10's on an acoustic

Travisthedog · February 2015

How will this adversely affect tone!

The new crafter sounds nice but after last nights rehearsals my fingers are shreaded

Not sure I can manage a gig tomorrow at this stage

Can I put 10's on without killing the tone stone dead

Posts telling me to man up will be reported as cyber bullying

ICBM · February 2015

Depends on the guitar.

Dreadnoughts and Jumbos generally sound a bit thin with them, smaller-bodied guitars often don't.

You could try 11s - unless that's what you're already using! - even though the low strings are often the same gauges as 12s (or at least very close) the lighter plain strings really make quite a big difference without killing the tone as much. Watch out though, because many sets of 11s have a ridiculously light G - even lighter than the one in a set of 10s - which *does* sound thin.

It could also be a set-up issue, especially nut height and to some extent relief - it makes a huge difference to the pressure on your fingertips when playing chords in the lower positions, more than the bridge height does. Fret each string at the third fret and look at the gap between the string and the first fret - if it's any more than a quarter of the string diameter, and preferably less than that, it's too high. Then with the guitar in the playing position, fret the G string at the first fret and the first which is over the body (usually 15) and look at the gap between the string and the 7th fret - it should be less than the string diameter, preferably less than half it.

hobbio · February 2015

I've got 10's on my Tanglewood TSF5-X, but that's a smaller body and the largest gauge they recommend in the manual is 12's. 10's don't adversely affect the tone, but next time I restring I'm going back up to 12's purely because the 10's feel a bit flappy for strumming.

Travisthedog · February 2015

Sound 11's may be a good compromise !!

Paul_C · February 2015

I use 10s on my APX700 - it sounds thin unplugged but generally ok through a P.A.

ellandroadhero · February 2015

I couldn't hack that myself. Always use 12s on my acoustics as anything else sounds too thin and I snap them!

tone1 · February 2015

11's for me on acoustic 10's on electric

thisisguitar · February 2015

I used to use 10's on my Takamine electro acoustic cutaway. If it gets you through the gig does the tone really matter so much? You could always use a bit more EQ to try and beef things up a bit.

CloudNine · February 2015

Some guitars definitely aren't constructed in a way where they would sound good with 10's.

Something like this (below), should work fine though:

hobbio · February 2015

tone1 said:

11's for me on acoustic 10's on electric

So 10.5's on an electro-acoustic?

richardhomer · February 2015

Travisthedog;33793" said:
Posts telling me to man up will be reported as cyber bullying

Man up you girl!

....I use 13s

bigjon · February 2015

I use electric 10-52s on my APX-style acoustic because -

- My style is pretty-much electric-based anyway.

- It's a lot easier to play solos.

- I hate wound thirds.

- The amp / PA does all the work anyway so I don't need to hammer the strings.

- I can use the guitar's eq to compensate for the lighter bass.

Here's a live example

crunchman · February 2015

I did use 10's for a long time, but these days I use 11's. Even with those my fingertips feel a bit sore if I have a long session playing them after playing nothing but electric for a couple of weeks.

It can sound ok with 10's but it does depend on the guitar. Most acoustics come stock with 12. You would notice a difference if you put 11's on.

Travisthedog · February 2015

Thanks guys

I'll swing into absolute music and pick up some 11's and 10's

I suppose brand is the next can 'o' worms to open!!

ToneControl · February 2015

I'm not a fan of using heavy strings for no reason, but I think very few use 10s on an acoustic -most likely a setup issue is the problem

Good quality acoustics with a solid wood top tend to need a certain amount of tension to sound right, it changes the way the top works

I've found that most sound OK with 11s, but that if I drop to DADGAD, the bottom D can sound awful, so for 11s-tension I have to use a dedicated DADGAD set

You can do an experiment yourself - tune the guitar down 2 semitones, and see if it sounds less bright and alive.

Once you choose a gauge (which I'm guessing will be 11s), you can fine tune the truss rod and action if needs be. Many acoustics have a very high bridge, which is an issue if you play up to the 14th fret

For the finger-stress, it is harder work to play an acoustic, and the action will be higher usually (this also affects tone - too low will make it sound poor), but as ICBM says, the first thing to suspect is a high nut, since almost all new guitars arrive in this condition

I often drop the bridge a bit too, but since you can't raise it up again without a shim, could be worth getting a Pro to do it

ICBM · February 2015

Travisthedog said:
I'll swing into absolute music and pick up some 11's and 10's

Be sure to check the gauges, some of them can be odd.

