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Old 07-25-2010, 06:50 AM
JTFoote JTFoote is offline
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: The Great Smoky Mountains
Posts: 1,594
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Mediums, with the least amount of relief that I can get away with, and still not have string buzz, and fairly low action (3/32 and 2/32, bass and treble, respectively). This gives me all the tone and volume I need from a dread, along with the comfort of easy playability. The best of both worlds.

Lights force me to alter my playing style in order to coax an acceptable sound out of my guitars, (otherwise, I might fret some of the notes sharp, for one example), and I have to add relief, as the thinner gauge is more likely to buzz. The lowered tension certainly makes a difference in how much volume, warmth, and depth in the tone I can achieve by wood alone. Note that I play unplugged nearly all the time, or with just a microphone ... but as mentioned by Acoustic Rick, if the reverse was true, and I was using an amp, stomp-boxes, all sorts of effects, and a PA ... it wouldn't matter very much, and going for comfort would be key.

... JT
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