Acoustic guitar strings

[stillafool]

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?

[philbo]

Phosphor Bronze are really bright sounding.

You can do a couple things:
1) Let them age. They start sounding pretty good when they're about 6 months old.

2) Try a different type. I like Elixirs (teflon-coated steel strings) better than anything else I've ever tried, both for electric and acoustic. Other people like other kinds.

Browse around on juststrings.com for a bit, bet 50 bucks on several sets of different types, see if you find something that works better for you.

If recording, you can do a lot to make the recorded sound darker. A LD condenser mike would be a starting point here.

[theBlubberRanch]

dump the taylor and get a martin.
All your troubles will float away.

[analogcabin]

Listen to Philbo........
Let the strings age, and try the Elixers. Martin Guitars are nice, but certainly not the cure for lifes woes. The word inconsistent comes to mind.

[theBlubberRanch]

let me have my fantasy, I've not got much else.

[KennyLusk]

That's right - dump the Taylor and get a Martin.

It's hard to get maple to sound warm anyway and especially with a Taylor. Even rosewood Taylors are bright.

I agree, the elixir strings may help and stay away from phosphorous bronze. Phosphorous strings have to be played at least 4 hours over a weeks time before they calm down.

[kayagum]

Couple of things:

* Get medium gauge strings (13-56). I can't tell you how much of a tonal difference it makes. Granted, I learned how to play guitar on a Yamaha acoustic that had bridge cables for strings, but boy was it a cannon. Heavier strings have way more depth, more control on bends, and you can really attack the strings, especially when fingerpicking. Unless you're a flatpicking monster (I mean, bluegrass level flatpicking monster), I'd go with mediums.

* If you can find DR rare phosphor bronze strings, use them. I think they have more mids and less piezo bright.

* I don't think the Taylor is necessary the culprit (although I couldn't be happier with my Martin 000-1), but between the maple, the cutaway (less body cavity = less boom and depth) and the body size (I don't know what specific model you have, but I'm betting it's not dreadnought sized), you're not going to get a full body sound. The flip size is that, because of the exact same reason, it would make a great stage guitar because it won't feedback as much, and it will probably have better cutting power, especially if you play with others.

* If you're dissatisfied with your amplified tone (I don't know what you have), try pickup combos (soundhole/bridge, mic/bridge, etc.) I also think that pickups that are film vs. specific piezo crystal for each string tend to sound warmer. And, make sure your pickup has the proper buffer and impedence matching.

Let us know how everything works out- good luck!

[tsw]

As somebody who owned that same Taylor (610ce) and has also owned Martins, I've gotta tell you, you're never gonna get the Taylor to NOT sound bright. Strings won't make much of a difference. However, the darkest strings I've used are Martin SP 80/20 Bronze. Still, that particular guitar...it took me a long time to admit to myself that the guitar was totally wrong for me, but once I did, I got a Martin D-18GE and was suddenly a much happier person.

[inverseroom]

Elixirs and heavier gauges are the ticket, IMHO. I like Elixirs because they last a long time and are a bit deadened right out of the box, which is the sound I like. Really ringing acoustic guitars don't sound very good in my mixes, and the Elixirs tend toward midrange punch.

Who said Martin? Pshaw! Gibson, I say! Though I must admit that I don't really like the under-two-grand Taylors, and who's got $3000 for an acoustic guitar? (Don't answer that.)

[Scodiddly]

I like my Taylor a lot, but it does tend to be bright. Fits my style, anyway.

But I'm also on a bit of a string search. The Elixers aren't bad, and I've heard Newtone strings recommended. Right now I'm using D'Addario EJ 16 (the guitar is a grand auditorium and uses light strings) and those sound pretty good.

I've found that picking more towards the middle of the strings, say around the end of the fingerboard, brings out the bottom a lot.

[honkyjonk]

woh,

Maybe I'm confused as to what bright is, but I think Elixirs are about the brightest sounding strings I've ever used. Plus they sound plasticy too.
Let Dave Mathews have 'em

And they take longer to age and deaden. Why reccommend Elixirs if what he needs is deader strings?


Also,

"If recording, you can do a lot to make the recorded sound darker. A LD condenser mike would be a starting point here"

Huh?

That's the kind of advice that makes home recording enthusiats buy Studio Projects mics and want to kill themselves. What LD condensor would be a good starting point to making your acoustic sound darker?

Try a dynamic or a ribbon.

[stillafool]

Thanks for the replies. I actually like the Taylor alot, although it wouldn't be my first choice for a guitar (neither would a Martin). Actually, when I bought it, I tried out as many guitars as I could play. My favorite was a Goodall koa model, but it was over 5 grand; my second favorite was a Santa Cruz (also Koa), around 4 grand. To be honest, I've never played a Martin that I like from a feel standpoint (although I do like their tone), and I've played hundreds of them. People mention not changing their strings. Although that might work for a bass, I've noticed that I lose some zing after a few hours of playing, and after a couple of days, the guitar doesn't have the same intonation. My first guitar teacher (Joe Satriani -- I know he goes "bloo dle be, bloo dle be, boo"), told me he changed his strings everyday. If I'm playing alot, I like to change them every other day.

[stillafool]

I keep reading about flatwounds vs roundwounds for bass. Does anyone know if that makes any difference on an acoustic guitar?

[inverseroom]

Try a dynamic or a ribbon.

I second that. I've been micing my J45 with an SM57 lately. If I were recording Leo Kottke it would sound sort of crappy, but with the part doubled and panned, it comes through the mix like a freight train. Yee-hah!

[dynomike]

"If recording, you can do a lot to make the recorded sound darker. A LD condenser mike would be a starting point here"

Huh?

That's the kind of advice that makes home recording enthusiats buy Studio Projects mics and want to kill themselves. What LD condensor would be a good starting point to making your acoustic sound darker?

Try a dynamic or a ribbon.

That should have been qualified... a lot of cheap ldcs are wicked bright. However, not always is this the case: My 4047 is fairly dark on acoustic, although a ribbon would be even better. Coles are probably too dark.. but a beyer m160 would do well.