What strings will give me an acoustic tone and still work with a single coil mag pick up ?
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What strings will give me an acoustic tone and still work with a single coil mag pick up ?
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Hey pick im more than likely gonna go with your strings on my personal git . i just saw the add with the "hint" . ;)
this is going to be a git for a buddy who pretty much lives on the road . so i want him to be able to play it unplugged and still enjoy it but can plug it in and crank it up when he wants too . i guess if you were to stick a mag pup in the sound hole of an acoustic idea . not built yet just in the drawing stage . im building it from scratch so i can shift the design any way i need to but at the moment its a bolt on neck with strat pick ups but staying close to a semi-hollow body design on the inside . i want to bring my 3 fav guitars in to one guitar . Strat Gibson ES and a CBG . lol But I got stuck at what strings to use considering CBG's are not know for their acoustic quality . Hey Pick have Have you tried your strings on a full size acoustic yet ? i could use that as a basic idea of how it will sound . Oh last detail . my first 6 Stringer .
i've used my strings on and acoustic cbg they sounded great . my buddy put them on a full body acoustic harmony , and said they sounded great .. i have put them on an acoustic
framus and they sounded great .
but like oily says .. it's the tone you like that is the key . and that's hard for anyone to explain . or find but you . in my opinion .. any electric set of 10's using # 3, 4 and 5 seem to get close to the common "sound " cbg-ers love ." when mag amped .
then the guitar itself / materials used , string angle / neck angle etc ... can add or subtract to the equation . what might sound great on one guitar may not on another .
its best to test the actual guitar useing some electric strings , etc... you have readily there first .
http://swampwitchguitars.weebly.com/strings.html
;-)
or experiment with any steel strings
you could try accustic strings .. they will work amped .. but sound muddy . steel is best amped . and will work both ways .
Any string designed for use with magnetic pickups will give you, by definition, an acoustic tone when played unamplified. Even my Strat and LP copy do this, albeit not necessarily a tone that sounds "good," or has enough volume, to my ears. You probably already know this, but all "electric" strings have a steel core, that, when coupled with moving them through the magnetic field of a mag pup pole piece, generates a small current, which needs amplification to be powerful enough to move a speaker voice coil, to move air in patterned ways our brains recognize as the sounds we call music (thus the need for Fenders, Marshalls, Bugeras, Crates, Peaveys, etc. - a whole 'nother highly opinionated discussion;-) ). You're gonna get a numerous individualized responses on "I like these strings because..." As guitar gearheads, we are always searching for "tone," but rarely defining for ourselves what that actually means, even though we know it when we recognize it ( kinda like that famous Federal judge's comment about porn).
So, what acoustic "tone" are you looking for, that you then later want to hear amplified, bent, distorted, crunched, etc. when you decide to plug in? Warm, growly, shimmery, tinkly - lots of descriptors. On CBGs, you can get the first two by using thicker string sets, with wound 6th, 5th, 4th and 3rd strings (E, A, D, G); most people don't use the 6th (E), because of the prevalence of Open G around here, as well as fears of putting too much tension on their necks, but use the middle 3 strings of a Medium standard set ( haven't seen anyone try a Heavy set yet, although it's theoretically possible; I have a set of 12s - meaning the 1st (e) string has a diameter of .012",- on my Strat for a beefier tone, but they require lots of hand strength for bends). If you want more shimmer and twang, as well as easier string bending and a more "steel guitar" sound for slide, go with a set of Lights. Or get a coupla three sets, and experiment until your ears tell you what they like. If you do decide to do this (should run you around $15 for three sets of electric strings), do it using the Clean channel on your amp, for best comparison with the acoustic versus amplified tone (also realizing that speaker size, amp gain, volume setting, placement if your ears in relation to the amp speaker, and even the room you do your tests in, will have a coloring effect on what you hear). Then pick the set that sounds best - to you.
Nickel wound are my electric strings
I THINK WITH CBG'S IT MORE ABOUT STRING SIZE AND IF THEY ARE WOUND. YOU CAN GET SOME REAL SWEET SOUND WITH A SET OF PLAIN STRING . DOBRO SETS ARE MY FAVORITE SLIDE STRINGS.