Tacoma Papoose - What kind of strings?

[newton]

I just scored a backpacker guitar. The Papoose has a 19.1 inch long neck and is tuned A to A by default. I am guessing that I can use the same strings that I normally use for a standard acoustic guitar.

But, I thought that I would solicit opinions in the "Other Stringed Instrument" section of the board. If any of you Uke players have some experience or familiarity with the Tacoma Papoose, I would like to know if you're doing anything different when you string'em up.

thanx

[donh]

When I had a Papoose I was happiest with mediums tuned G-to-G.

ymmv.

.

[newton]

Originally Posted by donh

When I had a Papoose I was happiest with mediums tuned G-to-G.

ymmv.

.

like .12 gauge D'Addairo's? (phosphor bronze)


What about Uke strings. Anybody tried that?


btw, G to G is something I'll try. I'll wait until I re-string to judge the tone though.

[donh]

.13 to .56 John Pearse

.

[Wade Hampton]

Newton, normally I'm a medium gauge string user, but my Tacoma Papoose is an exception.

One of the reasons that these little guys can kick out the amazing amount of volume that they do is that the bracing inside them is very light - it's arguable, in fact, that they're underbraced. Instead of having an X brace or some variant on ladder bracing they've got mandolin-style "tone bars," two long braces running from one end of the top to the other.

When tuned A to A, the heaviest strings that can safely be used on them are light gauge strings, .012 to .054 or so. That's the set I used for years on mine, but there's been enough creep and shifting in the geometry of the instrument that about a year ago I started using a custom light set that goes from .011 to .052.

Don using mediums on his is fine, since he's tuned to the terz tuning G to G, a full step below the Papoose's intended A to A requinto tuning. But putting mediums tuned A to A on a Papoose would be asking for trouble.

So lights, extra lights or a set between those two are probably your best bet.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[newton]

Yes, that helps alot.

Both posts are greatly appreciated.

[K-vegas]

I've been using D'Addario's EJ16 or EJ26 depending on which is in stock locally. About what was shipped on them. I recently found my P1 manual and scanned to link below.

2001 Tacoma P1 manual

[icuker]

I agree with the idea of using extra lights. I've been using them for years on my Papoose. It sings with those strings and the tension is less which makes it easier to play also.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by newton

like .12 gauge D'Addairo's? (phosphor bronze)


What about Uke strings. Anybody tried that?


btw, G to G is something I'll try. I'll wait until I re-string to judge the tone though.

Ukulele strings are nylon.

[newton]

Originally Posted by K-vegas

I recently found my P1 manual and scanned to link below.

2001 Tacoma P1 manual

Score! Awesome to have the manual, even if it is sideways. Don't worry, your not the only one who does that. Very useful info...

[K-vegas]

de nada.

Yep. I scanned it to pdf originally(not sideways) but unsure how to link a pdf file.

[newton]

I see in the manual where they recommend D'Aquisto phosphor bronze 0.12 - 0.52. Good luck finding a set those any more. I guess I'll go with D'Addario instead.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by newton

I see in the manual where they recommend D'Aquisto phosphor bronze 0.12 - 0.52. Good luck finding a set those any more. I guess I'll go with D'Addario instead.

For what it's worth, over the years that Tacoma guitars were in production, they were strung with a number of different brands of guitar strings at the factory. The two brands that were used the longest were D'Addario and Elixir.

But all that means is that those are a couple of brands that Tacoma's management struck deals with. The manual must have been written when they were dealing with D'Aquisto strings, however briefly that lasted.

Short version: put whatever strings you want on it. The brand is irrelevant, really - just choose whatever sounds best to you. Because the brands of strings that get used as stock at the factory are chosen either for price or (in the case of coated strings) durability.

Unless the tone produced by the strings is genuinely horrible and off-putting, the tone is quite literally the last thing anyone in the guitar company's management worries about. What's far more important, from their perspective, is their OEM price and how well the strings will hold up in a neglectful retailer's showroom.

Whenever I see folks on this forum and other online guitar forums stridently insist that whatever brand of strings came stock MUST be used to get the best tone out of a guitar (and, yes, there are people who actually believe that,) I just about fall out of my chair laughing.

The choice of strings used at the factory to string up new guitars is strictly a business choice, based on price, reliability of delivery and other factors that have little to nothing to do with musical tone.

So use whatever strings you like. Any recommendations in company literature or guitar hangtags that point you to one brand or another are merely part of the business deal that the guitar manufacturer has made with the string manufacturer.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[newton]

I agree. But I was curious about how they might sound. I was surprised to see something other than Elixrs recommended. I've got .12 gauge Elixrs on right now. I just get tired of everything being phosphor bronze.

not to digress but ...

If the strings that come stock are chosen based on price alone, then maybe they are the last thing anyone would want to put on any guitar. AND, the best strings to put on our guitars are the brands that never seem to come standard on Dept. Store Gitars.


...it's just thought.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by newton

I agree. But I was curious about how they might sound. I was surprised to see something other than Elixrs recommended. I've got .12 gauge Elixrs on right now. I just get tired of everything being phosphor bronze.

Hey,, I'm glad SOMEBODY feels that way.

For what it's worth, I have tried 80/20 strings on my Papoose, but found them to be a bit more trebly than I like.

Originally Posted by newton

not to digress but ...

If the strings that come stock are chosen based on price alone, then maybe they are the last thing anyone would want to put on any guitar. AND, the best strings to put on our guitars are the brands that never seem to come standard on Dept. Store Gitars.


...it's just thought.

Well, maybe I overstated that. Guitar manufacturers are not indifferent to how the strings they put on at the factory sound on their guitars. But it's not the paramount concern that most players assume it would be.

They have to take the pragmatic view, and OEM prices and durability of the strings in the showroom count for more than tone.

For example, when the original, heavily coated Elixir Polyweb strings first hit the market, none of the folks in guitar company management that I knew at the time at Larrivee and Tacoma actually liked the way they sounded. But once other acoustic guitar manufacturers started using Elixir Polywebs, those two companies followed suit, because the Elixirs would hold up longer in the showrooms.

So the question they had to answer was: do we send these guitars out the door sounding great with uncoated strings, or less than great with coated strings that will sound better in the months to come, after the guitars have been played repeatedly?

Even in bulk the Polywebs cost considerably more than the uncoated D'Addarios that were the industry standard prior to the Elixirs' arrival, but that was offset by their perceived long term durability.

So different factors come into play, and in that instance the advantages of coated strings in showroom situations overcame the disadvantage of their higher price.

Anyway, the main point I'm trying to make, and hopefully convey, is that few (if any) folks who make guitars in a production line setting think that one brand of strings is going to sound better on their instruments than any other. Any hangtags that say otherwise are simply part of a business deal with the string supplier, and most definitely should not be taken as gospel.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller