Which strings for an acoustic archtop guitar?

[SuperB23]

I tried running some searches for this but couldn't find old threads but I'm curious which string brands/types sound best on an all acoustic carved archtop guitar. For lack of anything better I currently put some Martin SP PB .012s on my 18" wide carved D'Aquisto Solo style archtop but noticed right away I ran out of windings on the d and g string due to the strings not being quite long enough. I also have some Benedetto Brand .012s that I've had for about a year and haven't tried.

[rpguitar]

Flats are horrible on any acoustic guitar. But 80/20 and PB are generally the main players. They are quite different from each other. If you don't know 80/20 strings, you should try them.

[Uncle Meat]

I like the Newtone Archtop strings, but they're pricey.

[MarkRhodes]

Slightly off topic, but anyone here ever put acoustic strings (-bronze) on an archtop? I did that once and liked the volume but not the squeak. It was just 'something to do'---I started on an acoustic guitar and sometimes miss that bright ring when strumming simple (non-jazz) songs.

[rpguitar]

Mark, acoustic archtops traditionally are strung with bronze acoustic strings. Controlling finger noise is a technique issue.

[Rick Kay]

Slightly off topic, but anyone here ever put acoustic strings (-bronze) on an archtop? I did that once and liked the volume but not the squeak. It was just 'something to do'---I started on an acoustic guitar and sometimes miss that bright ring when strumming simple (non-jazz) songs.

I use Elixir Nanoweb strings - 12s 80/20 bronze. The coating helps to control the "squeak", and the coating actually gives a bit of a darker tone.

[goshawk]

I like the Newtone Archtop strings, but they're pricey.

Seconded. Not cheap, although not as expensive as TIs or Pyramids.

IIRC, they also make an acoustic version - double wound bronze rather than nickel.

[Eddie Lang]

Most people I know (really) do not like flats on an acoustic. I must be one of the few exceptions...

Most of my [EDIT to add] acoustic archtops wear TI Swing flats in either 012 or 013 because I really prefer dark, dark, dark, and rounds are just not that dark. On the other hand, the sacrifice I have to make is that they are a bit quieter than rounds in a large room.

I like TI Plectrum rounds too. They are somewhat dark for rounds, but just not as much as Swing flats. I usually put them on a flat top to give it some of the darkness, but also the snappiness and mid-range of an archtop guitar -- while keeping the sustaining ability of the flat top guitar.

Another round wound set that I like are Newtone Archtop but, although darker than most acoustic round wound strings, they are still brighter than the Swing and Plectrum strings.

I usually prefer Newtone Archtop strings on more contemporary archtop guitars and the TI Swing on my 1930-50s archies.

All my opinion and your mileage may vary. In fact, I know that it usually does...

[MarkRhodes]

Mark, acoustic archtops traditionally are strung with bronze acoustic strings.

Thanks. Makes sense. My guitar's an electric but I rarely use my amp. I've come to love the feel of flatwound strings and love the tone too, so I'm sticking with them.

[Ray175]

Just discovered theforum and am delighted to see so many and positive exchanges !

I changed to Newtone about 2 months ago and have been very pleased with the results. I’ve played 13’son my 1961 ES-175D for longer than I care to remember, and made the transitionto 14’s after a telephone call to Foulds of Derby (UK) to check out the advicegiven on their site to go one gauge heavier than usual. From my point of viewthe advice was sound.

From a playing point of view the strings are less “tacky” and “sticky” than flatwounds, but less “bright”than most roundwounds I’ve played. However, I did need to graphite the nut onthe lower 3 strings since the heavier gauge is wider and tended to stick.

Acoustically, the attack is relatively clean and the note dies smoothly and evenly. After a couple ofweeks of play (3-4 times a week for a couple of hours), the “darker” tones cameout – for me they are strings that need to be played in to get the best out ofthem. Wouldn’t want to gig with them right away!

Plugged in (FenderPrinceton Recording), with the neck pickup, treble rolled totally off, the trip was instantly into “Joe Pass land” - at low gain (ultra-clean sound), the stringsreally come into their own.

Conclusion? At the moment – I’m more than happy to stay with the Newtone’s

[Rick Kay]

I am trying a set of TI George Benson nickel round wound strings. I think I like them, and may make the switch from the bronze nanowebs I have been using. I really dig the "bite" on the attack I get from the strings... I've had them on the guitar for about a week...still evaluating...

[Doctor Jeff]

I like D'Addario Phosphor Bronze mediums. They have a mellower tone than the 80/20's, which I always associate with flattops and bluegrass.

For one old archtop I put on silk and steel. They are better for fingerpicking, very mellow, and low tension - ideal for a guitar with neck issues (action too high).

For my nicest archtop I switched to D'Addario Flattops since I play it amplified occasionally with a piezo pickup and the string squeak was driving me crazy! It is a really mellow sound that works acoustically or amplified and pretty much eliminates the string noise with the pickup. Sliders also use them for the same reason. I've heard good things about the Thomastick acoustic flats but they are harder to get and more expensive, and I thought I'd try the DA's first.

[jorgemg1984]

John Pearse Jazz Rounds have give my laminate X-500 a much bugger acoustic sound and are pretty cheap.

