Thank you for a very informative, thorough and comprehensive explanation of the differences between all the guitar strings. You made many valid points and your down to earth style is great to listen to as you don’t talk down to people who are watching who may be beginners or advanced.
For my Nylon String Guitars, I always use Ball End Nylon Strings (they do make Bridge Beads that allow you to convert Tie End Nylon Strings into Ball End Nylon Strings) which make restringing the Guitar a Snap, and it also lets the strings come out of the bridge at a steeper angle over the saddle.
They definitely make a heavy for acoustic. I used them on my Taylor 214DLX, which is tuned down to C standard. If you stay a half step down and don’t want to lose volume, go for medium.
I watch the video 4 times trying to decide on Medium to light after your explanation wich tell me u know what you are saying Tnks I play for many years always using da same Addario s once I use Ernie s but went back I play Acoustic.....Acoustic Electric.....Fender Strat and Strings are always on my normal budget.....4 times a year times 5 guitars....😁funny how money is spent when ur kids are grown. Tnk u n blessings u seem like a great guy....ttul
Thank you. I never thought about the strain on the guitar. I assumed the differences was playability and that heavier strings had clearer notes compared to the lighter ones. Keep it up, cheers!
Good video, thank you! The dreadn likes my new gibsons coated 12s a whole orchestra of tones&brigthness more.. I grew anough skin on the fingers to chainge them & the elixers ive had before got me there in my opinion. Every stringset serves its perpose on differend gitars-sounds-playabillety. Just dont break the gitar by too tick of strings!!
While lighter gauge strings are easier to play they actually work better on a longer scale length since each string needs a certain amount of tension to make a good sound on a particular note. I managed to put a set of 7s on a Baritone Acoustic Tuned up to E Standard & it sounded rather interesting.
I remember when I started playing guitar 15 years ago, I put D'Addario mediums on my acoustic because I thought the same thing. I sure developed my calluses quickly but it wasn't a fun experience starting out. These days I've settled on custom-light as my go to.
As an electric player buying acoustic strings for the first time I thought the acoustic sizes looked insanity large. 10's on electric are the norm, and 9's are considered light. There was no way I was getting medium acoustic strings, but I wasn't sure if I was wrong in my chowing custom lights.
I'm 21 I customize my own set of Thomastik flatwounds I take the thin strings from a pack of Ernie Ball strings my custom set is 7/38 with an 18 flatwound wound third My tone sounds the same as if I was using regular strings my style is pretty much like Luther Perkins
Hi, Mark. Something I came across a few months ago. Tried 12's on an American Standard, tuning a whole step down, all adjustments (truss rod, bridge, so forth) done. Did it trying to get a different "tone". It sounded terrible: dull, muddy, dead. Tried everything else: pickup height adjustment, EQ on the amp I use and in the end I gave up. Then, I did the same on a cheap Chinese made guitar I've had (and loved) for year. Ceramic pickups, body wood unknown, cheap pots etc. It sounded great: fat, lots of presence and a mellow tone which was what I aimed at. Something I'll never get to know (wood, maybe?) made all the difference along with the string gauge. Sometimes there is a little bit of alchemy and magic with guitars. Thanks again for your nice and informative videos, mate.
I use 11s on my Avalon's and Lowden's. They come from the workshop with 12s but I find them a little hard on my fingers as I play about 4 or 5 hours a day.
Really enjoy your videos. Always interesting. In this one, you don't talk about the thing I have the most difficulty with. Should I buy Phosphor Bronze, wound nickel, etc.? What's the tonal difference when using different alloys? Also, while you cover string weights ad nauseum in this video, you don't really speak to a question/debate I have with my other guitarists friends: do lighter gauge strings "weaken" tone/make things sound thin?
On my homemade electric guitar I use my own custom set of Thomastik flatwounds that I customize myself I take the thin light strings from an Ernie Ball pack my custom string set is 7/38 Thomastik flatwounds with an 18 flatwound wound third My tone sounds the same is regular old heavy strings Play country rockabilly bluegrass and Blues
So I am a SRV fanboy/wannabe….but never bought into that “heavy gauge = big tone fiction” I’ve played Billy Gibbons 7’s since they came out, and always get compliments on tone. Personally, I think what pick you use (or don’t use, and how you hold it) changes tone far more than any string gauge.
