# 13s to 12s



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

When I had my Epi EJ200ce set up, I had 13s put on. A few weeks ago, I went from 12s to 11s on my Fender Parlour and I liked it ( D'Addario - EZ910 85/15 Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings Light 11-52 ). I am finding the 13s a little stiff, so I am going down a step to 12s, and likely a different type ( D'Addario Strings : Nickel Bronze Wound : NB1253 Nickel Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings, Light, 12-53 ). See what happens. I feel a little too much resistance when fretting the strings. I also like to make little bends and wee subtle vibratos and I can barely do that very small stuff with 13s.

With electrics strings I have gone from 10s to 11s back to 10s and finally to 9-46s. Getting older and have (in an Austrian accent) "weak puny little girly man hands and fingers" I am sure that is a good part of it.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

On electrics I started on 9 to 42 back in 1981 till sometime in the 90's when I changed to 10 to 46. about 8 years ago I happened upon half gauges 9.5 and went to them a while. I tried 11's on my telecaster a few months ago and loved the feel and playing rhythm with them. However soloing wasn't good. I felt on my tele it took away the twang and snap.
On acoustic back in the 80's I used 12's but since the 90's have been on 13's. I wouldn't go back to 12's for acoustic. I play heavy handed though.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Being a a Tele with 9s kinda guy, who makes a lot of big bends, my acoustic had to get 12s put on it.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

cboutilier said:


> Being a a Tele with 9s kinda guy, who makes a lot of big bends, my acoustic had to get 12s put on it.


I found that bending with bigger gauge is not a problem for me. Where I found 9's advantageous is with pull offs and hammerons with fast play. The bigger gauge makes it more difficult and it takes more effort. Fast pull offs and hammerons were more in my style than bends but bends are important as well. Still the tone of a bigger gauge is superior to 9's. Especially on a tele 9's sound so plinky to me.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

guitarman2 said:


> I found that bending with bigger gauge is not a problem for me. Where I found 9's advantageous is with pull offs and hammerons with fast play. The bigger gauge makes it more difficult and it takes more effort. Fast pull offs and hammerons were more in my style than bends but bends are important as well. Still the tone of a bigger gauge is superior to 9's. Especially on a tele 9's sound so plinky to me.


Bigger tone to you is undefined mush to others  - not superior, different. Whatever you find the most comfortable for your style is the best option, because you'll play better. I have no issue with thinner gauges of strings, but I am a bit heavy handed (especially in sections of songs where I can be) so I prefer a thicker string.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Bigger tone from heavier gauged strings means nothing if playability is compromised by the heavier strings. As I said, in my case, I find the 13s a bit stiff, a little harder to fret and perform subtle bends and vibratos.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


> Bigger tone from heavier gauged strings means nothing if playability is compromised by the heavier strings. As I said, in my case, I find the 13s a bit stiff, a little harder to fret and perform subtle bends and vibratos.


It can be done. For me I had to practice and practice and eventually you get used to the bigger gauge strings, then trying to go back the smaller gauge will feel too slinky. But I understand where you're coming from. Over the years I flip flopped back and forth and would sacrifice the tone for being able to perform my technique with more ease.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I changed the strings from D'Addario Coated Phosphor Bronze 13-56s to D'Addario Nickel Bronze 12-53s. I find the new strings brighter and more open sounding. Something about the coated strings made them sound a tad muted IMO. The news strings are also a touch easier to fret, bend and do vibratos. Just enough. I am definitely happier with new strings. 

The Coasted strings are $16.50 and the Nickel Bronze are $11.25 compared to $8.70 for the regular Phosphor Bronze.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I was playing this guitar again today and I am even more amazed at how much better I like the sound of these strings, D'Addario Nickel Bronze.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Robert1950 said:


> I was playing this guitar again today and I am even more amazed at how much better I like the sound of these strings, D'Addario Nickel Bronze.


I like trying different things on my Martin. I'm gonna have to give these a try. Martin has a set of nickel they call Monels modeled after strings that Tony Rice used back in the 70's. He claims they don't change the timbre of the guitar and that the guitars natural sound comes through. No color. Not sure how close they'd be to these Nickel bronze. I tried the monels once. I found them not as lively out of the box as 80/20 or phosphor bronze nor as loud but I liked the tone.

Here is whats said about the monels:



> Legendary Bluegrass artist, Tony Rice, played Martin Monel strings loyally on Clarence White's 1935 D28 until they became unavailable in the 1970's and he has been missing them ever since. The talented sound engineers at Martin Guitar worked hand-in-hand with Tony to bring back to life his favorite sound - Martin Monels. When the new formula was perfected, and Tony put them on his guitar, he said "Welcome back, old friend." Tony's favorite thing about Martin Monels is that they don't change the timbre of the guitar. The compound, nickel-based alloy mellows very quickly to allow the natural, woody sounds of the guitar to pour from the sound hole, unaltered, from the very first strum.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

I've tried medium acoustic strings on my Martin D-18 but even though I get more volume and probably better tone my hands aren't strong enough and probably never will be. Lights are where I'm at.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Guncho said:


> I've tried medium acoustic strings on my Martin D-18 but even though I get more volume and probably better tone my hands aren't strong enough and probably never will be. Lights are where I'm at.


