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Old 10-16-2017, 12:05 AM
vcammisa vcammisa is offline
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Question I'm transitioning from nylon to metal strings, need advice.

Hi, this is my first post, I'm happy to be here and welcome any advice from the community. After a fifty year (!) hiatus, I began studying guitar again, a year ago, when my fiance bought me a 1963 Framus Figaro (a 12 fret classical with nylon strings) from a second-hand shop.I've been using the JustinGuitar Beginner and Intermediate methods as well as many other YouTube teachers and I'm having a lot of fun playing '60s and '70s tunes, etc. Three days ago I bought a new Seagull Entourage Rustic Mini Jumbo after an exhaustive 5 month search. I absolutely love the guitar, to my untrained ear it's tone and resonance are miles above my previous one. My problem is the transition from nylon to metal strings, it's like playing an entirely different instrument. I thought I had sufficient calluses but they're no match for the stock strings (Cleartone, I don't know the tension) on the new guitar. I'm thinking I should re-string with lighter strings and need some advice from the acoustic community. Can anyone offer me any suggestions? Thanks, Vinny
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Old 10-16-2017, 12:12 AM
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JP Richardson JP Richardson is offline
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Welcome to the friendliest guitar forum on the net. Lots of advice to be had here.
Some folks use a product called Rock Tips. It’s a form of super glue which you paint on your finger tips. You will still build callouses but more slowly and you will have much less pain. I know that it’s sold on amazon and eBay and maybe at your favorite guitar store.
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Old 10-16-2017, 12:17 AM
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Bear Davis Bear Davis is offline
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Welcome back and welcome to AGF!

I play both classical and steel string. My best advice would be to have your seagull setup by a professional. I am 99.9% sure that your guitar already has light gage strings and I would not recommend going to extra lights. Your guitar would lose a lot of the tone you are currently enjoying.
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Old 10-16-2017, 12:30 AM
Bax Burgess Bax Burgess is offline
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Elixir polyweb wound strings are very smooth (more so than the nanowebs), durable too. You could go with flatwound srings for ultra smoothness. The ones I tried were likely Thomastik flatwounds, rich and mellow. For lower tension, I've tried sets with a .010 for the #1 string, but that cuts into the skin a bit, even though I'm a very low tuner. I think that you should consider sets with .011 or .012 for the #1 string.
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Old 10-16-2017, 12:30 AM
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rick-slo rick-slo is offline
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I went back and fourth between nylon and steel strings guitars for years.
without problems but starting out some pain and blood is not out of the question.

Low action set up by a guitar tech would be a good idea.

Use light or extra light gauge strings. You might have medium gauge strings
on the guitar currently. If you try extra light it would probably just
be one time to break in your fingers as the guitar won't sound good
with extra lights.

You could drop the tuning a step or half step (at least temporarily).

Other than this particular guitar you could get a different guitar
that uses a short string length scale.
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Last edited by rick-slo; 10-16-2017 at 12:35 AM.
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Old 10-16-2017, 06:16 AM
musicman1951 musicman1951 is offline
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If the guitar needs a set-up that would be money well spent. I would recommend Martin Retro Light strings - less tension, but still sound good.

I did the classical to steel transition a few years ago. You have to face the reality that it's going to take your fingers a while to get up to the task. I wouldn't play until they bleed (or are extremely painful) as you'll find they are still unhappy the next day. You'll get there sooner than you think, just play as much as you reasonably can each day.
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Old 10-16-2017, 06:36 AM
rmgjsps rmgjsps is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flipguitar_pro View Post
Welcome back and welcome to AGF!

I play both classical and steel string. My best advice would be to have your seagull setup by a professional. I am 99.9% sure that your guitar already has light gage strings and I would not recommend going to extra lights. Your guitar would lose a lot of the tone you are currently enjoying.
I had similar problems transitioning from nylon to steel. I used extra lites for a couple of weeks and then went to lites. Lost a little tone for a short while. The harder transition for me was to the narrower neck. Less of a problem with the Seagulls, but the neck depth and shape was even more important.
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Old 10-16-2017, 07:14 AM
multimutts multimutts is offline
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it can help to soak your finger tips in alcohol after you play. It will help dry out the skin faster and turn it into callus that way. Other than that, one way to speed up callus formation is to do a lot of "sliding" up and down the strings holding a chord down. Don't do it too much at first (it will hurt!) but a few times every time you pick up the guitar should help things along.
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Old 10-16-2017, 07:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flipguitar_pro View Post
Welcome back and welcome to AGF!

