12s or 13s on your Dreadnought acoustic?

RandallFlagg · November 2016

Which gauge for the win?

ToneControl · November 2016

11

bluechargeboy · November 2016

I use either:
11s, which are loads easier to play than:
12s, which sound better.

Many dreads come strung with 13s which I imagine brings out the best sounds, but it depends if you are wanting to do dreadnoughty strumming or get busy with lead lines. I've never tried them and have no interest in doing so TBH.

tone1 · November 2016

11's for me

RandallFlagg · November 2016

11s? big girls blouses!

bluechargeboy · November 2016

Sorry to tell you this but all acoustic players are big girls' blouses; there are no subdivisions within that. :P

ICBM · November 2016

12s at the moment - it's a big heavy guitar even by Dreadnought standards and I felt 11s sounded a little thin - although the biggest problem is that most sets of 11s come with a 22 G, which is noticeably too light and thin-sounding - it needs to be a 23, which oddly a set of 10s normally comes with! I've never quite understood that.

My ideal gauge might actually by 11/12 hybrids - 12s, but with the 11 and 15 plain strings.

bluechargeboy · November 2016

I am trialling 11s at the moment; they surely sound thinner but the needs of the performance outweigh the tone IMO (Martin Retro monel strings use a 23 G by the way).

Lewy · November 2016

.013s, but with quite a low action and a very straight neck.

Lewy · November 2016

bluechargeboy said:

the needs of the performance outweigh the tone IMO

There's a lot to that. A lot of people fetishise tone over actually playing well....not limited to acoustic (or guitar for that matter).

daveww · November 2016

11 to 50 Newtone masterclass

jimmyguitar · November 2016

12-53 D'Addarios but tuned D-D. Really suits a dreadnought and sounds huge but solos are easier to play. I get loads of compliments from punters at my solo acoustic gigs.

AliGorie · November 2016

RandallFlagg said:

Which gauge for the win?

not sure what u's question is RF, the type of guitar is not all that relevant - u's playing style is.
presuming it's a standard Dread - spruce 'n something with a 25.4 scale length it depends what type of tension u like to work with / against.
Grassers usually like more resistance for the h'ons and p'offs they do also there's 'that sound' they get from playing behind the soundhole so 13's are widely used. They also acoustically have to compete with banjo, mandolin and fiddle so need the 'punch' of that extra tension.
I play a deep body'd OM, in tuning and use 13's - never in standard.
Do u use tuning's ?
and so on

richardhomer · November 2016

13s - though I use a lot of dropped tunings.

BigMonka · November 2016

12s ftw

thermionic · November 2016

13-56 for me. I've always had 12s on my other acoustic, so I don't think 12s on a dread would sound too bad really.

RandallFlagg · November 2016

AliGorie said:

RandallFlagg said:

Which gauge for the win?

not sure what u's question is RF, the type of guitar is not all that relevant - u's playing style is.
presuming it's a standard Dread - spruce 'n something with a 25.4 scale length it depends what type of tension u like to work with / against.
Grassers usually like more resistance for the h'ons and p'offs they do also there's 'that sound' they get from playing behind the soundhole so 13's are widely used. They also acoustically have to compete with banjo, mandolin and fiddle so need the 'punch' of that extra tension.
I play a deep body'd OM, in tuning and use 13's - never in standard.
Do u use tuning's ?
and so on

Bashing out Pinball Wizard or Going Mobile in your best Pete Townsend style...what else is there?

I'm kidding, but the reason I like a Dread is to be able to play hard like Pete Townsend but also have a guitar that can sound OK for Neil Young type picking such as Needle and The Damage Done. I'm no finger style virtuoso.

My D28 can sound a little restrained with 12s, but I prefer the more balanced tone when compared to a HD28 (which is all bass and treble and seems hollow in the mids), I'm toying with going to 13s, and it's been a long while since I tried them and at £17 a pop for a set of coated long life strings and with a couple of sets of 12s in the drawer, I can wait!

When did strings get to £17 a go? jeez.

Lewy · November 2016

I think a standard D28 benefits from .013s definitely. With setup there's no reason for that to be a struggle, especially for the sort of stuff you're looking to play.

sweepy · November 2016

13's for DADGAD and other turnings , 12's for standard

olafgarten · November 2016

I use 12s on my Sigma 000, I think any more tension would be dark too much for any sort of lead playing.

BigLicks67 · November 2016

A few years ago after a bout of RSI I had to drop to 10's, then to 11's and I'm now back to 12's. I think 12's are the ideal, you can get away with 13's on standard braced guitars, but I'd avoid on scalloped bracing. Obviously, all this is based on using standard tuning, lower tunings would probably dictate heavier strings.

crunchman · November 2016

It does depend on the guitar. Get something responsive that's not over braced and you don't need stupidly heavy strings. Get a modern D28 and you do need heavy strings to get the top moving.

AuldReekie · November 2016

12s on my Santa Cruz; my Larrivee TSB SD50 sounds amazing with 13s but find 12s easier to play and that's what I usually put on it

AliGorie · November 2016

RandallFlagg said:

When did strings get to £17 a go? jeez.

'r u talking about

Thomastik-Infeld strings ?.
their 'Spectrum's' are quite possibly the best strings made, in materials and manufacture (for acoustic guitar).
Superb, of course they wont suite everyone or every guitar but the amount of expertise involved is beyond what we've come to expect from the £5 a set US brands.
The layer of silk between the core and wrap wire really works to neutralizing that 'metallic clang' ya get with the likes of D'Addario's on a decent quality acoustic.
£17 ? tax deductibles to a pro-musician might be the answer

thomasross20 · November 2016

Tell you what, after every 2 hours acoustic practice on a Wednesday with just 11s, and after having gotten the action lowered, I still find my plucking hand sore. I'm half tempted to go back to the trusty Little Martin guitars which I found a breeze to play.. but clearly sounds nothing like my Larrivee. Damn it!

BigLicks67 · November 2016

thomasross20 said:

Tell you what, after every 2 hours acoustic practice on a Wednesday with just 11s, and after having gotten the action lowered, I still find my plucking hand sore. I'm half tempted to go back to the trusty Little Martin guitars which I found a breeze to play.. but clearly sounds nothing like my Larrivee. Damn it!

I'm pretty sure that the Little Martin has a 23 inch scale and the Larrivee is most likely 650mm/25.5 inches, so there is a big difference re string tension. It might be worth having a look at the neck relief on the Larrivee as an adjustment might make things a bit easier or alternatively try a Gibson J45 which has a 630mm scale length.

Lewy · November 2016

thomasross20 said:

Tell you what, after every 2 hours acoustic practice on a Wednesday with just 11s, and after having gotten the action lowered, I still find my plucking hand sore. I'm half tempted to go back to the trusty Little Martin guitars which I found a breeze to play.. but clearly sounds nothing like my Larrivee. Damn it!

Sore where...fingertips? How are you picking the strings....flesh, nail, both etc?

thomasross20 · November 2016

It's like a day-long throbbing pain along my tendons

RandallFlagg · November 2016

AliGorie said:

RandallFlagg said:

When did strings get to £17 a go? jeez.

'r u talking about
Thomastik-Infeld strings ?.
their 'Spectrum's' are quite possibly the best strings made, in materials and manufacture (for acoustic guitar).
Superb, of course they wont suite everyone or every guitar but the amount of expertise involved is beyond what we've come to expect from the £5 a set US brands.
The layer of silk between the core and wrap wire really works to neutralizing that 'metallic clang' ya get with the likes of D'Addario's on a decent quality acoustic.
£17 ? tax deductibles to a pro-musician might be the answer

No, Martin or Elixir coated long life strings:

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/acoustic-guitar-strings-sets-c33/martin-lifespan-msp7200-phosphor-bronze-acoustic-guitar-strings-13-56-medium-p444

crunchman · November 2016

The coated strings have always been about 3 times the price of normal strings. If they last 3 times as long you are fine. If they don't then buy normal strings - unless you are lazy and don't want to change them as often.

AliGorie · November 2016

ah, see what ya mean Randy, something I never consider - ‘coated’ as quality non coated las me 1 to two years - so no need thankfully, as I can hear the effect the coating has on the sound + the typical quality of materials is VERY average alloys in coated strings.
Your paying for a slightly longer lasting string - the coating - but your also paying for reduced sales a company would incur - either way, they got ya if you sweat acid, your gonna have to live with average sounding, strange feeling expensive consumables.
On that point - has anyone tried DR Dragon Skins - which I believe are their ‘Rares’ with a coating of which I’m a fan.

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12s or 13s on your Dreadnought acoustic?

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