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Old 08-30-2010, 06:57 AM
rmyAddison rmyAddison is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Addison, TX
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I used 9's and 10's for 30 years playing electric, When I went strictly acoustic I started with 12's that felt like cables and went to 13's eventually with my dreads.

It's about a good setup and building finger strength, even after 30 years of electric I had to build up my fingers. One recommendation is round core strings like Dr Sunbeams, to me they absolutely bend easier than hex cores, try some DR Sunbeam 12's.

Another "solution" as I still bend a lot in my acoustic playing is hybrid gauge sets. I really like Martin Bluegrass light-mediums which have lights on the high strings and mediums on the low (12-56) so you get playability up top and rich bass on the low strings.

Real light strings are going to sound thin and that is not a Blues sound to me. Don't know about your guitar but short scale 000's would also help with playability and are known as blues boxes.

All about paying dues, but once you can play smooth and clean with an acoustic you can kill an electric and play your fingers off. I know a lot of electric players who practise with acoustics just for that reason, good luck!
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Martin OM-18 Authentic '33 Adirondack/Mahogany
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