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Chapter 16: Changing Strings
303
Acoustic strings
If you’re not sure what gauge strings you already have or what to replace them
with, bring your guitar into the music store and have the salesperson or the
store’s guitar tech match a new set to the old. You can even use a tool called a
caliper (a clamp-like device that yields measurements to the thousandth of an
inch) to measure the diameter of the individual strings yourself. Table 16-1
shows you the most popular string gauges used for the acoustic guitar.
Table 16-1 Common Acoustic-Guitar String Sets by Gauge
String Set Name 1 2 3 4 5 6
Extra light .010 .014 .023 .030 .039 .047
Light .012 .016 .024 .032 .042 .053
Medium .013 .017 .026 .035 .045 .056
Considering the acoustic plain-third option
If you’re an acoustic guitar player, your string
sets include a wound third string (wound means
a plain wire with a ridged winding around it, like
all the lower three strings on a guitar).
If you’re an electric guitar player, your strings
come with a plain third because it’s easier to
bend, and blues players do a lot of third-string
bending.
Though few electric guitarists (except for traditional
jazz players) opt for a wound third,
acoustic-blues players may want to consider an
unwound, plain third-string for the following
reasons:
Having a plain third makes your acoustic
guitar behave more like an electric, which
means you can practice your electric stringbending
licks on your acoustic. You can
hear your electric-style playing acoustically
without the aid of an amplifier.
A plain third is lighter and more flexible
than a wound third, making it easier on your
left hand.
Your electric and acoustic setups are more
closely matched, making it easier to transition
between the two guitars.
The disadvantages to a plain third on an
acoustic include the following:
The sound quality is thin.
The strings feel loose under your fingers.
The result is a strange sound and unusual
feel because acoustics are set up for wound
thirds. This may prevent you from playing
other types of acoustic music convincingly.
If you don’t perform a lot of third-string bending
and you want the more-traditional acousticguitar
sound, stay with a wound third. But if you
do a lot of string bending — whether in your
acoustic or in your electric playing — you may
want to try stringing your acoustic with a plain
third.
TEAM LinG