Unofficial String Gauge & Brand Poll.

[Wade Hampton]

I use John Pearse strings in medium or bluegrass gauge (medium basses, light trebles.) Which alloy I use on any given instrument depends on which sounded the best when I tested several alloys in succession on the guitar.


Wade Hampton Miller

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by sammyman

What gauge of strings do you primarily use? What Brand? Multiple choices ok.

And what kind of music are you playing on those strings?

Comment below.

Elixir Nanoweb for both Acoustic & Electric. Weights .011 & .012 & I bump up the weight of the top string by one thousandth on acoustics.

Hi s-man…
I play fingerstyle (acoustics), strumming mixed with fingerstyle while singing, a little slide for backing and lead (electric).

I use plain (non-coated) Webstrings, bronze for acoustic, and nickel for electric.

Styles - everything form light classical, folk, folk-rock and backing and lead guitar (contemporary worship) in our Band at our church (it's rock-n-roll).

[rollypolly]

I like monels but others as well. I buy different brands and types of strings from time to time. It’s fun to experiment. My standard strings for a long time were d’addario PB lights.

[TiffanyGuitar]

D'addario Xs custom light phosphor bronze. Over the last few months I transitioned from lights to custom lights, at first to lower the tension on my old Harmony. But, once I discovered that they sounded great, I changed my other acoustics to them. One is having a new bone nut made as we speak to accept this lighter gauge.

[Silly Moustache]

Oh. I use EJ37s and M190s on my 12 strings - 12/12 - 54/30, These are my only choice as no-one else offers that gauge. Trouble is the M190s are often corroded out of the packet. Tiresome.

[A.Wilder1]

John Pearse Lights (12-53), never let me down. Great strings, I’ve tried most everything and they are hard to beat.

If I go 80/20 I’ll go D’Addario XTs (12-53) or Spectrum Bronze (11-52).

[Bridgepin]

I like to play 13s on my guitars and the strings I like are Martin MSP7200

Now why they discontinued them I don't know. But I bought quite a few to hold me over.

[Joseph Hanna]

I use medium gauge on my Martin OM-18 and light gauge on my Yamaha. That's pretty much set in stone. However, I'd say Martin MA 140's and 150's are my favorite. There's just something about the tension of these strings that feels right. It belies the tension chart they provide as it's not significantly different than any other light/medium set, but something is different here. For the overall best tone, it's a tie between D'Addario 80/20's and Elixir 80/20 nano webs. For recording, hands down, Elixir 80/20 Polywebs.

[JackC1]

I'm surprised that medium has so few votes!!! I was expecting it to be equal or more than light strings, given the amount of dreadnought owners here.

[sayheyjeff]

Use medium gauge or medium tension strings on all of my acoustics except the PJ. Would use medium tension strings n that guitar as well, except the good folks at Santa Cruz strongly recommended using lights instead. Have liked a number of different brand strings over the years. John Pearce, D’Addario, GHS and Elixer have all been the main brand for a while. Phosphor Bronze and 80/20s most often. Been using SC Parabolics for about 5 years and like the a lot. The SC HC13 that came in a trade a little over a year ago had a new set of SUS mediums on it. Sounded good, but a little light to me. Picked up some Thomastick Viennas from a forum member last summer and they were scary nice on my 000 and my H13. Haven’t bought more do to the price, but will probably get more soon as I like them a lot, they lasted a long time, they aren’t that much more expensive than Parabolics.

Jeff

[donlyn]

Official String Gauge & Brand Poll.

OK,

I'll take a bite of this apple.

What's 'Official' about it?

Says who?

Does not list my favorite gauge, or other gauges sold by major brands.
For each guitar, I use a gauge that suits that particular guitar the best (chosen by me at the time I am playing it), which means using multiple gauges, including gauges not listed as choices.

And missing some that are sold 'over the counter' at music stores. Exempla gratia, 'Bluegrass'. (By 'over-the-counter' I mean sold at full service stores, e.g. 'Guitar Center'.)

Not listing as many choices as are reasonably possible means affecting the accuracy of the results of the poll.

By the way, the diameters of strings within a gauge set (including both 'E' strings) are not standard across different manufacturers. E.g., One 'light' gauge can end with a {.053}, while another ends with a {.054}, and another ends with {.052} in the bass. And that's only one example.

Does not include enough brand name choices.

What is included under 'other'? Gauges? Strings?, Or both? How do you tell the difference?

The only good thing about this poll is that it allows multiple choices. Just not enough of them.


Be well and choose well,

Don
.

[Jimi2]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

I agree Jimi2, and when I asked D’addario they made it sound like it wasn’t going to happen due to demand. This was before the Taylor announcement that they were going to use XS in place of Elixir going forward.

