugely poitive difference. It really brought the guitar alive and gave it a lot of bark. It was clearly designed for mids. I'd say go for it and highly recommend DR Sunbeam 13's. They sound amazing on my CW. Cheers.
stein Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 i don't know what gibson says, so i am not speaking for them, nor do i claim they would disagree, but if a guitar can't take mediums, then it ain't a good guitar. i have found that for each individual guitar, it may like higher or lower gauge strings, because of the way the top vibrates. the wood. when there is too much tension, i think it congest it and prevents it from vibtating the way it wants. too little and it doesn't vibrate enough. one might have a preference based on that, or playing style, or both. that said, there are times that a guitar just happens to vibrate weird at a certain string of a certain tension. i would'nt guess that from here, as it is really rare. but it is possible that different tension will cause the strings to vibrate more favorably for you. all guitars will have fret buzz to a certain degree. you can make even a perfectly set up guitar buzz if you play it a certain way. perhaps higher gauge strings might be what you need for your play technique.
EuroAussie Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 I agree with Stein - depends a lot on the guitar and its a good idea to experiment a bit. For example I find mids don't work on my SWD. They choke the the tone with its rosewood overtones. But given the relatively thick bracing on my CW (thanks Em7) I now understand why mids work so well on it. The guitar simply needs mids to really come alive and get past the thick bracing. I have no doubt mids will work on the J-45 but its worth experimenting a bit and its a cheap exercise, give it a go!
dhanners623 Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Definitely mediums. A J-45 needs strings that gauge to really get the wood moving. You'll probably get lots of recommendations, but it is hard to go wrong with D'Addario EJ-17s.
Pickax Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I called Gibson customer service about this question and I was told Mediums would be fine on a J-45. They come with lights but Gibson says Mediums will not cause any harm to the Guitar. I'll probably give a Medium set a run next time I change strings.
Joe M Posted March 8, 2011 Author Posted March 8, 2011 Thanks for the replies....mediums it is first thing tomorrow....
Rambler Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Another option might be a hyrdid set. Ive used lights with a 13 on top, which helps for bottlenecking. But if you want that big bass whomp,then, mediums.
Joe M Posted March 9, 2011 Author Posted March 9, 2011 Well, I had all good intentions of trying mediums on my J45, but I had an extra set of D'Addario EJ16's that I use on my Martin HD28V so I tried them on the Gibson. Wow, that's what I'm talking about; the sound and playability that I've been looking for. I didn't figure they would sound as good on the Gibson as they do on the Martin. Seems like these will be my string of choice for both my acoustics. But, I haven't given up trying a different set here and there.... :)
Tennroots Posted March 9, 2011 Posted March 9, 2011 I've been stringing my J-45TV with OMG Medium Martin SP Marquis 80/20 Bronze .013-.056 Love 'em
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.