Strings for carbon fiber guitar

[LiveMusic]

I have a C.A. (Composite Acoustics) Bluegrass Performer carbon fiber dreadnaught guitar and I am wondering if anyone has found any certain type of strings that sound good. This guitar sounds pretty good as is, I think I have Elixirs on it. It'll work as is but I suppose these guitars have a slight metallic or non-woody sound, whatever that is. I have no idea what strings came on it, I bought it used a few years ago. Any ideas?

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

I have a C.A. (Composite Acoustics) Bluegrass Performer carbon fiber dreadnaught guitar and I am wondering if anyone has found any certain type of strings that sound good. This guitar sounds pretty good as is, I think I have Elixirs on it. It'll work as is but I suppose these guitars have a slight metallic or non-woody sound, whatever that is. I have no idea what strings came on it, I bought it used a few years ago. Any ideas?

I don't think there is a general answer, not to mention that we all hear differently or have our own ideas of what constitutes a good sound. CA guitars are known to be on the darker side and I've heard that 80/20s sound good on them. Hopefully someone with direct experience can answer. Might have better luck too asking in the carbon fiber section.

[jdinco]

I don't have a CA, but have the Sable, I have always thought that the CA's were very closely related to the McPhersons. May be wrong. Again. LOL So...from my experience with strings on the Sable Steelvibe is correct, I find the Elixir HD Nano's to sound best on it. 80/20 or regular will have to be decided by you. The D'Addario NB's weren't bad either, a bit more mellow than the Elixirs, especially after 3 or 4 weeks. Other than that, I haven't found any other strings that I liked. And I tried a lot of them! Let us know what you find.

[Chipotle]

On my CA GX, I like DR Rares. As always YMMV.

[jricc]

On my Rainsong CH-OM, I really like Martin Monels. To my ear, they warm up the high end nicely.

[Methos1979]

I use John Pearse #710 PB New Mediums on both my RainSongs. I tried some 80/20 JP Lights on the Black Ice dread but it was too bright. Definitely better with PB's.

[tdq]

When I had my CA GX, after some experimentation, John Pearse 80/20s worked for me by a long shot.

[guitararmy]

I like Martin Retro Monel strings on my CA dreadnoughts.
Besides sounding good, the silver color looks good with the black carbon fiber.

[dadio917]

Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum Acoustic

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

I use John Pearse #710 PB New Mediums on both my RainSongs. I tried some 80/20 JP Lights on the Black Ice dread but it was too bright. Definitely better with PB's.

Update to my post above - I recently changed the strings on my RainSong Nashville OM Shorty and for grins I tried the 80/20 JP Lights on that. My thought process was that, unlike the Black Ice dread (which is a very bright guitar), the Nashville with it's hybrid spruce/CF top tends to be a little quieter and darker and so the 80/20's might brighten up the sound. They do. But I do miss the tension of the JP New Mediums so I might some of those in 80/20 on the next string change. So I guess it depends on if your CF guitar tends to be brighter and jangly (PB) or darker and mellow (80/20).

[douglasfan1]

I think Elixir Nano has a strong character which made carbon fiber gutiar sound like a wooden one. However, there still a lot of options for us to discover.
I'm now using Martin SP, not the best I would say, but probably the highest CP value. I can stick a set with 2 months. Next time I'll try EXP, but need to finish the remain stock of Martin SP first.

Noted that a bit larger guage strings suit carbon fiber guitar better. I used to play 12-53 in standard E tuning with wooden guitar. But 13-56 with half step detune suit my CF guitar better. But that may only happen in my Leviora. Yours may vary.

[ZebraKing]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

I use John Pearse #710 PB New Mediums on both my RainSongs. I tried some 80/20 JP Lights on the Black Ice dread but it was too bright. Definitely better with PB's.

Yeah, I use John Pearse 700 PBs on both my Emerald X20 and Journey OF660. They add nice warmth and are pretty inexpensive so easy to try a set.