[Hjalmiz]

John Pearse Jazz Rounds have give my laminate X-500 a much bugger acoustic sound and are pretty cheap.

Where do you get those in europe?

[jorgemg1984]

Strings Direct UK

[hcstergzzaj]

Hello All

Despite playing guitar since 1978, I am new to the world of Acoustic guitar...

Here are my 2 Gretsch Synchromatic Jazz Acoustic Archtops - a 2008 G100 and a 1991 G400 - converted to LH :



On both instruments, I put a ERNIE BALL BEEFY SLINKY 11-15-22P-30-42-54 set of strings. These are nickel roundwound strings, with a plain G allowing me to do bends.

What would you install instead ?

Thanks for your experience, tips and advices...

A+!

[sgosnell]

I'd put some bronze acoustic strings, at least .012, maybe .013, with a wound G. It intonates a lot better, and is actually easier to bend than a plain string. For acoustic, nickel strings aren't ideal, nor are thin strings. They won't activate the top very well.

[krusty]

I owned a lovely Eastman acoustic archtop until recently. I tested almost every brand of string out there, and in several gauges. The best I found in terms of sound, longevity, playability, etc, were Martin phosphor bronze in either a .012 or .0125 set. Both were head and shoulders above anything else for that guitar. You will need to be prepared to do some experimenting, I'm afraid, as different guitars will respond to different strings.

[dconeill]

Depends how you use the guitars. Other things being equal heavier strings will do a better job of stimulating the top. 12s or 13s with a wound G is where I'd start.

I have had good luck with D'Addario EJ21s and EJ22s on my Heritage Sweet 16, when I use it as an electric, and EJ16s or EJ17s when I use it as a pure acoustic. Though I haven't tried them, EJ24s look like they might work well - the middle strings are a touch tinner than the EJ17s. D'Addario strings are readily available and don't cost too much, and I seem to like Phosphor Bronze formulations better than others.

[Jabberwocky]

Martin Retro Laurence Juber Monel.

[omphalopsychos]

Big fan of D'Addario Nickel Bronze. To me they sound like Monel but louder and more bass.

[hcstergzzaj]

Thank you guys for all your advices +++++,

In fact, after LH conversion, I first installed on my G100 (the 16" natural finish one) a set of 12-54 Martin Bronze Strings (the standard one, in blue carton sleeve), as it was fitted from factory, but it became deceptive soon. I'll have to explain you the reasons :

The bronze strings started to corrode and oxydize quickly in less than one month, becoming very aggressive to my fingers. I tried to clean/smooth them with a polish, but the result was mixed and most of all, not durable. This was not acceptable and finally deterred me from playing acoustic : the guitar remained unused and on display from 2010 to 2016, as a piece of decorative furniture !

Conversely, on all my electrics - where I use standard nickel 10-52 roundwound sets from Ernie Ball or Dean Markley since 1978 - the strings lasts a year or two easily and even more (depending on use), and they die from stretch and use, not in any way from corrosion or oxydization : I have rather dry hands, and so I dirty very little the strings of my instruments.

Moreover, the plain 22G allow me to do bends satisfactorily like on my electrics, a thing that was not really possible with the Martin 12-54 bronze set.

And when I used my G100 with an electric "monkey-on-a-stick" pickup attachment, these nickel strings worked nicely, giving that expected smooth jazz sound.



So when I installed that ERNIE BALL BEEFY SLINKY 11-15-22P-30-42-54 nickel set, I thought that I was right... But it seems that nobody uses nickel strings on an acoustic guitar.

Would I be a special case ?
What about oxydation and touch-agressivity on your bronze strings ?
Some of you mentioned nickel-bronze strings and monel strings : I'll dig it, but would they stay clean as nickel strings ?

Another question : will bronze strings work satisfactorily with my electric pickup attachment, where the pickup is an humbucker ?

Thanks !

A+!

[m_d]

I remember the bronze strings on a flat top acoustic to be very aggressive on my fingers many years ago. I haven't played bronze strings since, it might have been an allergy. The things just ate at my fingertips, I couldn't stand them. On my solid top, floating pickup archtop, I'm happy with .13 TI Bebops. It's always had nickel plated or pure nickel strings, those may not be optimal in "acoustic mode" but I haven't tried anything else, although I rarely plug that guitar in. As to your other question, bronze strings are generally considered to not work very well with an electric pickup.

[atracksler]

I've been using the DR Flatwounds, and love them, they are 98% of the Thomastick sound and feel, at half the price.

[sgosnell]

Now you're adding details that would have been useful in your first post. Bronze strings won't sound as good with a magnetic pickup, because bronze has no magnetic properties. If you're going to use a magnetic pickup, then you need strings wound with a ferromagnetic material for the best results. The acoustic sound will suffer, but you have to compromise somewhere. You asked what we would use on an acoustic, and you got lots of answers, as expected. Expecting a set of strings to last for more than a year is expecting too much, IMO. Any strings will start to lose tone after a month or two, but some people prefer that deader tone. OTOH, some players change strings for every performance. I'm somewhere in the middle, I keep strings until they start to have intonation issues, sound dead, or I want to try a different set. That can be days, weeks, or months, but almost never more than a few months. But the bottom line is that you can buy many, many different kinds of strings, for good reasons, and you should use whichever you prefer, for however long you like.