Electric guitar strings on Acoustic guitar

[simonv]

Good evening everyone,

Today I put d'Addario Chromes strings on my acoustic guitar.
And I just kept saying all afternoon how my acoustic has never played and sounded that good in ages, just to realize that those strings were made for electric guitars...

So, it made me think... what's the difference between electric and acoustic guitar strings?

[max cooper]

Acoustic strings are usually Bronze or Phosphor bronze wound. Bronze is a non-ferrous metal and won't interrupt the magnetic field of an electric pickup as well as the ferrous-wound electric strings.

No problem putting electric strings on an acoustic guitar, although if your truss rod is adjusted for heavier strings and you're putting lighter strings on the guitar for a good length of time you might want to have the rod adjusted.

The truss rod is designed to provide an opposing tension on the neck counter to the forward tension the strings place on the neck. If the rod is pulling harder than the strings, the neck could begin to warp backwards. Shouldn't be much to worry about in the short run, though.

The tone will be different, which it sounds like you're liking. Another factor is that most people use a plain "G" string on electrics whereas they'll use a wound "G" on an acoustic. Changing that voices chords differently.

[orange]

Of couse steel/chrome strings do sound different to bronze strings. Even different brands of string sound different.

They're not a rich IMO - useful in an emergency but I wouldn't use them as standard.

si

[goom]

Before the invention of electric guitars, what were strings made of? Was it always bronze, or was that a more modern thing, to use bronze on acoustic guitars.

[max cooper]

I believe metal wound strings came way before electric guitars. Since elec. guitars were mostly invented in small workshops (Orville Rickenbacker, Paul Bigsby, etc.) metal strings would have had to already be around.

So I bet most stringed instruments were strung with gut strings.

I'd bet metal wound strings have been around for a long long time. Otherwise, what did they string pianos and harpsichords with?

[mhartman]

I can tell you that metal wound strings were definitely around in the 20's and 30's. I've owned several 1920's and 30's Nationals and they were all metal string guitars from day one. If you look at the specks for old Martins from the early 1900's, they were braced for metal strings too (unless you are talking about a classical guitar).

Mike

[Marshy]

Hi evryone,
Interesting, what are your thoughts on acoustic strings? I mean what do you guys use or what is most popular out there? I'm not a very experienced guitar player so im always opend to info. Also i have a Fender Catalina acoustic (it's a Korean made) heard any feed back on this guitar?
Cheers,
Marshy.

[ArnieInTheSky]

It's in my experience people hear 'brighter', they hear 'better.' The fatness of the tone in guitar strings comes from the diameter of the cores of the strings, not the size of the string gauge and yeah the material. Generally speaking electric strings are smaller gauged and have smaller cores which end up producing less bottom end. When this happens you can hear more of the top end since there's no low end to inter fear. This is just general. You may have the hugest sounding acoustic with giant nickel cores.

The Catalina's haven't been around for a while. The first couple batches were made in Japan. It's a cheaper model. But hey if it sounds good, use it. As far as strings out there. I've been playing Martin SP's lately. They use Swedish stainless steel cores and electroplate bronze onto the cores and plain strings making the B and E strings less metallic sounding and more smooth sounding.

jl

[shikawkee]

I hate phospher bronze, shiney, plinky guitar strings.
I use the D'Aquisto Tony Rice nickel sets and I ain't going back!!

Sounds REAL (some say "vintage") and I haven't broke a string yet.

[wardshorsehead]

Before the dawn of bronze strings, most steel strings were nickel. Listen to the old time Carter Family, Louvin Brothers, Delmores, etc. Those were nickel strings.

Quite a few modern instruments are built around the assumption of bronze strings, and seem to sound better that way. But put a set of the correctly gauged nickel strings on a vintage box, and you get the tone that was characteristic of the instrument when it was made.

On my wooden Nationals, I tend to prefer phosphor bronze, but on my metal body, I love heavy gauge nickel strings.

And forget those dead on arrival Elixers. Sure they play nice for a long time, but it's like sitting on grandma's sofa with the plastic dust cover. Crap.

[noiseflaw]

I've just changed the strings on one of my acoustics to Electric D'ddario 10' gauge.

Serious lack of tone - but then the guitar isn't too great for that anyways.

I replaced the factory fit plastic bridge and neck saddles, to bone, I altered the truss rod and lowered the action.

Now that guitar is set up for 'strummy' pop songs with a light fresh acoustic feel.

Helps remove the boomy sound too.

Nice.........

[zootdaze]

Before the invention of electric guitars, what were strings made of? Was it always bronze, or was that a more modern thing, to use bronze on acoustic guitars.

