Gibson j-45 strings

[slimt]

Ive found the D Addario Light... are Great and last well on a J45... Or as mentioned a Mix of Light / Meds.

 

Ive tried Martin Golds, Pearse, Elixers. I found those died out real quick.. its just Not on the j45s.. But on most of the Guitars ive owned in the past..

Just my experiances..

[jdd707]

I too am experimenting with strings for my new J45 ..... with much the same results. Local tech suggested E'Addario EXP, meds (13). So far they are the best I've found for warm and balanced ... I'm not much on meds so will try the lights next ... but so far I like the EXPs.

[craig_no]

I have used Elixir PB lights on my J-45, and they gave a nice shimmery tone and of course last awhile. Lately, though, I've been using D'Addario EFT16s (.12-.53), their Flat Top line. Warm tone, and the slight grinding treatment does away with a lot of finger squeak. Great for flatpicking and blues, when doing a lot of slides.

[SimonJ45]

Just dont cut them until tuned to pitch and dont stretch them. They are made round core and opposed to hex core like most strings (dont ask me what this means, but they are made differently) and stretching them or cutting them early can make them sort of fall apart.

 

Finally got around to putting on a set of DR's (difficult to get in northern Italy, had to mail order from the UK). Very nice, great sustain, clear, balanced. A very high quality set of strings. They sound great on the guitar, possibly slightly better balanced than the Masterbuilts (not quite so bass heavy, but still warm). Don't fall off tone-wise so fast as the Masterbuilts, however.. total lifetime (for me) about the same. What I mean is, the Masterbuilts seem to start losing their best tone after about a week/10days, then by 3 to 4 weeks become unusable (with my playing). The DR Sunbeams are better, maintaining the tone over +14days, but seem to have suddenly gone dull and started with intonation difficulties also in the 4th week.

 

Just looked at ordering new ones: Masterbuilts £4.99, DR's £9.99... both have a great tone but maybe I'll reserve the DR's for special occasions...

[EuroAussie]

I order my Sunbeams in boxes of 10 from Strings & Beyond where they are I think arpound $5 each, makes it quite affordable then.

 

Finally got around to putting on a set of DR's (difficult to get in northern Italy, had to mail order from the UK). Very nice, great sustain, clear, balanced. A very high quality set of strings. They sound great on the guitar, possibly slightly better balanced than the Masterbuilts (not quite so bass heavy, but still warm). Don't fall off tone-wise so fast as the Masterbuilts, however.. total lifetime (for me) about the same. What I mean is, the Masterbuilts seem to start losing their best tone after about a week/10days, then by 3 to 4 weeks become unusable (with my playing). The DR Sunbeams are better, maintaining the tone over +14days, but seem to have suddenly gone dull and started with intonation difficulties also in the 4th week.

 

Just looked at ordering new ones: Masterbuilts £4.99, DR's £9.99... both have a great tone but maybe I'll reserve the DR's for special occasions...

[BluesKing777]

Dennis...

 

I see you made your first "notes" here.

 

Welcome to one of the more interesting batch of miscreants you'll come across on line. <grin>

 

I'm older than dirt and still learn something on these Gibbie forums every day.

 

m

 

 

'Older than dirt' - cool....keep pickin'

 

 

(Last year I went to an open mic night on the far side of town that I have not been to in 20 odd years. I thought I was going to be the crusty 'older thatn dirt' blues nut, but was pleasantly surprised that I was about the youngest guy there! What a bunch of old codgers! What a relief!)

 

 

 

I have been a staunch supporter of the MB 12/13s and with my crusty old blues player background, I can make a set of strings last longer than anybody else on this forum - maybe goes back to days of 'pro/semi-pro blues guitar playing' where a broken string was a financial crisis that meant a choice between food/smokes or a string or two! I really don't break strings normally (I play fingerpicking with fingers usually), and the strings reach that awful period where they can't be tuned long before they break (usually!).

 

Now, some deception has occurred at my guitar techs - I know he really likes Martin SPs and I don't, so I normally give him my pre-bought MB12s when having work done and I think he may throw them in the bin and put on his fave Martin SPs! They just don't last the same - I am suspicious, but forgive him! Like others on this froum, when you find a good luthier/tech, I did offer marriage but was turned down. Without him my plans are worthless! So, I later change the strings to my fave MB12 or 13s and the sound is back to normal.....

