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" There is no rules " by Shane Speal
if it´s work and sound good to you, use it :)
Mike,
Your buddy is essentially correct, because "standard" Electric string gauges are thinner than "standard" Acoustics.
However:
Electric and Acoustic guitar strings, as you are probably aware, come in a wide variety of string gauges.
I have / use lots of different sets of electric and acoustic strings on my various 6-string commercially manufactured guitars, that range from ".009's," the .009 referring to the gauge thickness, in thousandths of an inch, of E1, the 1st (lightest) string in a standard electric 6-stringer set (they may be called Lights or Superlights by various manufacturers - the entire set is often referred to by the gauge of the lightest E string, so ".008s," "009s.", "010s" and so on) to ".013's," which is what Stevie Ray Vaughan ultimately used, tuned down to E-flat to fit his voice and make string bending easier (these may be termed Boomers or Heavies by various manufacturers.).
I am currently playing a set of .012s on my Strat, and they are a bear to bend and fret in standard tuning; but the thicker string gauge gives a deeper heavier sound, which is what I want for rock and electric blues - No Pain, No Gain!. On my acoustics, I usually put Mediums or Medium Lights, with the E1 string being .012 or .011. Or even .0115
The thing that's probably killing your buddy's fingers is the wound acoustic strings, especially if he's using the middle 3 strings from an acoustic set of strings, either ADG or DGb; there is normally a wound G in a set of Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Mediums. The "old" electric blues players would often replace this with an unwound G, which gave that string a brighter sound, and facilitated string bending.
Here are some links that explain string gauges:
http://www.guitarstringguide.com/drupal/content/guitar-string-gauges-0
http://www.ehow.com/about_6642099_difference-light-heavy-guitar-str...
And of course, Wikipedia has a nice set of generalized tables showing the different gauges for acoustics and electrics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strings_(music)
Hope this helps,
Oily
Mike,
Glad I could be of some help, being a noob here. I just thought of something (well, three or more things, actually):
1) Keni Lee Burgess can probably give you the perfect steer on string gauges and tuning. Check with him on the "How To Play..." Forum
2) Have your bud try using the Gbe from his acoustic set, leaving the wound G. Keni Lee will undoubtedly have a tuning recommendation for that. The wound G will still give you some dirty, if playing acoustic or amplified, but reduces the finger pain to just one string.
3) Have him go to GC or some such local music emporium, and ask for an unwound G,
4) He could then go the Gbe route and retune.
I bet Blind Lemon Jefferson or Robert Johnson had no clue as to what their screen door wire gauge was:-)
Mike Whisenhunt said:
Great info, Oily. I think you have it right, he's using the ADG in the set and they are wound. I will pass this info along to him.
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