I play both classical and steel string. My best advice would be to have your seagull setup by a professional. I am 99.9% sure that your guitar already has light gage strings and I would not recommend going to extra lights. Your guitar would lose a lot of the tone you are currently enjoying.


This is definitely the first route of action. Often times, Seagull guitars have a really high set up coming out of the factory. I have no idea why. It should be pretty cheap to get the bridge lowered and the nut slots lowered as well. Making the nut slots lower will GREATLY improve playability especially since most people play on the first few frets. A lot of people overlook this aspect, but when guitars would come into the shop I worked at asking to make the guitar more playable, this is what we would go to.
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Old 10-16-2017, 08:37 AM
zhunter zhunter is offline
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It will take some time to build up calluses. It may be necessary to limit your playing time for a few weeks until your fingers adapt. And more short practice sessions versus one long session. Also, avoid playing steel string right after a bath/shower or any prolonged exposure of your hands to moisture. You can seriously shred even a pretty good set of calluses this way.

Playing steel string will make your fingertips sore. It takes a little time to build up to it.

hunter
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Old 10-16-2017, 08:43 AM
Philosophaster Philosophaster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bax Burgess View Post
Elixir polyweb wound strings are very smooth (more so than the nanowebs), durable too. You could go with flatwound srings for ultra smoothness. The ones I tried were likely Thomastik flatwounds, rich and mellow. For lower tension, I've tried sets with a .010 for the #1 string, but that cuts into the skin a bit, even though I'm a very low tuner. I think that you should consider sets with .011 or .012 for the #1 string.
+1 on the Elixir strings they do seem a bit gentler on the fingers. Martin also makes silk and steel acoustic guitar strings which have silk wound on the lower strings that make them a bit easier on the fingers. My preference would be for the Elixirs but the Martin strings are a bit more cost friendly.
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Old 10-16-2017, 08:50 AM
Greg Ballantyne Greg Ballantyne is offline
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My thoughts are to simply play a lot. Put in 2 hrs a day, and in about 2-3 weeks you should have super ball finger ends. At least that has always worked for me....
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Old 10-16-2017, 09:02 AM
Swamp Yankee Swamp Yankee is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Ballantyne View Post
My thoughts are to simply play a lot. Put in 2 hrs a day, and in about 2-3 weeks you should have super ball finger ends. At least that has always worked for me....
Yep - just play. I went from not playing anything for years, to a guitar with medium gauge steel strings. I just suffered till I had callouses built up. Once you've got callouses you have to keep them by playing. It's amazing how soon they disappear if you don't.

A decent setup on a steel string guitar will make the journey less painful.
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Old 10-16-2017, 09:02 AM
Matt G Matt G is offline
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Some days I have a lot of extra time to play guitar, and my fretting hand calluses are not up to the challenge of playing for many more hours than I'm used to.

When they hurt enough to make me want to stop playing, I spread a little superglue across the sore spots so I can keep going.

It dulls the pain, and still lets the calluses build up underneath. Sounds like the "Rock Tips" product already mentioned by JP Richardson.
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Old 10-16-2017, 09:25 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vcammisa View Post
Hi, this is my first post, I'm happy to be here and welcome any advice from the community. After a fifty year (!) hiatus, I began studying guitar again, a year ago, when my fiance bought me a 1963 Framus Figaro (a 12 fret classical with nylon strings) from a second-hand shop.I've been using the JustinGuitar Beginner and Intermediate methods as well as many other YouTube teachers and I'm having a lot of fun playing '60s and '70s tunes, etc. Three days ago I bought a new Seagull Entourage Rustic Mini Jumbo after an exhaustive 5 month search. I absolutely love the guitar, to my untrained ear it's tone and resonance are miles above my previous one. My problem is the transition from nylon to metal strings, it's like playing an entirely different instrument. I thought I had sufficient calluses but they're no match for the stock strings (Cleartone, I don't know the tension) on the new guitar. I'm thinking I should re-string with lighter strings and need some advice from the acoustic community. Can anyone offer me any suggestions? Thanks, Vinny
Hi Vinny, and welcome to the community! Also, congratulations on your new Seagull!

I would suggest a good setup (as other people have already suggested). Most techs or shops would include new strings with the setup, so specify that you would like light gauge. (Extra lights will probably cheapen the sound of your new instrument)- Then just keep playing it - yeah, it'll hurt for a short while - but when the callouses build up, which takes a relatively short time, you'll be good to go.

Keep us updated!
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