Strings feel too tight and are just .12?

danielpena002 · December 2016

Hello, I have researched a few sites and I have notices that most people prefer .12 on their acoustic guitars because they suit both need, playing comfortably and rich sound, but I have .12 on my Fender CD140SCE and It's a pain for me, I can barely do a bar chord, some notes are hard to play (Specially on higher frets) and it hurts a lot. I've had it for a very long time, and I play bass and electric guitar very confortably. The action isnt that high either, I even took it to a luthier and he told me the strings were too tight. What should I do? I'm afraid of getting .11 because the sound may not be as rich. I use D addario phosphor bronze ej16 lights, and I love their sound.

RandallFlagg · December 2016

It sounds like you need to practice. I use .013s on my D28 with a buzz free medium action. If I don't play for a while then it feels a bit stiff and challenging for a while but that soon goes within ten minutes or so. A few runs through Pinball Wizard loosens the fingers!

play every day and your hand and finger muscles will strengthen up.

Lewy · December 2016

danielpena002 said:

I even took it to a luthier and he told me the strings were too tight. What should I do?

First thing to do is go to a different luthier because that's a very odd thing to say ....

One thing that can make a guitar feel like a struggle to play - even if the strings aren't that heavy and the action is normal - is excess relief. You'd be amazed at the different it can make.

If if you put a capo on the first fret, then hold down the low E string at wherever the neck joins the body (usually either 12th or 14th fret) - look to see how much of a gap there is at the 7th fret between the fret and the string you're holding down. If that gap is more than a piece of paper thick, that could be your problem and you need a truss for adjustment.

Getting this right makes a BIG difference to how a guitar feels to play.

FelineGuitars · December 2016

11s are quite fine - try a set
Seriously you are supposed to be enjoying playing
A set of strings can be £6-7 so not the end of the world if you choose to change again sometime
But do check to see if the action on the guitar isn't a little bit stiff too
The 3 things that can contribute to a nice feeling set-up are
1) a well cut nut that allows the strings to ring cleanly openly but is cut low enough to minimise the effort of playing a fretted note.
2) a neck that is nearly straight - minimal relief - this woll kep the action reasonably consistent from the 2nd fret to about the 10th
3) a saddle that is cut to give you an optimum string height at the 12th fret (for you ...not anyone else - ignore the manly bragging of players using 13s and having an inch high action - it's you that is playing the guitar)
If you put a capo on at the first fret and have a reasonably straight neck , having an action of about 0.078"-0.088" on the bass side is lovely (two purple tortex picks is 0.088 if you need an easy way to measure - feeler gauges will be easier)

For the treble side you can try going a bit lower - maybe 0.060"-0.070"
For metric fans that is 2-2.2mm on the bass and 1.5-1.75mm on the treble

ICBM · December 2016

What FelineGuitars said.

I'd be very suspicious about a luthier saying the stings are "too tight", and I'm not sure I'd accept the rest of what he said at face value. Luckily it's easy to check yourself.

First check the nut height - fret each string at the third fret and look at the gap between the string and the first fret. It should be tiny - less than a quarter of the string diameter. Any more and it will not only make the guitar feel stiff to play, the intonation will probably be a bit off in the lower positions as well.

If that looks OK (or at least close - very few guitars come with a factory set-up as good as that), then check the relief - hold the guitar normally and fret the G string at the first fret and the first that's over the body, usually the 15th on an acoustic. Have a look at the gap between the string and the 7th fret - it should be less than the string diameter, and preferably less than half that.

Finally check the bridge height - fret the top E string at the 15th fret and bend it up a whole tone (this might hurt a bit!), and pick it hard. If it doesn't choke or buzz, the action could probably come down a bit. Typically if the nut and relief are right you should find the top E is about 1.5 to 2mm above the 12th fret.

If all of that is definitely OK, or at least in the right ballpark, try a set of 11s - they're not actually that much lighter than 12s in terms of overall tension (often the A and D strings are in fact exactly the same gauges as in a set of 12s) so they won't change the tone too much, but the top strings in particular do feel a lot easier to play.

For what it's worth, when I was gigging fairly regularly with an acoustic I changed to 11s for exactly that reason - 12s were just a bit tiring and painful to play for a full set. I do play a lot of barre chords high up the neck too.

Modulus_Amps · December 2016

I use 11 on my acoustic, best move I ever made as I did not enjoy using 12 on that guitar.
saying that I have had other acoustics with 12's that were great, so it is a setup issue to some degree.

if you are just playing by yourself you can try detune a half step, slackening the strings a little. worth a try.

Unfortunately though string tension is determined by physics, strings of a certain gauge/mass,at specified length have to be tensioned to a specific force to ring out at a specific frequency, my maths might be dodgy on this, but something like
Tension = 4 x (F^2) x Length x Mass,
so to reduce tension you have to reduce the frequency or the scale length or the gauge of the strings.....

Jimbro66 · December 2016

I just Googled your guitar @danielpena002 and saw that it is a cutaway dreadnaught. That type of guitar is often, but not always, strung with 13s. Nonetheless, it should be reasonably comfortable to play with 12s if it is set up correctly, i.e. all the adjustments described by @ICBM and @FelineGuitars.

I have two acoustic guitars that are both Martin OM shape so outwardly both similar and both are strung with 12s. One cost me around £500 and the other about five times that much. The more expensive one came from a respected luthier and he made sure that the guitar was set up exactly how I wanted it before it left his workshop. The cheaper guitar came straight from a factory. It will be no surprise if I say that the luthier set up guitar is a pleasure to play for long periods but the factory guitar was really hard going - until it was properly set up. As long as the neck profile of your Fender feels comfortable to you, a good professional setup will improve its playability considerably. But do bear in mind that, with few exceptions, acoustic guitars are going to test you more than a low-action electric strung with 9s/10s. So you need to work at it as @RandallFlagg said, maybe starting with 11s.

A word of caution: The specs for your guitar say it has a compensated bridge saddle sitting on the Presys system transducer. If the action is lowered as part of the setup it is essential that material is removed only from the bottom of the saddle and that needs to be done very precisely to avoid possible imbalance of volume across the strings when playing amplified - it's a potential problem with that type of transducer. It is a job for an experienced skilled luthier, not a general repair person or DIY.

Good luck.

ToneControl · December 2016

11s are fine

don't believe in the hype, a guitar is an instrument - it's there to work the way you want it to

to check if the guitar is OK
buy one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HUM0H9A/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

or

this easier plastic one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Guitar-String-Action-Gauge-Ruler-Measuring-Luthier-Tool-Bass-Electric-Acoustic-/391650120665?hash=item5b302a93d9:g:dFwAAOSwcUBYTnEM

and do all the tests: checking the relief with the string pressed at the first fret , look down the neck, etc

NB: a lot of guitars dry a little and the relief and action increase in the winter with central heating, you can correct with a tiny trussrod adjustment, read a lot about it before trying it

RandallFlagg · December 2016

I wasn't making a macho comment regarding my use of 0.013s but regular playing and practice will get you used to higher gauge strings and action. For me, on my D28 the biggest and best tone is with 0.013s, so I push myself to adapt. I genuinely don't like the tone of skinny strings.

Once I got used to this 0.010s on my electrics feel way too slinky so I moved up to 0.011s.

richardhomer · December 2016

RandallFlagg said:

I wasn't making a macho comment regarding my use of 0.013s but regular playing and practice will get you used to higher gauge strings and action. For me, on my D28 the biggest and best tone is with 0.013s.

There's no doubt in my mind that dreadnoughts 'need' 13s to sound at their optimum.

000s/Taylors, etc are fine with 12s - but lighter than that always compromises volume - and to a degree - tone.

Oddly, in spite of using 13s on my D28, I use 9s on my Strat, as I bend a lot and don't want to knacker my fingers as I get older.

mellowsun · December 2016

Tommy Emmanuel uses light strings and a very low action.

Many pro's are similar. If you play a lot, heavy strings and a high action won't do you any favours. I've had tendonitis and it took 2 years to recover. You really want to avoid this!

Lewy · December 2016

mellowsun said:

Tommy Emmanuel uses light strings and a very low action.

Many pro's are similar. If you play a lot, heavy strings and a high action won't do you any favours. I've had tendonitis and it took 2 years to recover. You really want to avoid this!

Tommy also has a guitar set up with 0.013s because he like the sound and feel for some things.

Its about style and application. For example, 99% of pro bluegrass players and flatpickers use .013s and medium actions. Even the kids picking at festivals do. BUT...they use a lot of open positions with a capo and would very rarely play a full barre chord up the neck (or because of the key they were playing in). So string gauge isn't a problem. They also don't tend to play 2 hr sets.

I couldnt imagine playing a pop gig like that though.

crunchman · December 2016

richardhomer said:

RandallFlagg said:

I wasn't making a macho comment regarding my use of 0.013s but regular playing and practice will get you used to higher gauge strings and action. For me, on my D28 the biggest and best tone is with 0.013s.

There's no doubt in my mind that dreadnoughts 'need' 13s to sound at their optimum.

Depends on the guitar. If you have a regular Martin D28 with the beefed up non-scalloped post war bracing then yes you do need thicker strings.

Get something with a lightly braced responsive top though and you don't need the thicker strings.

Jimbro66 · December 2016

Some very valid comments from @mellowsun and @Lewy there. Playing style, guitar type and whether amplified or not are very relevant to string gauge choices.

Each time I have seen Tommy Emmanuel his guitar has been amplified to surprisingly high volume with internal pickup and sound hole blocked off. He is effectively using an acoustic guitar as an electric and could just as well be playing something like a Gibson archtop.

Bluegrass players rarely use internal pickups and most often play to a single mic shared with the band so they are looking for maximum tone and projection to compete with the volume of banjos. They get that through heavy strings.

As others have said here, there is a trade off between playing comfort and ultimate tone/volume. I like to gig with my OM strung with 12s and mic'd up rather than using its Fishman transducer. That achieves best front of house sound. But I do a lot of finger picking style. If I was playing rhythm acoustic guitar in a band context and relying completely on the guitar's built-in pickup I would probably use 11s to make barre chords up the neck easier, even on a dreadnought.

mellowsun · December 2016

On acoustic I only play fingerstyle so I tend not to go beyond 12s. I like the note shaping that's possible with lighter strings. I do tend to play a steel string like a classical guitar though!

danielpena002 · December 2016

Thanks to everybody for your answers.
I double checked, and I'm actually using .12's, so there are two problems
-String height
-Truss Rod (a tiny bit, but it matters)
I detuned a half step and it seems better now, so I'll take it to a luthier to set it up with .12's
Thanks to everybody

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Strings feel too tight and are just .12?

Comments