Light strings on a GS mini

[erwinem]

If I were to put light strings on a GS mini, as opposed to to the recommended mediums, would it still sound good?

[sergeko]

The Mini was designed with medium gauge strings in mind.
With light strings, the top will move less so the impact on the sound will be huge : less volume and less "fullness".
But whether or not you like it is very personal.

[erwinem]

Thanks!

[Guitarsan]

Perhaps more importantly the Mini is a short scale guitar and lights would feel and play very slinky.

[TaylorGirl]

I agree with the previous posters. I'd suggest giving the mediums a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised with how nice they feel, because of the shorter scale. The sound, volume, and tension is better with the mediums, IMHO.

[cc7]

I tried that - sound was pretty sad.

[Frettingflyer]

We have lights on the Koa mini for my wife, I think it is fine with mediums, but it still sounds good with the lights, just not quite as good. If it helps to get or keep someone playing I think it is worth it, but the guitar feels good with mediums IMO.

[SoCalSurf]

I just bought a new GS Mini Koa and was thinking about putting light strings on it as well when I saw this thread. So great timing.

I very much admire the knowledge of the folks on this forum and have made many decisions based on their feedback.

Since I am in the unique situation of owning two GS mini koas-- more on that later, I guess  --  I thought I would experiment with this directly. So I put some Martin Acoustic Sp Custom Lights (.011-.052) on my older mini. I have fell in love with those strings and they are on all of my full-sized guitars. On my new mini are the factory Elixir medium strings. I recorded a video of me playing the exact thing on both guitars to compare the difference. First I did fingerstyle, then I strummed.

Surprisingly, I found no volume differences between the strings. As a matter of fact, the lights actually sounded a bit louder while strumming, which surprised me very much. I still prefer the sound of the lights so I will likely put those on my new mini when I upgrade it with Gotoh 510 mini tuners and replace the bridge pins with abalone ebony pins. The tuners arrive next week.

I don't claim that this was a perfectly conducted scientific experiment (that's what I do in my real job), but I found the comparisons interesting.

I hope this helps.

[BigSkyTaylorPlayer]

I put lights on my mini and my 516.  Since I’m mostly a mandolin player those medium strings were really hard on my fingers...yeah I could power thru it but I just want to have fun when I pick up my guitar.

Though I’m sure there is some change I didn’t notice a huge difference and my fingertips thanked me.

[bukarew]

I put lights on several guitars, including my GS mini Hog and my 514ce...I don't hear much difference in tone and still get compliments on how good they sound.  They are so much easier to play.

[HAPPYDAN]

I put Elixir Lights on my HV Mini 2 years ago, and stuck with them. It did need a new set up (truss rod, saddle shave) to get the intonation right, but to me still sounds the same as with mediums. Much easier on the fingertips this way.

[pjroberts]

I just bought a new GS Mini Koa and was thinking about putting light strings on it as well when I saw this thread. So great timing.

I very much admire the knowledge of the folks on this forum and have made many decisions based on their feedback.

Since I am in the unique situation of owning two GS mini koas-- more on that later, I guess  --  I thought I would experiment with this directly. So I put some Martin Acoustic Sp Custom Lights (.011-.052) on my older mini. I have fell in love with those strings and they are on all of my full-sized guitars. On my new mini are the factory Elixir medium strings. I recorded a video of me playing the exact thing on both guitars to compare the difference. First I did fingerstyle, then I strummed.

Surprisingly, I found no volume differences between the strings. As a matter of fact, the lights actually sounded a bit louder while strumming, which surprised me very much. I still prefer the sound of the lights so I will likely put those on my new mini when I upgrade it with Gotoh 510 mini tuners and replace the bridge pins with abalone ebony pins. The tuners arrive next week.

I don't claim that this was a perfectly conducted scientific experiment (that's what I do in my real job), but I found the comparisons interesting.

I hope this helps.

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It's not about volume, it's tone. And IMO the tone hit is significant, though I also have noticed some people just don't pay close attention to subtle tonal changes. I actually wouldn't call the GSM light vs medium difference "subtle", but if I went back to my less experienced days I would not have forfeited playability for deeper, richer tone. Today, no way. It really comes down to the individual obviously, and we all know this is totally subjective.

However, a GSM with mediums is way easier on the fingers than a full scale length guitar, so it's not too much of a sacrifice to give the recommended strings a fair trial with a full string life. Especially as the strings age a little bit, you may find them easier to play.

[Guitargeak99]

I’ve gone back and forth between light and mediums, and I just don’t feel much of a difference in playability. I had this guitar set up by a luthier, and both size strings play easy on this guitar. I don’t even have to tweak the truss rod when switching sizes. To my ear the light strings don’t quite put out the bass volume, but the overall tone is more focused - I like it.
I use John Pearse PB.

[sergeko]

I put lights on several guitars, including my GS mini Hog and my 514ce...I don't hear much difference in tone and still get compliments on how good they sound.  They are so much easier to play.

For the 514ce, the recommended string gauge is light, not medium, unlike the GS mini.

[Gjtalis]

I literally just tried a set of lights on my mini 3 hours ago out of curiosity and...... I’m going back to the mediums.  Volume and sound was fine but I didn’t like the way they felt, to “mushy” if that makes sense