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  #31  
Old 07-25-2017, 05:37 PM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Originally Posted by dwasifar View Post
I think you're missing the point. It's not about what kind of guitar needs what gauge of strings; it's about what we call those gauges.

There are four widely available acoustic string set gauges - 10s, 11s, 12s, 13s. It doesn't make sense that we would call three of them some variant of "light" and call the heaviest "medium."

I'm not saying people should switch to 12s on their dreads. I will continue to use 13s on mine. What I am saying is if that's the heaviest common gauge, it should be CALLED "heavy," not "medium."
Although less popular now "heavy" gauge was once favoured by many Dreadnought players - e.g. D'addario EJ18 (.014-.059) and Newtone. This gauge was the reason that Martin a) made their dreads heavier,and b) put a stamp inside saying medium or lighter.

I used to use heavies on my Resonator guitar, mainly Newtones.
So, whilst less popular there IS a heavy (14-59), medium (13-56), Light (12-53}, and even lighter gauges (can't think why anyone would use them - for antique guitars perhaps? )

Nowadays,there is no real need for Heavies, (we have mics and many acoustic players plug in) but they ARE still available from some string makers.
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  #32  
Old 07-25-2017, 06:34 PM
dwasifar dwasifar is offline
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Originally Posted by Silly Moustache View Post
Nowadays,there is no real need for Heavies, (we have mics and many acoustic players plug in) but they ARE still available from some string makers.
Yes, as I acknowledged in a previous post. But the point remains even if we include 14s, rare as they are. Why should Medium be close to the top of the scale and far from the bottom? Wouldn't it make more sense to call the middle of the range Medium? Extra Light 10s, Light 11s, Medium 12s, Heavy 13s, Extra Heavy 14s. Nice symmetrical names.

I feel like at least a third of respondents are misunderstanding this entire thread; they think I mean "if you use Mediums you should switch to 12s and call those Medium from now on." That is not at all my point. I just think we should change the names, not the applications. Keep using 13s if you use 13s; I just feel like they should be called Heavy.
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  #33  
Old 07-25-2017, 08:54 PM
vindibona1 vindibona1 is offline
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Originally Posted by zmf View Post
If you're going to be that outrageously reasonable and universal in application, then it doesn't leave us much to post about.

Please take a difference stance.
Sorry. I'll try to be more unreasonable in the future.

But the fact is that there are so many variables that there are no hard and fast rules, even for individual guitars of the same make and model. I do have a lot of fun testing guitars, strings picks, recording methods, etc. But I recognize that there are others who just like to be told what to do.
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  #34  
Old 07-25-2017, 09:34 PM
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Originally Posted by rokdog49 View Post
Same here. I don't care what they call them.
I often swap the B and E from the 12-14 or 16 to the 13-17 gauge. I find I get the tone I want on those high strings if they are heavier.
And another +1. I have one of those "DADGAD" sets on my Martin, D'Addario EJ24 PB 13 17 24 32 42 56. The only thing is the Martin didn't need any help with bass, so when I tune it to Csus2 or DADGAD it has a bit too much bass. I probably see if I can pick up just a 53 PB string to use in the next set of EJ24 for next time.
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  #35  
Old 07-25-2017, 09:40 PM
Thrillhouse Thrillhouse is offline
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I've never been in a guitar shop that had acoustic strings outside of 10-13. Maybe someone makes 9s or 14s for acoustics. I'm sure they do. The standard is still 10-13 so 10 should be light 11/12 should be medium, and 13 should be heavy. I don't think they'll change it now and it doesn't really matter but 13s aren't mediums.
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  #36  
Old 07-26-2017, 10:44 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Originally Posted by dwasifar View Post
Yes, as I acknowledged in a previous post. But the point remains even if we include 14s, rare as they are. Why should Medium be close to the top of the scale and far from the bottom? Wouldn't it make more sense to call the middle of the range Medium? Extra Light 10s, Light 11s, Medium 12s, Heavy 13s, Extra Heavy 14s. Nice symmetrical names.

