Members kimona Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 I want to change the strings on my son's Ovation Applause AE28. Right now, the strings are super lights because the previous owner was mostly into electric guitar and amplified effects. My son is just learning and is only a strummer. What is a good string that will give him the sound he likes... a deeper, more mellow sound? I want to get this done today if possible, before he gets home from school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 I use Martin SP PB 10's on my old Applause AE21 deep bowl - but I think the AE28 is a slim bowl, yes? You could try a set of 11's or maybe 12's to get a fuller sound but you may find you have to adjust the truss rod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kimona Posted April 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Yes, that's correct, the AE28 is a shallow bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Well, it's up to you and your son really. Personally, I prefer the sound of light strings and they are certainly easier to play than medium and heavy gauge. A friend of mine plays A USA Balladeer which is also a shallow bowl and he uses 10's too. Perhaps try 11's as a compromise? - still easy to play for a beginner but they will sound a bit fuller and you probably won't need to adjust the neck relief if you onlygo up one gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Head for the git shop and get his git setup in addition to buying new strings. A good setup works minor miracles and new strings always sound great. A well set up git will be very easy for him to play, whereas a git with too-high action is nothing short of torture, even for experienced players. If you don't have time to visit a tech today, go to the Annex and click on the Tech tab. Read "is my guitar sick", then take some measurements so you know where you stand setup-wise. After taking the measurements, you can decide whether to mount lights or mediums. If the action is low, I recommend D'Addario EJ-16 Phos Bronze, gauged 12-53. IMO, phos bronze produces a warm resonance that I particularly like. If the action is high and you don't have time to visit a tech, I'd still recommend the D'Addario PB strings, but in a lighter gauge (11-47) until a setup can be done. Speaking of setup, something comes to mind: If the previous owner was into electric and had ultra-lights mounted, the git might already be set up with the very low action preferred by electric players. Still wouldn't hurt to measure, though. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Oh, BTW.... With regard to what Garthman said and the lad's fingers...... I'm assuming he's already started to build callouses because you mentioned that he knows 8 chords and a riff. Otherwise, I would not recommend 12-53 strings. If his fingers aren't very tough yet, 11-47 would be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kimona Posted April 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Yeah, the action is super low. The plastic saddle looks a little worn from bending the bottom strings a lot; as a result, they buzz a tad on the lower frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Yeah, the action is super low. The plastic saddle looks a little worn from bending the bottom strings a lot; as a result, they buzz a tad on the lower frets. Okay. Low action = good. Worn saddle = not so good. Buzzing = not good either. I believe setup is in order. You've probably figured that out by now. Aside from the saddle being what it is, a slightly heavier gauge string will put a little more tension on the neck, thus increasing the relief. That might help reduce the buzz, but it's not a cure. I'm not going to recommend you adjust the truss rod at this point in time because there are several adjustments the git needs, all of which interact with one another. I think it's best that you make an appointment with a tech or learn to do your own setups if you don't already know how. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Phosphor Bronze. .10's. or .11's. That's what I'd use. It's what I always used on the Ovation Elite I own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kimona Posted April 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Thanks for your posts everybody. Apparently, it's more than just changing strings. I'll run it over to Sam Ash. The tech there is supposed to be quite good. I wonder if he has a new plastic saddle for that guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 Thanks for your posts everybody. Apparently, it's more than just changing strings. I'll run it over to Sam Ash. The tech there is supposed to be quite good. I wonder if he has a new plastic saddle for that guitar? Good for you. Yeah, any decent tech has usually got plenty of saddle blanks and can get ya fixed up right quick. FWIW, bone is nice and won't bust the bank account. I like it much better than plastic. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crab_Cake Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 I would go with some elixer 12 polywebs. They are very smooth on the fingers, great for new players. Plus they sound good and wont go dead in a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roughtrade Posted April 21, 2008 Members Share Posted April 21, 2008 The saddle is the pickup system on an Ovation. Should be easy to replace if the tech does it. I believe they are pretty standard from what I've seen. They all look alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarist21 Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 Just curious, how young is your son? I started playing guitar when I was pretty little and I didn't use anything heavier than .10s on my acoustics until I was like 14. Just too much on the little fingers. I probably could have handled it after a while, but I wasn't up for the discomfort of building up my finger strength. I was an impatient little bugger. Ellen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted April 22, 2008 Members Share Posted April 22, 2008 Just curious, how young is your son? I started playing guitar when I was pretty little and I didn't use anything heavier than .10s on my acoustics until I was like 14. Just too much on the little fingers. I probably could have handled it after a while, but I wasn't up for the discomfort of building up my finger strength. I was an impatient little bugger.Ellen LOL You sound just like me. But I played a dread with heavy strings, cried with the pain every night at bedtime, then got up the next morning eager to grab the git before breakfast. Also wanted to take it to school every day, but was only allowed to do so on "music day" which was every Wednesday I lived for Wednesdays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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