Strings for 3/4 acoustic

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Gavin
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Strings for 3/4 acoustic

Post by Gavin »

I have a wee 3/4 size acoustic that I bought around 2010 and I've never changed the strings.

I want something low gauge so I don't hurt my fingies but still has a decent enough sound.

Any recommendations?
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paul_
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Re: Strings for 3/4 acoustic

Post by paul_ »

I know you just bought a new acoustic anyway, but Martin and D'Addario (and apparently a few other brands) make Silk & Steel folk strings, which are very light on the fingies. You don't even have to go with a lighter gauge to get this benefit from them but I believe they only come in a lighter gauge than is typical for an acoustic anyway, they're like 11s.

I used to use them a lot on my Martin 00-15 when I was focusing on my fingerpicking, but went back to phosphor and 80/20 bronze sets eventually for the sound. I can't guarantee you'll like them because they're such a different sound, feel and volume to bronze strings, but they may be worth a try if you're viewing the 3/4 acoustic as a bit of a side-lark.

This is a very spammy/bloggy style write-up from stringsdirect.co.uk but I find most of what it says to be accurate from having used these strings without worrying too much about what EXACTLY they are and how they work for a few years some time back:

Image
Whilst silk and steel strings are designed to be played on steel strung acoustic guitars, you can clearly see that there’s a big nod to the design of classical strings here. As a result they share some similar characteristics when it comes to how they sound and play.

The addition of the silk layer certainly alters the tonality and playability and many of the brands that manufacture these sets cite the following characteristics;

Warmer, mellow tone
Lower tension
Less string noise

We’ve played plenty of the silk and steel sets we sell here at Strings Direct and we can testify that all sets certainly have a warmer tone and feel softer feel under the fingers in comparison to standard acoustic strings. In fact straight out of the packet, you can feel that these strings have less tension just by flexing them in your hands. The added flex also helps make fingering chords (especially barre chords) noticeably easier which would make these a good string to try out for new players to the instrument.

Many manufacturers also point out that silk and steel sets are ideal for fingerstyle players for their even, rounded tone but this also lends itself to general strumming too.. think of the silk layer sandwiched between the core and wrap wire as an audio compressor for your strings!

What sets are available?

Whilst silk and steel strings could be considered a fairly unique offering, there are plenty of big name brands that manufacture them including GHS, D’Addario, Ernie Ball and Martin. There are also some boutique string brands making sets such as Pyramid and John Pearse. In fact, several brands including New York based string makers La Bella produce 12-string sets too.
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User avatar
Gavin
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Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:27 am
Location: Scotland

Re: Strings for 3/4 acoustic

Post by Gavin »

Cheers. I mean, yeah, I already gave that guitar to a charity shop, but this is good info anyway.