Since Andy is the person who got Elixir to create the HD Light set for their GC body guitars, I wonder if we could collectively get the word to Andy (or D’addario) to make it his happen. I don’t buy that there is zero demand, or Elixir would have eliminated the set long ago.

I didn’t know that’s where hd lights originated. I wonder if this is feasible; I’d certainly love to have that option instead of piecing together custom sets, or resorting to Elixirs (which I like, but aren’t my preference).

[donlyn]

Elixir HD LightGuage:

Elixir HD Light gauge is {.013, .017, .025, .032, .042, .053}.

Originally Posted by steelvibe

I agree Jimi2, and when I asked D’addario they made it sound like it wasn’t going to happen due to demand. This was before the Taylor announcement that they were going to use XS in place of Elixir going forward.

Since Andy is the person who got Elixir to create the HD Light set for their GC body guitars, I wonder if we could collectively get the word to Andy (or D’addario) to make it his happen. I don’t buy that there is zero demand, or Elixir would have eliminated the set long ago.

Originally Posted by Jimi2

I didn’t know that’s where hd lights originated. I wonder if this is feasible; I’d certainly love to have that option instead of piecing together custom sets, or resorting to Elixirs (which I like, but aren’t my preference).

Here's Andy on Elixir HD Lights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbTS...ature=youtu.be




I like the HD gauge a lot.
And coated strings, like Elixirs and D'Addario XS.
And Jumbo guitars.
And 12 string Jumbo guitars.
And fingerpicking using my nails as picks.

And I think asking Andy about a D'Addario HD gauge would be a great idea.

Until then, I will be buying Elixir PB HD Light gauge strings for a number of my six string guitars,

Be well and play well,

Don
.

[Forest Dweller]

None of those gauges- I buy single strings to make up the gauges I want, so that I can optimise the alternate tunings I use. Currently, on my Brook, it is something like:

13, 16, 24, 33, 43, 54

And on my Huss a Light set (12-53) but with a 13 on the top. D'Addario XS

Robbie

[tinnitus]

Originally Posted by donlyn

Official String Gauge & Brand Poll.

OK,

I'll take a bite of this apple.

What's 'Official' about it?

Says who?

Does not list my favorite gauge, or other gauges sold by major brands.
For each guitar, I use a gauge that suits that particular guitar the best (chosen by me at the time I am playing it), which means using multiple gauges, including gauges not listed as choices.

And missing some that are sold 'over the counter' at music stores. Exempla gratia, 'Bluegrass'. (By 'over-the-counter' I mean sold at full service stores, e.g. 'Guitar Center'.)

Not listing as many choices as are reasonably possible means affecting the accuracy of the results of the poll.

By the way, the diameters of strings within a gauge set (including both 'E' strings) are not standard across different manufacturers. E.g., One 'light' gauge can end with a {.053}, while another ends with a {.054}, and another ends with {.052} in the bass. And that's only one example.

Does not include enough brand name choices.

What is included under 'other'? Gauges? Strings?, Or both? How do you tell the difference?

The only good thing about this poll is that it allows multiple choices. Just not enough of them.


Be well and choose well,

Don
.

Gotta agree Don.

I see no mention in this poll of the popular 10-47 sets sold by Elixir, D'Addario, Martin, Ernie Ball and countless others. All of which seem to be labeled Extra Light. Never heard of "Super Light" anywhere.

Anyhow, I use what's commonly called Custom Lights on five different acoustic guitars. I play mostly rock and blues with low action all the way up past the octave (accurate set-up is crucial). Custom Light (11) sets are forgiving enough to pull/push aggressive 2 and 3 semi-tone bends.

Brands/Gauges?
Elixir Polywebs and Nanos 11-54 Custom Light
Martin 11-54 Custom Light
Ernie Ball Earthwood 11-54 Custom Light
and recently I've been digging some Earthwood Aluminum Bronze Custom Light 11-54s (they just sound "happy")

- aaand Ernie Ball 11-48 Power Slinkys on Les Pauls and Stratocasters sometimes tuned to E, sometimes Eb.

There is a very strong following on AGF for 12s, 13s, 14s and heavier. I'm surprised to see other 11 players here besides me - thought I might be alone. 11 is admittedly a bit of a trade-off on acoustic guitar volume but necessary for the kind of music I've been passionate about playing for over 50 years, including in a handful of bar bands along the way. I pick assertively enough that I've never been drowned out by a heavier gauge when jamming.

That said, I'd be interested to learn what styles of music other the acoustic 11 (and 10) users here tend to play.