Acoustic archtop strings
 

Hi everybody,
Not long ago I bought a The Loar LH-300 acoustic archtop, and, as I could find no indication as to the brand, model or gauge of its strings, I emailed the manufacturer to ask for such information. I have just received the answer and I'm a bit surprised, as they tell me the strings are GHS TM 1500 True Medium. Correct me (please!) if I'm mistaken, but as far as I know such strings are designed for electric guitars, aren't they?

I don't know what comes stock, but 80/20's are great on an acoustic archtop.

You are not mistaken. GHS TM 1500s are nickel plated and designed for electric guitar. That is not to say they will not sound good on acoustic archtop. They will give you a more direct (fundamental) and possibly less lively sound than strings designed for acoustic.

Read through the posts here on Martin Retro Monel strings. Many archtop players (myself included) highly recommend them.

Another vote for Martin Monels...

Here's another idea - I bought some D'addario Nickel Bronze "NB1256" to go on an my '34 gibson L-4 , liked them, so bought more and fitted them on my recently acquired Eastman AR805. Liked them on that equally.

Both are only played acoustically but they seem to work rather nicely.
Furthermore, they don't seem to discolour like P/B strings.

I've since changed them once, or twice and fitted the old strings to my old Harmony Monterey which also seems to like them.

Hope that helps,

Ol' Andy

I bought some nickel/bronze strings for a dreadnought with a Baggs m1a which wasn't quite balancing the strings despite the polepieces being at extreme settings. The NBs, I was told, would be somewhere between PB (unbalanced) and conventional nickel (too brash for soft acoustic).

As it turned out I've probably ditched the Baggs for now but I can report two aspects of the NB strings - they do indeed produce a more even and congruent sound via the magnetic part of the Baggs and acoustically they sound warmer/duller than PB with a more complex midrange which I can well imagine would suit the archtop very well.

In my experience PBs produce a large, transparent sound on a dreadnought because of that expanse of free-moving soundboard but that movement is restricted on my Framus archtop where the arch is bracing against free movement so the full bottom end of the strings is not taken advantage of. Conversely, the warm low mids in which the archtop is most comfortable are not frequencies at which the strings are naturally vibrating.

I'm not well versed in the mechanics of this and am quite happy to be shot down in flames, it just seems logical and chimes with my previous experience.

I hadn't considered NBs on the Framus until now but will give it a try and report back (may take time though).

Tried 'em - sounds great.

Hard to compare directly because the ej17s that were on before were old and well battered but the NBs sound more lively in the mids than I remember the others sounding - that may be old age and confirmation bias but I like it.

Well, in my mind, string choice is always a matter of sound you wish.

On my Godin 5th Avenue (no electronics) I like Dragon skin as well as D'Addario EJ-16 or GHS P/B.

[QUOTE=mawmow;5972646]Well, in my mind, string choice is always a matter of sound you wish

+1. I’m using Elixer nanoweb lights (PB) on my LH300 after trying out a variety of strings. More mellow-I just like the sound of these. YMMV.

They are .013 - .056 nickel wound strings, about as true a medium set as you might wish for. I often find bronze strings quite irritating on an archtop and put on nickle wound for a different sound. Less over-toney to my ears, more fundamental. Bronze strings have a harsher sound. At the end of the day it's what you like, try different things (including lighter gauges).