Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

hey I use D'adario bronze 11's on my acoustic. I like the sound but they dont stay tuned well and seem to lose their good tone after maybe 8-10 hr.s of play. ( thats after 2 hr.s to get the ring out of em) I've used em for yr.s but I'd like to find something better.
anyone have a suggestion for a good medium gage acoustic string?

I found the best acoustic strings for my Taylor and Martin are a brand called: Elixir.... very freakin' expensive but well worth it! I use 12's and they sound awesome!

bronze strings sound fantastic, but they lose luster really fast.

Elixirs Ive heard are really great, haven't tried them myself.

I tried Elixir 12's for 1 week, and had to take them off (my acoustic guitar).
Too fat, basically.
I use 10's - Martins or D'Adarios. I like D'Adarios a little better - the 'in-between' guages are different, and a little better for me.
When I bought the Elixiers, I didn't realize they made smaller guages - maybe I'll try them again sometime, if I can find them in 10's.
For my style of music, I need 10's.
Most of my music has hundreds and hundreds of chord changes per song - don't recall what I have posted . . .
My song "Jaunty Boy" (and similar songs) will wear out anybody's fingertips after playing stuff like that for 3 - 4 hours; I don't care how much callus one has . . . There's probably upward of 700 - 800 chord changes in that song . . . never counted . . .
I do a lot of sliding, and a lot of fast chord changes.
11's cut back on my playing time by 20%.
12's are just too cumbersome . . . and the heavier stuff is like playing on aircraft cables, for most of my music. I need more finess . . .
When I buy strings, I ask for the lightest guage acoustic strings in the store; usually 10's . . . .
Anyway . . .
Elixiers are best know for their plastic-like coating, which locks out rust, and prevents a fat buildup of dirt.
But my strings never, ever rust, and they wear out mechanically before any dirt buildup. They loose all their 'twang' by 7- 8 days - dull and dead-sounding after 9 -10 days . . . I play a lot.
After 3 weeks, all my wire-wound strings have notches in them from the frets, up to the 14th or 15th fret or so . . .
.
By the way . . .
Elixers, because of the teflon-like coating, are slipperier.
When you slide form, say, the 3rd fret to the 10th or 12th fret, you'll likely overshoot by 1/2 a fret ot so. Even from the 5th to the 9th frets you'll feel the difference - the frets are no longer quite where they're supposed to be . . .
You'll adapt fast enough . . .
.
Elixers are just not for me; but they may be good for you . . .
And - there's only one way to find out, eh?

From the looks of your pic, man, you've GOTTA take it easy on your fingers
Ummm.. after reading that, I realized it doesn't sound very nice -.-
You hear what I'm saying, eh?

yeah I know what ya mean about cutting playing time, but the 11's have such a thick full bodied sound its worth it! your right Kramer, the D'adario bronze sound awesome, but they do wear out way too fast (especially for $10 a pop). after the 2 hours of wearing the ring out of em, I wear em out in 2 day's! (maybe 8 hr.s of play) yes I am that starving artist you hear about so it kills me to sound great for 2 day's them hate it till I get another set. I hear Elixer's run about $20 a set and I'd have no problem w/that if they last more than 10-12 hour's of playing time. do they make 11's or maybe 10's?

I've used Martin med's for 30+yrs. They're 13's. Recently I've noticed my hand strength is dropping due to my ulna nerve problems, & when I played my solo gig yesterday they about killed me. Guess I'll have to get the lights from now on.

I really dislike the Elixres. They come pre-deadened for your convenience. I love the ring of a new string, myself. When I was playing every week I always changed my strings weekly. I don't play that much anymore. Maybe if I did, the med's wouldn't kill me.

For any newbies reading this, you should know that the heavier strings are louder.
I went frim 13's to 12's to 11's to 10's before I found the right strings for me/my music.
The 10's are probably about 3/5 loud as the 13's . . .
It's a very noticable volume difference.
If you play acoustically w/ 10's, and someone else is playing with heavy guage strings, you're going to have to strike the strings a lot harder to have an equivalent volume.
Your best bet is to plug in (hopefully you bought an acoustic guitar with a built-in pickup), and crack the volume a tad . . .
Personally, the volume has never been a real issue with me. But I do agree the heavier strings tend to have a fuller sound.
.
There's another consideration about acoustics w/built-in pickups. As any set of strings get older, the strings get a duller sound.
Most acoustics w/ pickups have equalizers. Ranges are typically low, mid, high and 'bright.'
Learn how to use that equalizer.
I can get a great tone, electronically, w/ old strings.
Using my Kustum amp, and dead strings w/equalizer, I am constantly being told by my audiences how great the tone is on my guitar.
And that's with worn out, dull-sounding, extra light guage (10's) strings.

Here's a tip for acoustic guitarists: boost the bass and cut the midrange. Get them perfect, first, and then, very slowly and very carefully adjust the high end. Your guitar/amp combo might be different than mine, though.
Give your guitar to a friend, set your amp to "playing-live-volume" get 30 feet in front of the speakers, and have him play a few chords. Tell him what to boost/cut on the levels. And remember the settings.
One more tip.
My Amp has a woofer and a horn. As you all know, the woofer's lower tones go out in just about every direction, but the higher tones from the horn go out fairly straight.
That means that you'll be hearing about the same low-end as your audience, but you will NOT be hearing any high end at all.
When my guitar/amp are set for perfect tone (for the audience), and I'm not using a monitor, the high notes sound very faint to me.
If you are in this situation, don't make the mistake of boosting th treble until it sounds right to you, because your audience will think it sounds shrill and tinny . . . and they may not say anything about it, either . . .
. . .
. . . umm . . . geez, I just saw how long this post is . . .what a blowhard I am . . .

thanks Rythym thats very usable advise! ya know, after the D'adario's go good n dead they do stay in tune (I mean like a bass) for quite a while. I think I'll give the slider's a lil workout n try it out. my only concern on stage is playing relaxed, and if I can get near the same sound w/steady tuning, that's one more chip towards that!

"then she clipped my wing's.....an I never felt a thing"
................................Hayden King...........................

ive been using alchemys 12s on my ovations getting long life,keep them clean and use the glide I love that stuff,using martin marquees 13s on my martin nice full rich tone especially on the top strings

I have to agree with Crip on the Martin and Elixir recommendation. I like DR (RARE) a lot, too.

r

I've been using dean markley blue steel 11's on my acoustic recently. They sound pretty good, seem to have good life span too. Pretty bright, so good for recording. And another couple reasons why I've been getting them...you can find them almost anywhere and...well...they're cheaper than many other strings as well. As much as I would love to be a little more rightous about my gear (got to spend money to make money-type stuff), it's a nickel-and-dime world out there for me right now. Got to do what you can.

hey thanks for all o the advise gang....I'll start checking em out.

Been using Earthwood for years both 6 & 12 the light and med lights good responce nice crispness,on the full range lows to highs,seem to hold a good tune and last fairly well,price is reasonable.
Just a thought