 

Now I have MBs on a half dozen guitars and the Elixirs (Nanos) on a Martin DCX-1RE. I have Martin SPs on my Gibson B25-12N 12 string that the luthier put on and they have just now gone off. I asked for Elixirs or other long lasters, but he did not have any in stock. I am about to change to them on the 12 string. Just to show the US members of the forum what we pay for strings here in Australia, here is the price of Elixirs for a 12 string - a shock:

http://ellisguitars....ategory89_1.htm

 

I also have a pack of Elixirs (Nanos) that I am going to try on my 2010 J45 Standard - I have not settled on strings for this guitar for some reason - why I am replying to this thread.....and the battery bag has come unglued like someone else mentioned the other day - I must stick that back on at the time I change the strings tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

[milod]

I've tended to prefer the Elixir polyweb - thicker coating. But then light strings.

 

I'm also a 99 percent fingerpicker, even if doing rock or heavier electric blues. The exception is all-acoustic bluegrassy/old time stuff.

 

Yeah, those Oz string prices are a bit of a shock. Sheesh.

 

I actually had one set of old Guild strings, 8-38 on a Guild solidbody s100c for around 20 years but I seldom used it. Still... that's a long time. They were pretty heavily segmented by the time I swapped 'em out.

 

I think the guys who like a brighter tone tend to swap strings more often. As a fingerpicker, I've used technique to vary bright-dark more, I think, and that plus pretty light strings, low action and gentle touch has led to pretty good string longevity.

 

It's also the advantage of using an AE stedda a miked acoustic, at least the way I tend to play. I think it encourages a lighter touch, although that's almost certainly mostly psychological. It also allows reeeeally light strings (9-42 Zebra, for example) and an almost classical guitar technique.

 

m

[JRTaylorMusic]

First post here…have had my J45 Custom for almost a year and here's what I found:

• Factory strings - sounded great, fell in love with & bought the guitar
  
• MasterBuilt - came in the guitar case, but can't recall if they were PB or 80/20...sounded pretty good, but not as good as the "factory strings" and didn't last long (couple weeks maybe)
  
• Elixir PB - used for years as my favorites on Carvin AC 375 & 275 (80/20s on my Taylor 812), sounded awful on the J45C, took them off within 24hrs
  
• Ernie Ball Acoustic Slinky - bought by accident somehow, so far my favorite strings - sound great new and sound progressively better until about week 6 when they suddenly go dead
  
• Martin Retro - wanted to like them, but sounded too big on the low end (what!?) and harsh on top above an otherwise pleasant low mid to midrange
  
• John Pearse - strong first impression, though a little on the bright side, thought they would mellow out nicely after a few days but just started to loose life by the end of the week
  

 

I used DRs on all my electrics for 15years, but after a succession of QC issues I gave up on them. I'd still like to try Sunbeams (and PB from the other guys) but I love the Slinkys so much now I'm tired of venturing out anymore! :) One last thought: I felt the Retros might sound great on a Standard or other mahogany dread, as the rosewood of my Custom makes it a truly different beast.

 

Hope some find this helpful!

[mountainpicker]

I haven't read a string thread all the way through, on any forum, for quite some time but I did read this one. I've come to think that the human chemistry factor is the variable when it comes to string longevity and the human ear factor is the variable when it comes to preferred string tone. The Gibson J-45 is so ubiquitous and has been around so long that its commonality in the equation creates an aspect to the discussion that I find interesting. My personal experience is that my J-50 sounds best with standard D'Addario EJ-16's (not that long ago I much preferred 80/20's). Since it is the guitar I play out with on Friday nights I replace the strings every six weeks regardless of how they sound to me. I've grown accustomed to their consistent feel too. I would be interested to know what you vintage J-45 owners prefer, to maybe see if there is a consensus leaning towards different strings on older guitars. I would suspect that older wood handles a broader range of string types without affecting the tone so much. But that is just faraway supposition.

[ServantOfGod]

Elixirs Phrosphor bronze lights sounded great on mine, I never liked Addarios.

[rustystrings]

I used John Pearse phosphor bronze light gauge 600L .012-053 for close to 20 years on everything, including vintage and modern guitars - the Gibson content is that they worked well on early 60s LG2s and LG1s, a c.'50 J-45, and an early '30s L4 round soundhole archtop, as well as my old steel-bodied National. In the last year I've been using JP Pure Nickel wound 960L .012-054 on my '05 J45-HC and my Seagull S6. They seem to last a little longer than the bronze stuff. They yield a purer, "woodier" sound to my ears, or maybe it's just that they don't "color" the sound the way pb or 80/20 does (all the cliches about writing, music, and dancing about architecture apply here). The nickels have slightly less tension than the comparable phosphor bronze, but they are allegedly less dense, too. It was enough of a difference that I needed to tweak the truss rod to maintain a happy low action without buzzes or rattles.

 

Now that play with my bare hands only and I no longer live on a diet of cigarettes and caffeine, my strings last a lot longer.