In the past, guitar strings were made of either wire or gut. (Gut strings were usually called catgut, but were actually almost always made from sheeps' intestines.)

[Devina]

we used fishing lines if out in the bush.....different
pound weighted lines

[Rednose]

Well, it probably won't record well.
Had a session where the dude strung his acoustic with electric string.
No volume, sounded terrible.
I would recomend restringing with Martin Mediums.

[kafka]

Originally Posted by simonv

Good evening everyone,

Today I put d'Addario Chromes strings on my acoustic guitar.
And I just kept saying all afternoon how my acoustic has never played and sounded that good in ages, just to realize that those strings were made for electric guitars...

So, it made me think... what's the difference between electric and acoustic guitar strings?

Well, the D'Addario Chromes are flatwound strings. i.e. the wound strings are wound with a ribbon of metal over the core, as opposed to a wire. These are a specialty string. You usually use these only for Jazz on archtops, although I once met someone who liked them on his Les Paul. I think Ed Bickert puts them on his Telecaster, but I've never heard of anyone else doing that. For about 20 years I used nothing else on my ES-175, although now I will occasionally put roundwounds on.

As far as the difference between electric and acoustic strings goes, it's the material of the winding on the wound strings. Acoustic strings are usually wound with bronze, whereas electrics are usually wound with steel. There are also different standards for sizing. A light acoustic set might range from .012 - .052. This would be heavy for an electric set, which can go down to .008 - .038. The flatwounds are usually spec'd similarly to acoustics, with .012 - .052 being light, and .013 - .056 being medium.

[yeu351]

Hi everyone:

I seldom played my acoustic guitar which has Elixir medium gauge (.013 to .056) acoustic strings on it, because it's so hard on my fingers and its sound is low & dull.

Just a few days ago, without seeing this post, I'd changed it to D'Addario super light gauge (.009 to .042) electric strings.

Now, I play it every day. The sound is bright & clear. Best of all, it doesn't hurt my fingers at all. I like it! fuuck

[spons]

do they really record all that bad? because I like the idea of stringing my Yamaha with electric light gauge strings. To get that strummy toppy sound I've been trying to create for a while. Kind of like early bowie acoustic sound

[NorseHorse]

Re: What were strings made of before?...

CAT GUT.

There are a few folks in Williamsburg who play on gut strings. They have a softer/silkier tone but go out of tune much more often.

EDIT SEVERAL MONTHS LATER: I just want to clarify that I'm refering to people who play bowed instruments like violin and gamba, not necessarily guitar. I don't know anyone who does that.

[thebugleboy]

Originally Posted by max cooper

I believe metal wound strings came way before electric guitars. Since elec. guitars were mostly invented in small workshops (Orville Rickenbacker, Paul Bigsby, etc.) metal strings would have had to already be around.

So I bet most stringed instruments were strung with gut strings.

I'd bet metal wound strings have been around for a long long time. Otherwise, what did they string pianos and harpsichords with?

Are you talking about popcorn or guitars? The Rickenbacker line was begun by Adolph Rickenbacker and George Beauchamps to market steel guitars in 1931 (some say the first electric was built by them, but other individuals were experimenting). Les Paul soon built the first hollow body electric, but the first successful solid body was Fender's in 1950. Steel strings have been used for quite a while. The sailors who introduced guitars to the South Pacific (whose inhabitants invented "slack string" or Hawaiian guitars) mostly used metal strung guitars because of the humidity...the metal strings worked well for slide stopping the strings for the Pacific islanders.
The manner in which a string is made allows certain functions such as easy bending which may make it more desirable for a particular instrument. The inability to control tonal coloring on an acoustic electronically makes material and production techniques important to the none-electric performer.

[thebugleboy]

Originally Posted by yeu351

Hi everyone:

I seldom played my acoustic guitar which has Elixir medium gauge (.013 to .056) acoustic strings on it, because it's so hard on my fingers and its sound is low & dull.

Just a few days ago, without seeing this post, I'd changed it to D'Addario super light gauge (.009 to .042) electric strings.

Now, I play it every day. The sound is bright & clear. Best of all, it doesn't hurt my fingers at all. I like it! fuuck

You may continue to enjoy the ultra light strings, but if they don't continue to impress or if they cause buzz or neck problems, try picking up a classical guitar. The strings are easier on the fingertips for occasional players, but if played regularly will tend to maintain the hard fingertips. Also the different action is good for your technique.

[jimcroisdale]

I have an acoustic fitted with Ernie Ball 10's and It sounds absolutely terrible! Still, nice low action - it plays just like my RG570!

Jim

[Digitar]

What did they use to use for strings before? BLACK DIAMOND strings. You used to be able to get them at just about any Drug Store. And they had all your favorite guages, as long as your favorite was heavy guage wire.

