Tough guitar to match with strings.

[Bax Burgess]

It has a 680, longer scale, so the tension is higher than the more common 650, and the the bass response is very strong. A low or medium tension string will make for more comfortable fretting, but the lower tension is likely to accentuate the bass, which I really don't want - the guitar would be drenched in bass. This is almost impossible to figure out, a string set with less tension and clearer/defined, less resonant bass. If I have to mix different bass and treble, I will. Any leads?

[smwink]

Is this a long scale classical guitar, or some other variant? 680mm is in the ballpark for a Baroque guitar, so you could see about trying Baroque guitar trebles. Those may not drive a classical guitar top as well, though. I would reach out to Aquila strings since they deal with both early instruments and modern classical guitar. If you describe your instrument and what you're after, they should be able to recommend a set (likely custom gauges).

Remember that any set marked as "low tension" will wind up at higher tension with the longer scale length. Have you tried a standard low tension set and find that the basses are overpowering the trebles?

[Bax Burgess]

Ugh, sorry, correction needed: 658, not 680 scale. I am looking at strings rated normal/medium or low. I just put on D’Addario Pro Arte Dynacore EJ45TT Normals, and am waiting for them to settle in - they have been on a couple of guitars previously, so should be close to ready now.

[smwink]

658 isn't that much more than 650, so I'd be surprised if the difference between low and medium tension strings would result in a major change to the bass/treble balance. If the guitar is bass-heavy, that's likely due to construction vs. string choice.

A common solution to yield brighter trebles is to go with carbon fiber. If you don't like carbon trebles, maybe try the LaBella 10PH set. I don't know why this set isn't more popular--it's really a nicely balanced set of strings. I've been using the Savarez Creation Cantiga sets lately. These have Cristal E/B with an Alliance G and Cantiga basses. Also a really nice balance, especially if your G is sounding tubby.

[Bax Burgess]

I had a favorite set of carbon ht, which are fine for the 650 scale, but were noticeably stiffer on the 658 - it surprises me, too. I also have on hand some similar sets to what you mention, Savarez and La Bella offering a wealth of nearly identical sets. The EJ45TT I have on now would be fine, but for the #6 string being very defined/strong, which would be great, if the other strings could match it. How many times has anyone had a set where the #6 string is the powerhouse string? I just realized that I could and should be enjoying this hunt.

[charles Tauber]

In general, in making a classical guitar, it is easy to obtain a good bass. It isn't as easy to obtain a good, clear, ringing treble. It is the nature of the instrument. (Steel string guitars are the opposite: easy to get good treble, more difficult to get "good" clear, ringing bass.)

Many classical guitars are 660 mm scale length, so yours at 658 isn't unusually long.

If you want to get more treble and less bass, you can try high tension treble strings and low tension bass strings. Beyond that, it is trial and error and/or technique.

[DLQ]

I spent some time exploring carbon strings, and I found that Knobloch makes a really nice set of carbon trebles. They don’t feel too stiff like some do, at least to me. I also found oasis carbon trebles to be this way.

I would plus one the carbon G with regular nylon b and e route too, I’ve found it’s a good mix in many cases.

Rectified nylon could be something to try also, just for some variation.

[Bax Burgess]

I found a set that matches well, the La Bella 2001 Classical MHT - the first four strings are mediums, the last two are hards, and what this combo does is balance the strings; the trebles more open, the bass strings less assertive. I doubt that the bass was restrained, so I'll guess that the trebles went from being uptight with higher tension strings to being more relaxed and filled out.

Initially, when I received the guitar, it had a bone saddle and some harshness to the sound. I put in a tusq saddle to take the edge off, but even with the La Bellas being the best of a string lot, there was a noticeable transition between the trebles and bass; the #3 string was slightly smoky. I had some luck before with a corian saddle smoothing out transitions between strings, so I put one in, which cleared up the #3 issue. I went back to the tusq saddle and then again to the corian to make sure of my impression. As it stands now, this Kasuga lam-top is the equal of my Takamine EC132C.