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Strings

Just finished the construction on my first box..3 string..Im not a musician,what strings are best to use? For the blues? Which 3 should i use? Any help is appreciated..

Rob

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Permalink Reply by Ben on February 23, 2010 at 2:18am

First things first...does this guitar have a pick-up (mag. or piezo?) or is it acoustic? If its acoustic, or my preference for piezo, use a standard set of acoustic strings. I've been liking the Martins but I'm sure everyone will give you their tip on where you can buy strings for .002% cheaper than the guy before them said. Just use what you can find at the guitar shop for the moment. When you go into mass production mode you can worry about the .002% cost difference. Light weight would probably be a good choice. Then if you're looking for a pretty standard strummy type thing, go with the 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings (A, D, and G) and tune the A string down to G so you have G, D, and g. This will give you a good place to start from. If you're using an magnetic pick-up, all the same applies just buy electric strings. For future reference, or to find a thousand different answers from mine, use the search box at the top of the page. I'm sure a search for things like "strings, gauges, tuning" would turn up 1.2 billion results.

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Permalink Reply by Rob on February 23, 2010 at 2:23am

Ben
Im sorry,yes it has a piezo pick up..Thanks ill look into your advice and also check the search box.
Appreciate the time.
Rob

Ben said:

First things first...does this guitar have a pick-up (mag. or piezo?) or is it acoustic? If its acoustic, or my preference for piezo, use a standard set of acoustic strings. I've been liking the Martins but I'm sure everyone will give you their tip on where you can buy strings for .002% cheaper than the guy before them said. Just use what you can find at the guitar shop for the moment. When you go into mass production mode you can worry about the .002% cost difference. Light weight would probably be a good choice. Then if you're looking for a pretty standard strummy type thing, go with the 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings (A, D, and G) and tune the A string down to G so you have G, D, and g. This will give you a good place to start from. If you're using an magnetic pick-up, all the same applies just buy electric strings. For future reference, or to find a thousand different answers from mine, use the search box at the top of the page. I'm sure a search for things like "strings, gauges, tuning" would turn up 1.2 billion results.

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on February 23, 2010 at 2:30am

If you are looking for info on what gauge/size to use, if you know your scale length you can use this:

http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.htm

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Permalink Reply by Rob on February 23, 2010 at 2:48am

Thanks Diane,ill check that out also..
Rob

Diane in Chicago said:

If you are looking for info on what gauge/size to use, if you know your scale length you can use this:

http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.htm

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Permalink Reply by Jkevn on February 23, 2010 at 2:51am

I use the #3, #4, #5 strings out of a normal pack of Acoustic strings, and tune them G, D, g. The cheapos at wal-mart are around 4 bucks a pack and have served well.

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Permalink Reply by Rob on February 23, 2010 at 2:55am

Thank you.

Jkevn said:

I use the #3, #4, #5 strings out of a normal pack of Acoustic strings, and tune them G, D, g. The cheapos at wal-mart are around 4 bucks a pack and have served well.

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on February 23, 2010 at 4:10am

I too agree that the A,D and G strings are a very good place to start .With the A tuned down to G .
I'm glad you got your 1st CBG under your belt almost ,And I bet your already thinking about your next one.
The folks here are a wealth of information ,so dont be shy about asking questions.We all start somewhere and I ask questions all the time.
Welcome to the club!
Like another follow said I too use the cheapo strings from walmart.Using the A,D and G strings on 3 strings and I use the small E on my 1 stringers.Now if I just could come up with a use for the low E string I'd be set,,,

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Permalink Reply by Rob on February 23, 2010 at 4:14am

Thanks alot Roger..Yeah already trying to picture my second one already..hahaa

Roger Martin said:

I too agree that the A,D and G strings are a very good place to start .With the A tuned down to G .
I'm glad you got your 1st CBG under your belt almost ,And I bet your already thinking about your next one.
The folks here are a wealth of information ,so dont be shy about asking questions.We all start somewhere and I ask questions all the time.
Welcome to the club!
Like another follow said I too use the cheapo strings from walmart.Using the A,D and G strings on 3 strings and I use the small E on my 1 stringers.Now if I just could come up with a use for the low E string I'd be set,,,