Acoustic guitar strings

[stillafool]

I've been thinking of getting a Ribbon. I actually use an sm-81, which is a great mic, but it doesn't really complement this guitar, or my National Tricone.

[inverseroom]

stillafool, when you go out drinking, do you turn into fillastool?

[joeysimms]

stillafool, when you go out drinking, do you turn into fillastool?

Zing, Zang, ZUNG!

[stillafool]

Don't talk about your mother's mouth that way. It wasn't all that, but it wasn't a stool either.

stillafool, when you go out drinking, do you turn into fillastool?

[sdelsolray]

I was wondering if it makes that much of a difference what kind of strings you use. I use d'addario phosphour bronze lights (.012-.053), primarily for fingerpicking, but some strumming as well. The guitar's a nice guitar (a Taylor maple cutaway), but not exactly the warmest instrument. Are there any strings I can use to make it sound less bright?

Some good suggestions above. Here's mine:

1) Medium guage strings tend to warm up things.
2) D'Addario Flattops are perhaps the warmest string out there that still has a steel core. Otherwise, you might try GHS silk and bronze, which is certainly the "darkest" sounding string out there.
3) Your right hand technique may contribute to a lack of warmth, regardless of the guitar being used. This is not something that can be changed overnight, might take years.
4) Mics used and positioning can effect things. A pair of ribbons sound very different than a pair of SD condensers.

[llmonty]

Medium Martin Marquis really tamed the brightness of an ovation acoustic i have - really does the trick and no one that plays it can believe it is an ovation. Adds lots of depth.

Strings can make a huge difference. On my 50's kay jumbo maple the Marquis sounded terrible. Light Bronze strings sound great on them!

[inverseroom]

Don't talk about your mother's mouth that way. It wasn't all that, but it wasn't a stool either.

stillafool, when you go out drinking, do you turn into fillastool?

Hey! You gave me a ouchie!

[JASIII]

On the topic of Elixers:

There are two types, nano web (thin coating) and poly web(thicker coating). I only use the nanoweb, they are actually BRIGHTER than a normal string, take a few days to settle down, and then they retain a really, really nice level of "brightness" for a long time, like 2 months or so. The polyweb are just too thick and do sound deader, I recommend avoiding them. I use a maple body, cutaway Jumbo style bodied guitar and the Elixer nanowebs sound really good after they get broken in


Are the rest of you on crack?! There are 2 common types of acoustic strings: phosphor bronze ( alloy of copper, tin and phosphorous) and 80/20 bronze (alloy 80% copper, 20% zinc).

80/20's are BRIGHTER than phosphor bronze! Phosphor bronze provide about 80% of the brilliance of a new set of 80/20's, BUT 80/20's lose their intial brilliance quickly and mellow.

[KennyLusk]

CAD M37's are pretty dark (especially on acoustic guitar), and cheap.

I love J45's and almost bought one 3 weeks ago. I opted for a Martin OM-16GT though. Sweet, balanced response and a very comfortable guitar in the studio. The harmonic range is amazing. I recommend giving them a listen if you haven't yet.

Martin Marquis strings are rather dark (mellow) too (forgot about those) and they age fast.

[the brill bedroom]

I actually just got back from an acoustic guitar trek to good shop in NH (I convinced the wife it was to look at the foliage and then "hey, you know, I think there's supposed to be a cool guitar store near here.") and spent about an hour playing all sorts of crazy expensive guitars- and confirming some of the things I've felt over the years at various high-end guitar stores.

Maybe it's 'cuz I grew up near Nazareth, PA, but I've never gotten the Martin thing. Of course, they're lovely guitars, but i just spent some time playing a bunch of $2,000+ Martins and they were all fine, but none of them blew my mind. There was a 12 fret model with the old pre- war dreadnought shape that was exceptional, but the rest of them just felt like reliable, common, well-built guitars. Maybe I've just never played the right Martin (but I've played a lot of them)

There was also a Larivee 12 fret model which sounded really nice. It's a smaller body, but something about where the bride is places really gave it some body. I think it was around $1,000. They had a bunch of other Larivees- including a discontinued jumbo model- that didn't really do it for me.

I also tried a great sounding Collings (then looked at the price tag and put it down quickly), a Gibson J 200 that wasn't one of the better ones I've played, a Breedlove that was nice and a few others of various makes. I have to say, for the money, the gutar that really stood out was a Taylor 615. Maybe it's because I already own a Tylor so it felt familiar, but it was good for vigorous strumming and also nice for fingerpicking.

Stringwise, I'm kind of on the Elixers right now (just wish they'd sell single strings. You break one string and it's another $14), but Gibson makes a set that has a J 200 on the pack that is really nice. They're crisp, but have a nice old school tone- I put them on my taylor jumbo and they were greato, maybe they work differently on different sized guitars, but they're worth a try.

By the way, I'm a bass player, I don't really know anything about guitars anyway.

[vvv]

Just a weird, real-life run-on story from the trenches but Saturday I was recording a scratch track of acoustic 12 string to work out a part on an "insurgent-country" type tune I'm doing with this feller from Houston (whose acoustic parts I thought could probably not be added to for the better, at least by me,) and, well, I had a mic. cord hanging from a planter hook in the middle of the bedroom (15'x15') ceiling running into a Mackie old-school 1204 then into the computer and so, well, I clipped a C1000S into and let it hang pointing at the floor from about 5-6' high, and I sat about 3' away with the mic. behind and over my left shoulder (I play rightie, but sometimes spank leftie, did I say that? ) and then I EQ'd and limited in the box, and ended up using two, count 'em, two tracks of 12 string recorded thusly and forevermore.

Oh, and the strings are lights (for a 12 string) and bronze and corroded and nasty and probably at least 5 years old and could maybe give tetanus if you stick your yourself and they leave black marks on my fingers whenever I play this no-name (OK, it's a Morris) every couple of months or so.

But who wants to change, and tune, a 12 string's strings?

(Should I, eh, copyright the above?)