I'm 64 now and an ex pro. We used to use 8s or 9s were used for live work! They work I the high mids which let you cut through the mix. In a live situation,you get invited to go with friends to see a live band because they have a really good guitar player. All you can hear is, didly, didly, didly Dee, Dee, deeeeeee etc, very muffled too! You can use a boost pedal on solos but everyone has their fingers in their ears and when it's over, they say, they were good, but they knew it! They were too loud! It's because the strings are too heavy. If you use 8s or 9s at the most, this will not happen!!!!!! This is the old, old school coming out of me now! These are old basics coming out now. When live, it's easy to get low mids. Tone is exponentially thrown forward and it will get louder the higher and longer the room is. Hence the muffled sound. The mud frequency. The pressure zone. Their is only so much headroom? Heavy strings make things worse! Use 8s or 9s at the most. I'm begging you. I'm pleading with you. Don't do it!!!!! You're committing live suicide!!! You also get the Doppler effect (the fire engine going past effect) !bass players should use light strings too! This will sound stupid. They should use 10 inch speakers too. Get all the bass from the bass drum!!! This is not a guitar lesson, a lesson in live sound. Heavy strings are for anywhere but the live stage!!!! Don't do it. You'll be sorry! Listen to old granddad here. I won't lie!! Good luck, and peace to you all!!!!!!!
Thanks again another spot on video. I feel I should return the favour and as I do SEO for a living I'd suggest you add this to the video description "Tags: D'addario, Ernie Ball, guitar string explainer, string tension, heavy gauge strings explained, medium gauge strings explained, heavy gauge strings, pro & cons". You will get more people finding these great resources then. Sorry to offer unasked for advice but karma and all that good stuff. Cheers again.
Whats the best guitar to buy that easy to chord and play in a affordable price range,,i remember i use to play around with a les paul electric a friend had and it was heavy but easy to chord and play
Question. I tune to D standard on my Les Paul and Schecter and they sound good, they have 10s. I tune to D standard on my Yamaha and it sounds like garbage, it has 9s. Is string gauge size the factor here?
Hello! Thanks for sharing. Which gauge strings would you use on a J-200 jumbo, either Gibson or Epiphone? I don't play hard, more arpeggio style guitar playing, e.i., Greg Lake. Thanks for any input, and blessings from Michigan.
Try both and see which one's you like. Jumbo guitar are made for increased volume and are great guitars for strummers so if you do a lot of that then 11s or 12s would be fine. I wouldn't go any heavier though. I prefer 11s myself.
I Am Having To Tune 2 Frets And Use Capo On 2 Fret And There Still Put A Lot Of Stress On my Guitar using Elixir 80/20 Bronze Nano Web light Gauge Do not Know Whats Rong
What best strings for a beginner,im 65 and have tried to learn guitar many times but get frustrated when i have difficulty making bar chords etc due to my short fingers,,im a drummer and have played in bands since i was 10,,now i want to learn to play guitar so i can play some somgs ive written over the past years
Dip your toes into DADGAD tuning as many of the chords are easier to play than the traditional chord shapes and DADGAD tuning gives you beautiful lush sound when played. There's lots of open tuning videos out there to you to check out.
Strange that this gent, who sells guitars says that Daddario don't make "heavy" acoustic strings - Ej18/19. However I really don't think they are necessary for most. Medium gauge Ej17 (13-56) ARE standard for larger guitars such as dreads, archtops, resonators. (Lights (12-43) are for smaller guitars, 000 and smaller. I know of one player who uses lighter tan lights on is OM, but I don't know of anyone else that used extra/ultra lights.
i have a small body cheap acoustic, i just put a pack of 11-52s alice strings and they died quite fast. im planning on changing to some D'addario extra lights 10-50s see how it holds up.
With new guitars, yes, but the most popular string in electric is still the 10s. They outsell the 9s to the one. The 12s out sell the 13s and acoustic about three to one. And no one even carries heavy acoustic strings anymore except for low tunings.
I still can't decided between 12 or 11s for my acoustics .For decades I am still evaluating more tone and volume with the 12s but prefer the easier playability with 11,ime in a permanent stalemate lol
I’m trying Ernie Ball Extra Light 80-20’s at the moment 10-14-20-30-40-50 on my D18 They sound very balanced and are much easier to play. The volume difference doesn’t matter to me because I plug in 90% of the time unless I’m just noodling around.
Addendum: Took them off. “G” was buzzing and no matter how I adjusted the relief, I couldn’t correct it. Put the 12-54 80-20’s back on. Experiment over.
I used to use medium strings on acoustics. Last year I switched to light and I can feel like the guitar is easier to play and much easier to bend the strings
