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Strings for acoustic/electric build

Posted by Carl Laman on October 4, 2015 at 9:27am in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts

What are you guys using for strings (acoustic or electric) when making a guitar that could be used as an  acoustic, but also has a magnetic pickup (no piezo) ?

I have built guitars with a piezo and a mag pup with a 3 way toggle, and used acoustic strings and that works well.

I was wondering if the electric strings would make the guitar sound thin when played acoustically?

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Replies

  • Richey Kay October 9, 2015 at 1:54am
    Another +1 for electric strings, even on acoustics, lighter, brighter, keep their best tone longer, work better with magnetic pickups...
  • John Sawyer October 9, 2015 at 1:04am
    The nice part of electric strings is they're lighter. Makes for easier fretting and bending. The downside is they have less tension, so the are not as loud acoustically. You can adjust for that by buying heavy strings, or using the EAD strings and tuning them up to Gdg...
  • Cause the Blue rat October 8, 2015 at 11:23pm

    For me it's electric all the way. Even on my acoustic. 

  • Paul Craig October 6, 2015 at 5:34am

    Usually acoustic strings don't do well with magnetic pickups due to unequal sound(solid strings will tend to be very bright and loud compared to wound strings). This might not be a big deal if you have a 3 string CBG with all wound or all solid strings. If you have a pickup without individual pole pieces like a lipstick tube or rail type that problem will be lessened for instruments with both solid and wound strings.

    Electric strings on a acoustic guitar will tend to have more treble and less bass. Using bigger strings will change that. Just depends on your personal tastes.

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