Members jackie_thompsen Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Can I replace the bronze-wound 10s (10-47) on my acoustic guitar with nickel-wound strings of the same gauge? What kind of change in sound or playability could I expect? Any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burningleaves Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Can I replace the bronze-wound 10s (10-47) on my acoustic guitar with nickel-wound strings of the same gauge? What kind of change in sound or playability could I expect? Any? You can. I have not tried it but I imagine it would have alot more high end and "twangyness" with nickle electric guitar strings. Prol' sound a bit thin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvilTwin Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Well, you can do it, the same way you could put nylon strings on a dreadnought. Either way, you aren't going to be driving the top as hard and will be getting less volume and tone out of your guitar. Plus, as Burningleaves said, you'll most likely be getting a twangier type of sound with electric strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackie_thompsen Posted August 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Would putting electric 10s on my acoustic guitar make it any easier to fret? I have both an electric guitar with 10s on it, and a really crappy acoustic guitar with 10s on it. The electric is so much easier on my fingers it's ridiculous. The action on the acoustic is pretty high, but the strings aren't going down any further (all adjustments at nut, saddle, neck made to max already). I'm just wondering if changing the bronze strings out for nickel might make it any easier to play, even if it screws up the tone. My fingers are killing me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerime Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 I've replaced single strings I've broke with electric strings in a pinch. It was as mentioned above, twangy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvilTwin Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Would putting electric 10s on my acoustic guitar make it any easier to fret? I have both an electric guitar with 10s on it, and a really crappy acoustic guitar with 10s on it. The electric is so much easier on my fingers it's ridiculous. The action on the acoustic is pretty high, but the strings aren't going down any further (all adjustments at nut, saddle, neck made to max already).I'm just wondering if changing the bronze strings out for nickel might make it any easier to play, even if it screws up the tone. My fingers are killing me. It may make it a bit easier, but if the action is high it's still going to be a bit of a challenge. You may want to check out silk and steel strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave W. Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Sounds like you may be ready for a neck reset. Kinda pricey unless it is a pretty good guitar, $300 or so. Do you do your own work as far as setups are concerned? A pro might be able to squeeze a bit more life out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackie_thompsen Posted August 16, 2007 Author Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 Sounds like you may be ready for a neck reset. Kinda pricey unless it is a pretty good guitar, $300 or so. Do you do your own work as far as setups are concerned? A pro might be able to squeeze a bit more life out of it. No way - this baby is not getting a neck reset. It's a pos guitar I got for $30 off ebay. I thought it would be a good learning experience to do my own adjustments - over the last two months I've used everything from my toe nail clipper to bricks to my Rotozip on the thing. String action is still too high (4/32nds for all strings at the 12th fret), but now fitted with 10s, and tuned down a whole step, it's playable, although still painful on my newbie fingers. I just figured maybe I'd try a set of electric strings before I downgrade this guitar from 'musical instrument' to 'wall-decoration.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dhoenisch Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 I put a set of electric strings on my sister's acoustic guitar. It is definately twangier. Basically, she is trying to learn to play guitar, and I figure that since she wouldn't play the guitar with the acoustic strings at all, giving her electric strings so she would play is much better than the guitar just sitting there collecting dust. I did install a new nut though, for two reasons, first of all, the nut on the guitar was made of some hard wood that was falling apart, and though it was fine, it would need replacing sooner than later, and also, the nut slots were a bit wider than they needed to be for electric guitar strings, so the current nut that I made for her guitar is suited for the thinner electric strings. In case you were wondering, I decided to make the new nut out of some ebony since it's what I had laying around, and the guitar is just a 3/4 sized Harmony Stella student guitar that she will hopefully need for only a little while until she graduates to a full sized, real acoustic, maybe to one of mine. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dave W. Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 No way - this baby is not getting a neck reset. It's a pos guitar I got for $30 off ebay. I thought it would be a good learning experience to do my own adjustments - over the last two months I've used everything from my toe nail clipper to bricks to my Rotozip on the thing. Sounds like you have this one figured, time to learn some slide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marsguitars Posted August 16, 2007 Members Share Posted August 16, 2007 You can do anything you like... it's your guitar! But there's a reason why electric strings are nickel & acoustics bronze (& all the varients) - they sound better that way. Electric strings need non-ferous metal for the pickups to work, but will give a thin and soul-less sound on an acoustic guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bbrunskill Posted August 17, 2007 Members Share Posted August 17, 2007 N it's playable, although still painful on my newbie fingers. I just figured maybe I'd try a set of electric strings before I downgrade this guitar from 'musical instrument' to 'wall-decoration.' Might just be a matter of breaking your fingers in. It takes a long time for them to get really tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted August 17, 2007 Members Share Posted August 17, 2007 I wouldn't advise it. Beside the lack of tone, there's also the issue of how it will affect the neck and frets. With regards to the neck, any decreased/increased string tension will most likely screw up the guitar's setup, making it even less playable. As for the frets, they're more likely to wear out if you expect to do a lot of bends/electric-style vibrato. You might also wear some serious grooves into the fretboard. I know this from experience as I nearly destroyed the neck on a $5 garage sale beater guitar - it kinda looked like a cheap knockoff of a Gibson Dove. I know, no big loss there but I still learned the hard way. :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members samthinguy Posted August 17, 2007 Members Share Posted August 17, 2007 I heard Tony Rice plays with nickel strings on his guitar. Any truth to that? They sure do look silver to me ;-) Of course he could probably put rubber bands on and it would be amazing. I had the same problem with a kid I was teaching lessons to. He was young and his guitar was just too much for him to fret. He gave up before I could try the electric strings...bummer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted August 17, 2007 Members Share Posted August 17, 2007 You can certainly put nickel strings on your acoustic if you want to (or nylon also - despite what many people say this works very well - I have one of my dreadnoughts strung with nylon strings and it is probably my most-used guitar). Sure, the sound will be different - but what the hell. However, I really think you should try to adjust your action - this just involves sanding the base of the bridge saddle down and it is a fairly easy DIY job. Have a look at Freeman's "Is your guitar sick" for some info about this (there was also a thread about doing this a few weeks ago - try the HC search function). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted August 17, 2007 Members Share Posted August 17, 2007 Jackie - you've already got about the lightest strings made for an acoustic (10 - 47's are normally called "extra light") and you've further reduced the tension by down tuning - about the only other thing you can do to make it play easier is try "silk and steel" strings or some other very low tension. Round cores might be a little easier to fret too (DR makes them). But as others have already said - acoustic strings are made from bronze alloys for a very good reason - they sound better. However, for 5 bucks for a set of electric strings - heck, give it a shot. 4/32 is too high in my book - but on a used and/or inexpensive guitar it might be what you get. However, if you can get it down it will become a lot easier to play. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eflat Posted August 18, 2007 Members Share Posted August 18, 2007 Whoa no offense but 10's are v. light for an acoustic! I play 12's on electric and acoustic with no problems, maybe its just a case of getting used to them, letting your fingers harden. Good luck with whatever you do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tony Burns Posted August 18, 2007 Members Share Posted August 18, 2007 Electric strings will suck on your acoustic - they will have about half of the volume that ex-light acoustic strings have plus the steel sound will be kinda twangy ( as stated in an earlier post ) electric generate their sound in a complete different manner than an acoustic, kinda like apples and oranges ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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