does anyone know a good brand/gauge acoustic strings that still have a nice deep tone but you can still bend the hell out of? (i.e wish you were here solo ,others) i am using .10's now ,bendy but kinda bright sound. bought the guitar new an alverez solid mahogany very nice , don,t now what gauge were on it stock but they were not to easy to bend, so went to dadario .10. is there anything else or should i just suck it up and go with .11 or .12.
new to guitars , have an MIA standard ,getting pretty good if i do say so my self, even newer with acoustic though, i'm discovering its a whole different kind of animal

i love using Martin Acoustic (Studio Performance) mediums. Even tho i dont have a martin i love using them. Awesome sound.

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I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk...

Just my opinion but "bend the hell out of" solos aren't normally associated with acoustic playing. (I'm sure there are exceptions.) I typically use 12s or rarely 11s on acoustics because of course you have no pickup to boost the sound and no amp to modify the tones.

You could put 9s on but you will likely have to adjust the neck and do other basic setup items. I don't imagine too many acoustics would have been built for anything that light as made. I'm just not sure how much tone you're going to get though.

You might eventually want to investigate a hybrid -- these can be designed for electric playability but with a credible acoustic sound as well. They usually have piezo pickups to work with the acoustic "side" of the guitar and one or more conventional for electric playing. My guess is that since they have crossover appeal, you'd get further with light strings.

I have got heavily into practicing anything on an acoustic as well as an electric, inc. solos really builds up your finger strength and your picking and fingering accuracy....

Get the Ernie Ball coated lights in phosphor bronze. I can bend them all day and they won't break. They also have a nice warm tone.

I use Martin .11 (purple box) they are easy to bend and don't squeak too much when you slide fingers. I love too to play electirc parts on acoustic for finger strength training and I get faster hands/fingers warm up from acoustic. After that when I take my strat it feels like heaven .

thanks all for your reply i'll try the martins and the the e.balls see what happens

I have multiple Alvarez acoustics and you'll probably be disappointed with the EB's and the Martins - my experience is that the Martins are awful on Alvarez and the EB's are only slightly better (I have EB's on all my electrics except the strat and they're the best IMO). The Alvarez stock strings (assuming new) were Elixir 10's so try D'addario 11's and see if it helps

You can bend pretty well with nylon strings on a classical if tuned down a step.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

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I've used a lot of different brands, and would narrow it down to two.

- Elixir Nano's for a super bright sound, or for making a cheap laminate guitar sound a bit bettter

- Martin SP's for everything else.


I play a dreadnaught Taylor 310 tasmanian blackwood. With mediums I get a better tone, but I use alt tuning a lot and the mediums breaks sooner, probably because of the extra tension in them being pushed a lot (plus I do a lot of leads and bends with it). The lights aren't as full sounding, but I don't have to worry about changing alt tunings during shows and having them break during songs. Plus they're a bit easier to bend in the open position.