What's the LIGHTEST gauge string your would play on an acoustic?

[121]

10 -47 Magma Flat Phosphor Bronze

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by soma5

You get outstanding tone out of very light strings, by the way. The light strings also allow you to get some inspiring string bends. I have always enjoyed your playing.

Thanks. For the record: Set up is crucial when stringing an acoustic guitar as light as I do.

[donlyn]

What's the LIGHTEST gauge string your would play on an acoustic?

Originally Posted by donlyn

What's the LIGHTEST gauge string your would play on an acoustic?

This is way too broad a question to have just one answer. Variations would include hand health of player, size of guitar, et cetera.

Simple answers are .013 for six string and .010 for twelve string.

For full size six string guitars, my answer is coated Elixir HD Light Gauge, including 17" Jumboes,
{.013, .017, .025, .032, .042, .053}.

For full size twelve string guitars, my answer is coated Elixir 12 String Light Gauge or coated D'Addario XS 12 String Light Gauge,
{.010, . . . .047}.

All my 12 Strings are 17" Jumboes, to include a Grand Orchestra.
I also tune my 12 strings down a semi-tone to 'D#'.

I fingerpick all my instruments using my nails as picks.
Been playing for over 60 years, and 12 string guitars for just shy of that.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

I was perusing this thread when I realized I missed the actual literal question.
"What's the LIGHTEST gauge string your would play on an acoustic?".
Not "What's the LIGHTEST string gauge your (sic) would play on an acoustic?"

So I guess I did what most of the responders did, which was to opine the gauge rather than the string.

My original answer was for the lightest string starting a recognizable set, and I used the gauges I used most often. That is ".013" for a six string set and ".010" for a twelve string set.

The real answer is ".009", which is the lightest (octave 'g') string I actually use on either of my favorite gauges, including 6 string and 12 string, for acoustic guitar.

Be well, play well, and write well,

Don
.

[JackB1]

I have 11's on all my gigging acoustics. Helps your fingers get through those 3-4 hour gigs and sounds exactly the same as 13's through my PA.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by MrDB

I have 10-47 on my gigging guitars as they are plugged in anyway and ease of play for 3-4 hour gigs is a must.

11-52 on my 000-42 Martin, sounds good on that body size and my 71 yr old hands like it.

Same here. When ampliphied, it doesn't matter what guage you go with. I found the transition from 12's to 11's to be pretty minimal and only required a tiny adjustment to my truss rod.

[PatBee]

9-42, generally super slinkies as the earthwoods seem a little less tension and more buzzy.

That plain third is 100% on the money on the 9th fret and slightly sharp on the 12th fret. The deal breaker though; that sharpness is very much within the range of what would be an acceptable compromise when intonating an old school three saddle Tele.

I’ve no interest in acoustics but got this dread given by an old family member so am kind of stuck with it. They too saw the pink super slinky packet and muttered about 13’s driving tops. Like pipe down boomer if super slinkies keep your guitar alive for the next generation then so be it.

Besides I’ve played 12s/13s on Strats and teles over the years and can bend them like spaghetti. My skank and I have some long running in-joke about things being “super” so obviously that’s how highly educated and informed my current string choice is.


That’s how you rock and roll, not what some old farts on the internet reckon.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

I used to have 13-56 on my Dreads but, since the onset of thumb basal-joint arthritis and Tenosynovitis in several fingers, I use 12-53/54 on all my acoustics. I don’t see me ever going lower.

Very similar experience. This CMC joint issue has flared up very recently for me.

I have used mediums 13-56s on my dreads for a lifetime. I can still play but it hurts.

Can you really get the best out of a dread with lights ? mmm.

[cip]

Originally Posted by tomtetom

After some months of Monelle 0.010s (and a fretting hand injury), I've gone down to 0.009s on a Martin 00-18v.

I can still feel the guitar resonating and there's an adjustment in the Right Hand needed to stop banging them out of tune- but aside from that they sound and feel really good.

There's a pickup in the guitar; it projects pretty well but the pickup does the lifting.

What's the lightest gauge string you would use on your acoustic guitars?

where do you even get 9 gauge acoustic strings/

[LFL Steve]

Originally Posted by tomtetom

After some months of Monelle 0.010s (and a fretting hand injury), I've gone down to 0.009s on a Martin 00-18v.

I can still feel the guitar resonating and there's an adjustment in the Right Hand needed to stop banging them out of tune- but aside from that they sound and feel really good.

There's a pickup in the guitar; it projects pretty well but the pickup does the lifting.

What's the lightest gauge string you would use on your acoustic guitars?

I've had similar experience, not from hand injury but just from experimenting. Each time you go to a lighter string, there is a slight change in feel, and a VERY slight difference in sound. But I didn't find a threshold; each change made a small incremental difference. If .009s feel and sound good to you, then play .009s.

Similar with putting on heavier strings. When I was first learning bluegrass, I experimented with progressively heavier strings, and found that each time I changed gauges there was a slight difference in feel, and a perhaps-imaginary difference in sound.

Unlike many others, I see no reason to distinguish between electric and acoustic when selecting strings. Everything is fair game, and there are no laws, local codes, or enforcement officials. The early rock-and-rollers substituted banjo strings. The geometry of the neck and the string selection primarily determine playing feel. Total accumulated hours of practice largely determines sound quality.

But then . . .
I saw a set of .007s, and so of course I had to try them. There IS a threshold effect, and these strings are on the other side of that threshold (for me). I don't like'em. But they are still on that guitar, so maybe I'll adjust.

[abn556]

I started using Custom Lights on my LG-0 after having a lot of bracing and cracks repaired along with a new bridge. Luthier recommended I use as light as possible on that ladder braced 61 year old guitar. After playing it for a few months I started to really like the playability of the Custom Lights on a short scale guitar, so I have been using them on everything lately.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

These days, I only use 12s. I wouldn't go lighter and, in most cases, wouldn't go heavier either.

[Jamolay]

What part of string gauge affects tone? Girth or tension?

Leaving the string material and construction out of it.

There are low tension strings, so I can get 13s that have the tension of 11s or 12s from a different manufacturer.

I personally (as a learning guitarist) am developing a preference for thicker strings, but struggle with high tension. Right now I have a low tension set of Curt Mangan round core Monel 13s on (overall tension roughly 166lbs, low for 13s) and tune them down a step (which may be too much, likely to change to a half step sometime). I like the feel and can handle the tension.

I could get low tension with 11s easily enough, but I dislike playing them, for some unclear and likely personal quirk.

[EZYPIKINS]

In the 70's I would put 8-38's on my acoustic. I could learn and not worry about other hearing me.

Also was before I knew a guitar could be set up.

[Nymuso]

12s. No lower.

[JackB1]

If you're plugging in string guage doesn't matter. Just get what feels right for you and the guitar. If not plugging in then it does matter...but not nearly as much as most people think it does.