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First cbg...acoustic or elec strings - how to tune

Ok, finished my first 3 string cbg tonight, letting glue dry overnight and excited to string it up tomorrow. I bought from Gitty 2 sets of strings... Both are 3 string sets, open g , light, one says electric and one says acoustic. My guitar has a sound hole, and is wired with a disk piezo and volume knob. Would love to just play acoustic but I think these cbgs need an amp to sound good.

So, which strings best ? Also, sounds silly but I have never played guitar, literally how do I tune after I put strings on? I have a little korg ca30 tuner... Do I start with string closest to my face, tighten till snug, then increase till tuner says g , then go to middle string and do same till tuner says d, then do same on last, but once it hits g go higher till it hits g again? I have read of people snapping strings and overtightenin a whole octave, etc.

Thanks...I am excited to learn and one day help other newbies

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Permalink Reply by t-belly johnson on April 10, 2013 at 12:49am

It probably won`t make a great deal of difference but I have found,with piezo, that the acoustic strings give a nicer sound played either acoustic or plugged in.

For tuning start with the string closest to your body,the thick string, and tune up until the tuner shows it to be G,next go to the middle D and finally the bottom,higher pitched G.Once done you will more than likely need to retune from top to bottom as the strings stretch.Because the strings are new they will stretch while playing so initially you will need to retune on a regular basis.

If you struggle with the korg you can tune by ear. http://www.get-tuned.com/online_guitar_tuner.php

On the right you will see different tunings.click on open G tuning and tune,by ear using the GDG noted only.

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Permalink Reply by HarleyTodd on April 10, 2013 at 5:34am

Sincere Thanks for your reply. very helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on April 10, 2013 at 5:34am

with a piezo, the acoustic strings work well. When using a magnetic pickup, electric strings are the choice.

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Permalink Reply by TruckDrivingFool on April 13, 2013 at 3:20pm

To further add - the only time you should need the electric strings is if you have a magnetic pickup and even then the acoustic will work but you will get better sound out of the electrics due to their composition.