I feel like at least a third of respondents are misunderstanding this entire thread; they think I mean "if you use Mediums you should switch to 12s and call those Medium from now on." That is not at all my point. I just think we should change the names, not the applications. Keep using 13s if you use 13s; I just feel like they should be called Heavy.
My considered response to your question, which I do understand - is ..... No.

My reasoning is that we all know what light and medium means ...I confess I don't know what extra/ultra lights mean because I can't imagine using them.
Coincidence - an old frind stopped by today - bluegrass banjo player.

We were taking about "the old days" on the scene around London, and two bluegrass guitarists who always used heavies (14-59).

consider , also - the many blues guitarists who pay resos - they may still use heavies.
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  #37  
Old 07-26-2017, 10:57 AM
dwasifar dwasifar is offline
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Originally Posted by Silly Moustache View Post
My considered response to your question, which I do understand - is ..... No.

My reasoning is that we all know what light and medium means ...I confess I don't know what extra/ultra lights mean because I can't imagine using them.
Coincidence - an old frind stopped by today - bluegrass banjo player.

We were taking about "the old days" on the scene around London, and two bluegrass guitarists who always used heavies (14-59).

consider , also - the many blues guitarists who pay resos - they may still use heavies.
No, sorry, I didn't mean to imply YOU didn't understand. I was changing gears with that second paragraph and speaking in general, not about you specifically. I can see now how that was unclear. My apologies.

That said, blues players who use resonators can still use the same gauge of string whether they are called "Heavy," "Extra Heavy," or "Bill's Cow Bessie." I actually don't understand what the point is of bringing them up. How does it cause them a problem to rename their string set?
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  #38  
Old 07-26-2017, 10:58 AM
jmjohnson jmjohnson is offline
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Curious which guitars are speced for 10s & 11s? Any major brands shipping models with these less-than-light gauges??
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  #39  
Old 07-26-2017, 12:39 PM
marit marit is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jmg257 View Post
Curious which guitars are speced for 10s & 11s? Any major brands shipping models with these less-than-light gauges??
I know the very cheap acoustics usually ship with 10s.
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  #40  
Old 07-26-2017, 05:42 PM
murrmac123 murrmac123 is offline
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Originally Posted by dwasifar View Post
D'Addario alone sells sets of 14s called Heavy, but every review says they'll pull your neck apart in open tuning.
They would be much more likely to pull your neck apart in standard tuning.

Every open tuning that I am aware of exerts less tension on the neck than standard tuning does, unless, of course, you are foolhardy enough to tune to an Open E tuning.
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  #41  
Old 07-26-2017, 09:40 PM
dwasifar dwasifar is offline
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Originally Posted by murrmac123 View Post
They would be much more likely to pull your neck apart in standard tuning.

Every open tuning that I am aware of exerts less tension on the neck than standard tuning does, unless, of course, you are foolhardy enough to tune to an Open E tuning.
Sorry, I meant to say standard tuning. You are correct.
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  #42  
Old 07-26-2017, 11:52 PM
DesertTwang DesertTwang is offline
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The OP is spot on. The second that two manufacturers use the same term to denote different string gauges that term loses its meaning. "Light" and "Medium" are relative terms, and in my opinion, using relative to specify absolute attributes such as string gauges makes no sense. I never use those terms, but refer to strings by their gauges.
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  #43  
Old 07-26-2017, 11:57 PM
jaybones jaybones is offline
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I was playing Martin PB medium (AIR 12's) and switched to my current brand about a year ago. Put on a set of DR Rare of the same gauge and they felt lighter than the Martin.

Was able to get some bends that wouldn't have been possible with the Martin 12's.

Switched to DR Rare 13's next time around and couldn't be happier.

But, to me, medium and heavy are subjective and there doesn't seem to be an industry standard. Then you find hybrid or custom sets, further muddying the already cloudy waters.
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  #44  
Old 07-27-2017, 03:35 AM
mickthemiller mickthemiller is offline
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It must be my tender washing up hands, but anything above 12s is heavy to me.
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