Typically, you may find…

10s - 10, 14, 23, 30, 39, 47

11s - 11, 15, 22, 32, 42, 52

12s - 12, 16, 24, 32, 42, 53

Notice the odd gauges in the 11s.

When I had two different-type electro-acoustics, one more of a thinline solidbody, I used to simply get a set of 10s for that and a set of 11s for the fully acoustic one and swap the G strings.

Travisthedog · February 2015

richardhomer;511102" said:
[quote="Travisthedog;33793"]Posts telling me to man up will be reported as cyber bullying

Man up you girl!

....I use 13s[/quote]

Mods!!!

I've been cyber bullied

axisus · February 2015

I have 10s on my Taylor. Sounds fine to me. No punter will notice the difference!

Sassafras · February 2015

10's on mine. Gives me a nice bright tone.

Strangely, I prefer heavier strings on my electrics.

ICBM · February 2015

Sassafras said:

10's on mine. Gives me a nice bright tone.
Strangely, I prefer heavier strings on my electrics.

You're even weirder than me then!

I thought I was unusual enough in preferring 11s on both electric and acoustic...

Sassafras · February 2015

I suppose it's because I find 11s easier to grab for bends on the electrics.

menamestom · February 2015

My acoustic came alive when I switched to 13's. Can't imagine 10's being any better than an electric with a boss AC-3? 12's the most versatile, best of both worlds and at least drive the top. Only takes a few weeks to go from sore fingers to a nice sound, worth the effort. Or you could try silk and steels?

BigLicks67 · February 2015

I used 10's on my Martin for years - it sounded okay to me and it's better than RSI.

I'm back on 12's now though - but as a temporary measure it's worth a try after all there are no medals.

MattFGBI · February 2015

Go hybrid. 10's on the treble strings but 54 to 32 on the bass strings.

Travisthedog · February 2015

I went for 11's Ernie ball Earthwounds

Much easier on the fingers and I could hear no noticeable tone differences

Sassafras · February 2015

Travisthedog said:

I went for 11's Ernie ball Earthwounds

Much easier on the fingers and I could hear no noticeable tone differences

How do the earthwounds differ from, say, Daddarios or Martins?

I've often wondered about the earthwounds but never tried them.

Travisthedog · February 2015

As an acoustic virgin I have no point of reference mate!!

crunchman · February 2015

menamestom said:

My acoustic came alive when I switched to 13's. Can't imagine 10's being any better than an electric with a boss AC-3? 12's the most versatile, best of both worlds and at least drive the top. Only takes a few weeks to go from sore fingers to a nice sound, worth the effort. Or you could try silk and steels?

I once played an acoustic with 13s for an hour or two every day for 3 weeks. My fingers didn't get used to it. They just hurt.

It's not just the tips of the fingers either. They may be what is the sorest in the short term but heavy strings do put strain on your joints etc. in the longer term.

Phil_aka_Pip · February 2015

My Gretsch Jim Dandy is wearing 10s. I'm going back to 11s next.

menamestom · February 2015

crunchman said:

menamestom said:

My acoustic came alive when I switched to 13's. Can't imagine 10's being any better than an electric with a boss AC-3? 12's the most versatile, best of both worlds and at least drive the top. Only takes a few weeks to go from sore fingers to a nice sound, worth the effort. Or you could try silk and steels?

I once played an acoustic with 13s for an hour or two every day for 3 weeks. My fingers didn't get used to it. They just hurt.

It's not just the tips of the fingers either. They may be what is the sorest in the short term but heavy strings do put strain on your joints etc. in the longer term.

If the guitar is set up well with a well cut nut and decent action, 13's can be fine. Sometimes I do play tuned down a step, which 13's work well with. What ever gauge if it's a constant fight there's no need to play through the pain barrier! That said, i've been playing acoustic for over 20 years and never had joint pain, but most of that is with 12's. 13's on the wrong guitar could be hard work.

Octahedron · February 2015

Just out of interest... what's the heaviest acoustic strings? Bass strings don't count (acoustic bass).

I have played 13s (unintentionally), and 12s (intentionally) but that's about it. Do they come any thicker than that?

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10's on an acoustic

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