I went through this very dilemna at one time. I found the balance between using mediums and a good setup with very low action. I suppose for maximum volume higher action with med strings would be best but like you just wouldnt have the strength to pull it of with my playing technique. If I went back to lights I'd have to raise the action a little higher and I'd rather have the low action than the light strings. All depends on the style to. If I were a finger style I'd probably go with lights


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## Steve6D (May 9, 2016)

I use 10's on my Strats and 12's on my acoustic. I don't play a lot of lead, so they work quite nicely...


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## markxander (Oct 24, 2009)

I don't play much acoustic, and I have a pretty light touch. I've used these for a long time, and I love the feel and the (admittedly different) sound.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I like the John Pearse Slightly lights , 11-50, But I may try the Extra lights next time at 11-47. (but I like the bass with the thicker bottom strings)

It's a Taylor Grand symphony that came with 12-53. I could not bend those strings to save my life. i can get half bends out of the Slightly light.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Bought a set of D'Addario 85/15 Bronze 11-52s. Will try those. The 12s I put on the Jumbo acoustic with a 25.5 was a definite improvement over the 13s that were on on it at first - vert hardr to fret, too stiff, barely a 1/4 tone bend possible. But I still want something that is still a bit more easier to fret, and a little more bendy, so I am going for 11s so see if they work. I have the 85/15 Bronze 11s on my 24.75 scale parlour and I like those, but then I got a set of 85/15 Bronze 10-50s that I am going to experiment with, as I play totally different stuff on the little git.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

The nickel bronze strings don't suit me. I put a set on a guitar I use a lot but let students play them to at least get some use out of them. 

My usual strings are D'Addario EJ-16 (.12 to .53) on most of the flattops tuned to concert pitch, and EJ17 (.13 to .56) on one that's tuned down a half step, and on the long scale (27") tuned down 3 half steps. I sometimes use the D'Addario coated strings in extremely humid weather and outdoor gigs, and at the moment I have DR coated strings on the bouzouki.

I've moved up and down in gauge over the years but my comfort zone is with the EJ-16 or equivalent tension.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I just put a set of 10-50 85/15 bronze on Fender Parlour, replacing 11-52s, same string type. When I put 11s on, replacing the phosphor 12s, playability improved and the brighter sound made a lot of difference. Those 11s overall suited this guitar very well. Now that I have replaced the 11s with the 10s, there was a another level of improvement in the playability. Tone was maybe sacrificed a bit, thinner, but with this guitar, it doesn't matter as much to. This is my couch guitar, grab and play along with YouTube lesson guitar, and the better playability suits those purposes well. 

Since I like the Nickel Bronze 12s on the Epi Jumbo, I may hold off on putting the 85/15 11s on, and order a set of Nickel Bronze 11s instead. I just want to see if the playability improves The EXJ17s (13-56) that were on at first were too stiff, hard to fret, a bit dull and muted, almost unbendable.


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

As an electric player who has recently started in on the acoustic (never thought I'd own 2 before, let alone 1), I'm having a similar issue that maybe someone can help me sort out. I basically play the acoustic like an electric, using fast vibrato, small, medium, and larger bends. I've always played with 10's on electric, 9's way back when. I stuck on the D'Addario Phosphor Bronze 11-47's, and was wondering why the damn gutar sounded so dull at points. I never considered the strings themselves, as I'm talking about a much lower line of guitar than some of you are accustomed to.....the A&L CW-Q1. I thought that maybe it's because it's a cutaway dread, but this is the first time I've used the Phosphor on an acoustic. Do you think this may be the same type of dullness issue that you're having Robert? Anyone else?


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Dorian2 said:


> As an electric player who has recently started in on the acoustic (never thought I'd own 2 before, let alone 1), I'm having a similar issue that maybe someone can help me sort out. I basically play the acoustic like an electric, using fast vibrato, small, medium, and larger bends. I've always played with 10's on electric, 9's way back when. I stuck on the D'Addario Phosphor Bronze 11-47's, and was wondering why the damn gutar sounded so dull at points. I never considered the strings themselves, as I'm talking about a much lower line of guitar than some of you are accustomed to.....the A&L CW-Q1. I thought that maybe it's because it's a cutaway dread, but this is the first time I've used the Phosphor on an acoustic. Do you think this may be the same type of dullness issue that you're having Robert? Anyone else?


In the last year, I switched to D'Addario Phosphor Bronze EXP Lights 12-53 recommended to me by luthier Dave Wren. They will definitely brighten up your sound as they are quite crisp sounding when you first put them on. They sound great and last a long time.


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Thanks Alex, I'll check em out.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

EXP 13-54s were the ones I found stiff and muted. Coated Phosphor Bronze. Check out this D'Addario brightness scale.

D'Addario Strings : Acoustic Strings


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Heh. Great link. Thanks for that. Makes the guess work that much easier.


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