Members ghost Posted November 18, 2003 Members Share Posted November 18, 2003 Hi Everyone A couple of basic questions from a newbie. I am getting ready for my first ever string change on my Collings OM1. I am a bit nervous as I have never changed strings on anything before. Any tips/advice would be appreciated. Also, what strings do you suggest? I am learning contemporary fingerstyle technique and play 1 to 2 hours a day. The shop fitted some new Martins (not sure which, bronze color) about 6 weeks ago when I bought it but these were never great and now sound a little dull. I e-mailed Collings and they said all their OM guitars come fitted with D'Addario EJ16s. Again, any advice would be great. Finally, I am also looking for a good quality tuner for acoustic. I want accuracy, quality and reliability. So far I have been recommended the BossTU-12 or 15 and the Korg GT-12. thanks in advance, Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LittleBrother Posted November 19, 2003 Members Share Posted November 19, 2003 Newtone strings only at www.guitargal.com might be some of the best out there right now. If you want the more brassy sound go with Elixir Nanos but they are extremely bright for the first week and coated. Get them anywhere. Another string that www.FQMS.com sells is the GHS LJ30 Laurence Juber Signature lights. Great fat sounding strings that really surprised me. Some good ones to think about there. The Guyatuner at www.fqms.com is the most accurate and small tuner on the market IMO and in my peer's opinions the best there is right now. I personally think the Intellitouch black tuner is plenty accurate for stage use and ever slightly easier to use and more invisible on stage. But they are a close race. Both cost around 50.00 but worth it and can both be tuned in a loud room and pickup the guitar by vibrations and not like most tuners. This feature is essential at jams or gigs. Those are my faves right now. Some other good strings to try. Martin SPs for more brightness. Webstrings.com aint bad at all and very low cost. Martin makes some called Marco that were 3.00 a set and I thought sounded great. DRtune strings are real bright but good quality. DAddarios are pretty good but edgy. John Pearse www.jpstrings.com is another good one and I think a little bright. Those are just some ideas to start with..... My friend owns that very guitar and loves the John Pearse PB lights on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members talkgtr Posted November 19, 2003 Members Share Posted November 19, 2003 Hey there Ghost, I believe I'm LB's friend who owns that same guitar, LB's right, I really like the John Pearse strings but I use the 80/20 lights. The guitar will take mediums, and I've used them but I've found I like lights on the OM1 better. The JP PB are my second choice. From my $ the OM1 is one of the best acoustic out there, size, wood combo, build, versatility and tone. Congratulations! I went with a Dalmatian style Collings pickguard and FWI bridge pins on my OM1, I hope you enjoy yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members labjr Posted November 20, 2003 Members Share Posted November 20, 2003 When my Collings OM2H was new I used 80/20s for a while until it was broken in, then went back to the D'addario EJ-16. Of course, my guitar is rosewood, so you may have a different results. I think Collings made a good choice. John Pearse are nice too. You spent nearly $3,000 on a really nice guitar, so I wouldn't try to save money on cheaper brands of strings. Be careful while changing strings. You don't want to ding up your headstock. Cut the excess string length after the guitar is tuned up. Or you may scratch the headstock. That would be a shame. Tuner? Korg or Boss TU-12 pretty popular. The Guya Tone tuner may look cool. Personally, I wouldn't stick any tuner on my guitar. My buddy used a Sabine stick-on tuner on his Martin. Reacted with the finish. He called Sabine and they defended their product as being safe. I don't care what anyone says, everything will react with lacquer including your sweat. Collings still uses a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Be careful cleaning your new guitar. No heavy polishes or waxes. Martin guitar polish is a light mostly water-based mild solution. You really don't need to apply much else. All you really want to do is remove fingerprints and sweat. The tendency can be to over clean and protect your new guitar because you love it. But be careful. I don't even wipe my whole guitar down all the time, because I don't really handle the back and entire top. Constantly wiping will leave swirl marks on the finish. These are a few tips, and things I noticed about maintaining a guitar. You got a nice guitar for a first one. Take care of it properly and it will last for many years. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members woody b Posted November 21, 2003 Members Share Posted November 21, 2003 I don't have a Collins and none of my friends do either(fine guitar by the way), but my tuner of choice is an Intellitouch PT-1 for anything. It works on my Strat even in a noisy stage enviroment. Strings are a matter of personal preference. What kind of strings came on your Collins? I don't have a "favorite" string. I like DR rares on my Taylor 710ce but I like the sound of Ernie Ball Earthwoods on my Takamine EF261. I like D'addario's on my strat. About once a year I get "string crazy" and spend a small fortune trying to find the ones that sound the best. I usually just finally get tired of buying them and changing them and leave on whatever kind was on last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ghost Posted November 23, 2003 Author Members Share Posted November 23, 2003 Thanks for the advice guys. Will let you know which strings I go for and how they sound when they've settled in. Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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