Unofficial Taylor Guitar Forum - UTGF
Taylor Acoustic & Electric Guitars => Taylor Acoustic & Electric Guitars => Topic started by: BRISTOL86 on December 20, 2017, 04:31:55 AM
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Hi all
Just picked up a 2017 322 (14 fret, pure acoustic - NGD thread to come!) and looking for some advice on string selection. I play more fingerstyle than strumming though a mix overall.
I know they come with Elixir’s but no idea what’s on it at the moment (bought it used) so will be taking them off anyway!
Anyone have one that they can recommend a particular type of string that really makes her sing?
Thanks!
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I always go with John Pearse Phospher Bronze but stand by for lots of different opinions :-)
Craig
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I always go with John Pearse Phospher Bronze but stand by for lots of different opinions :-)
Craig
It just so happens that I have a pack of these in my guitar drawer, that's the first set to try then!!
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For the GC-sized guitars, I really like the elixir PB medium-lights in nanoweb. The heavier EAD (from their medium-gauge set) really help with adding bottom on these smaller-bodied guitars, IMHO. My favorite string set/gauge for both GC and GA Taylors (not to mention used them on my deep-bodied Ovation many many moons ago).
Edward
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I've recently tried Martin Acoustic Light 4050 and am amazed and the tone for fingerstyle. Have them on 4 of my guitars now.
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"For the GC-sized guitars, I really like the elixir PB medium-lights in nanoweb. The heavier EAD (from their medium-gauge set) really help with adding bottom on these smaller-bodied guitars, IMHO. My favorite string set/gauge for both GC and GA Taylors (not to mention used them on my deep-bodied Ovation many many moons ago).
Edward"
This. Edward is on to something that I also discovered for my 322ce - the Elixir PB Med-Lights. I find that the longer life for Elixirs and the Nanoweb lighter coating makes for very consistent warm/bright tone for a longer time - I change strings much more infrequently, so in the long run the Elixirs are a better value that sound very good. I have two other acoustics, a short scale Martin 000-18 & long scale GPCPA3 and use Elixirs both of them too.
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I am a big fan of the Elixir 'PB HD Lights', .013-.053, nanoweb, which is the reverse of the 'elixir PB medium-lights in nanoweb'. Using medium gauge on many of my guitars, I am used to slightly heavier treble strings. My 412e-R is strung with these HD strings, and I really like the .013 atop the treble end. And the light gauge bass strings give me plenty of bottom. I find the aural output very complimentary; the voice of each string sounds like it comes from the same great-sounding guitar.
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Forgot to ask. Is your 322 guitar the blackwood / mahogany combination? My 412e-R is rosewood / spruce.
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Addendum to my previous recommendation to Elixir PB in medium-light gauge:
I just restrung my son's new-to-him 314 (great used score for 2018 ...you're welcome, boy ;) ) with this, my favorite go-to set and yet again, I am pleased with what these strings bring. Deeper bass and more bottom-end for tonal balance against the normal Taylor bright top sparkle. Still as easy to finger chords (son is a still a quasi-beginner) but overall sounds "bigger" than with regular lights. FWIW, I use these on my GC-body (an RT-2) and swear by them for GC and GA-sized guits.
Edward
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One last trip over stringalong falls.
I have used a lot of different gauges on different guitars over the years. Somewhere back in the late 70s and/or early 80s I became enamored of something called a "bluegrass" gauge on whatever acoustic guitars I was playing at the time. That gauge is still out there, and is similar to the Elixir Medium-Light gauge. Any differences I will attribute to manufacturers' whims. Most of those differences seem to be in the D and G strings, and then only by '.001'.
This all changed for me when I got my J200. If memory serves me correctly, it was strung with light gauge Gibson strings, which I shortly changed out for a bluegrass set. Turned out I didn't need any bass boost, and the treble sounded left out. So since then, it's been mostly medium gauge on that guitar, and started using lights on others. So a quick fast forward to my current Taylor-centric guitar view, including Taylor's change to Elixir HD lights on GCs and GAs as factory standard. Found out I liked using them a lot, and I now use them on my GCs for all string changes.
So while I get that what works for any given person can be unique, it is important to try different things to arrive at the correct destination. And just as important to keep an open mind on new things. In fact, I will soon be checking out some new Santa Cruz strings, which I think contain the word 'parabolic' in the description. My hands do not seem to 'gunk' up strings very much, so constantly changing strings is not a problem.
Just by way of sonic comparison, I almost exclusively play fingerstyle using my nails as picks. (Sometimes I use a pick when playing my current 12 string, a Taylor 355.) I have no doubt that any resulting 'sound' may have a lot to do with my choice of string gauges too.
And I really like a '.013' as the treble E string.
De gustibus non disputandum.
Don
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I use Elixir PB .12's on my 322ce 12-fret, 312ce, and 324. They seem to really like these strings.
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Just picked up a 2017 322 (14 fret, pure acoustic - NGD thread to come!) and looking for some advice on string selection. I play more fingerstyle than strumming though a mix overall.
Since no one has mentioned it, I'll pitch for my favorite hog top strings, Ernie Ball Aluminum Bronze.
The reason I like these is that it brightens up a hog top tone quite a bit, making mine sound crisper and brighter. The blackwood top on the 322's have a tone profile similar to mahogany. My 322 12 fret almost got sold off until I stumbled on the Al-Bz.
As always, your ears aren't mine, but the Al-Bz will definitely brighten up your 322.