As said before electric guitar strings on an acoustic can be interesting. Tony Rice, the king of flatpicking uses medium guage electric strings on his acoustic guitars, and his tone is fantastic.

[thesnicklefritz]

Originally Posted by Marshy

Hi evryone,
Interesting, what are your thoughts on acoustic strings? I mean what do you guys use or what is most popular out there? I'm not a very experienced guitar player so im always opend to info. Also i have a Fender Catalina acoustic (it's a Korean made) heard any feed back on this guitar?
Cheers,
Marshy.

for my acoustic guitars i usually use John Pearse 12-gauges they sound perfect to me every time i have ever used them and for electric i use the standard Ernie Ball Super Slinkys. hopes this helps you reach a decision...

[thesnicklefritz]

Originally Posted by thebugleboy

Are you talking about popcorn or guitars? The Rickenbacker line was begun by Adolph Rickenbacker and George Beauchamps to market steel guitars in 1931 (some say the first electric was built by them, but other individuals were experimenting). Les Paul soon built the first hollow body electric, but the first successful solid body was Fender's in 1950. Steel strings have been used for quite a while. The sailors who introduced guitars to the South Pacific (whose inhabitants invented "slack string" or Hawaiian guitars) mostly used metal strung guitars because of the humidity...the metal strings worked well for slide stopping the strings for the Pacific islanders.
The manner in which a string is made allows certain functions such as easy bending which may make it more desirable for a particular instrument. The inability to control tonal coloring on an acoustic electronically makes material and production techniques important to the none-electric performer.

XD hahaha...when i read that i though he was saying Orville Redenbacher too!

[The Guitar God]

Originally Posted by yeu351

Now, I play it every day. The sound is bright & clear. Best of all, it doesn't hurt my fingers at all. I like it! fuuck

Well thats good u play every day now ,but i understand about the pain in your fingers you get when playing. As i was told many times you just learn how to get used to it

[Johnsterl]

Hey all.
I have a 76 Hummingbird that I was looking to get a Beatles' J-160 type recording tone out of. Knowing that they used flatwounds on those acoustic guitars with a p-90 on board, I decided to experiment. I put on D'Addario Chrome XL Flatwounds (.012 - .052). These are rated Warm/Mellow on the package.
The results were amazing. The tone is booming unplugged. The Hummingbird is neither the loudest nor quietest acoustic normally, but the tone is great. With the flatwounds it feels like a really well set-up electric gretsch neck. Great for playing 50's, 60's style licks and leads. The string gauge is roughly the same size as the GHS white bronze I usually use, so no problem there and now, no string sliding noise either. Anybody else tried this type of setup? Results?
Cheers.

[bash]

D'Addario makes a semi-flat acoustic series called Flat Tops which I adore. I use the 13-56 sizing. Lots of tone meat without the zing of new strings and a lot less string sliding noise. The round sound of "dead" strings with plenty of sustain. Best of both worlds, imo.

[Lenzo]

I seldom played my acoustic guitar which has Elixir medium gauge (.013 to .056) acoustic strings on it, because it's so hard on my fingers and its sound is low & dull.
Now, I play it every day. The sound is bright & clear. Best of all, it doesn't hurt my fingers at all. I like it!

If playing with medium elixirs hurt your hands, your guitar is probably not properly set up. I have medium elixirs on 2 of my Taylors...both have a great set up and require very little down pressure all the way up the neck.
L.

[Johnsterl]

"D'Addario makes a semi-flat acoustic series called Flat Tops which I adore. I use the 13-56 sizing. Lots of tone meat without the zing of new strings and a lot less string sliding noise. The round sound of "dead" strings with plenty of sustain. Best of both worlds, imo."

That sounds like a great idea for both playability and acoustic volume. I'll have to try them next time on my bird or on one of my other acoustics.
Thanks

P.S.
Are we really ALL out of the band?

[Boschen]

I will use anything that isn't Elixirs; hate em.

They last me about a week before I shred the plastic string condom off the metal. And I don't like the way they sound, either. Some folks love em though.

I like D'Addario .10's on my strat.

@Norse-
I still have an old beater classical strung with real gut strings that I got in South America years ago, I think in Uruguay. They still play, though I haven't picked up that axe in ages; I think it's still lurking in a closet somewhere on my family's Virginia farm. The sound is softer and rounder, and so are the gut strings. They are weird to fret sometimes, as they are a trifle irregular.

I've heard Robert Johnson learned to play guitar by stringing a baling wire between two nails on the side of a barn. Fence wire was often used by old bluesmen as guitar strings.