Lightest gauge string you have tried on NRP guitar ???

[aaron]

Hi 

Got an NRP wood body Resorocket this past summer,  I love it, it sounded amazing with the 13-56 John Pearse PB strings it came with. 

Problem is I think the tension was too much for me and I played it so much during that honeymoon period that I sustained a severe RSI. 

I play mostly finger style in standard tuning - but I am also learning and enjoying slide in open G and open D.   

This was a big problem as I am a music therapist and play guitar for a living.   The RSI made it impossible to play for several weeks.  I cant risk that happening again.  So I need to figure out what is the lightest tension set of strings I can get away with on this guitar. 

I have tried a couple different gauges of DR Zebras but I found they sounded dull and I did not like them much. 

I now have the Daddario Nickel Bronze 12- 53 on there ( with a 12 or 14 for the high E).   I think these NB strings sound fantastic and the (nickel seems to benifit the magnetic pup I have)  but this still feels like too much tension for me. 

I was about to try a pack of the Nickel Bronze 11-52, but I am hesitating as I will leave the high E at 13 or 14 ( for slide)  and there really is not much difference between the 12-53 and the 11 - 52 as the A and D strings are the same. 

(12- 53 =   12 16 24 32 42 53)
(11-52 =     11 15 22 32 42 52).

As much as I like the NB strings  I am thinking of trying PB again as the John Pearce 11s seem much lighter at

11 15 22 30 40 50  - much lighter than what I have now.

But I have read that higher tension strings are required to "drive the cone" and get the resophonic guitar to do it's thing - How much truth is there in this?

Has anyone else tried what would be considered unusually light strings on their biscuit style reso guitars?

What where the results?   Is trying the 11-50 a waste of time?

Any ideas or feedback is welcome.  
 
 

[jono1uk]

i think that most of us dont play in standard tuning .. so would never consider 11-50

[pete1951]

I used to need 2guitars for a gig, 1for slide, one for finger style. Now I use 1, with 011s. You can't expect a powerful acoustic tone from an 011, it will also mean your slide technique will have to be more gentle. If you are using a magnetic pickup, try 011s and maybe tune up to open A and E for slide.
A set of strings is only a few £s give it a go,
PT

[aaron]

Thanks pete- will try it 

I know it is only $10 for a set of strings, but it adds up with all the experimenting I have been doing.  Also time....

Before the injury I bought several sets of Michael's strings - was looking forward to comparing the PB to the Nickel, but pretty sure the tension will be way to much for me now. 

When you use 11s are they 11 -50?  Gauged like the John Pearce that I listed in the OP or 11- 52 like the Nickel Bronze referenced in the OP?

[pete1951]

I use an electric set on most of my gigging guitars (I do have some standard resos with big strings , but they don't go out much).
Now comes the tricky part.
Low tension strings might mean a truss rod adjustment.
The cone might not seat as well, and rattle.
You will need to lighten your slide technique.
The acoustic tone will be weak.
There maybe more things , others will post I am sure , light strings are not used by many slide players.
Hope it works for you
PT

[pete1951]

Derek Trucks uses 011s on most of his guitars, so if you practice enough.........

[Michael Messer]

Hi Aaron

Welcome to our forum.

You can use any gauge you like on resonator guitars, but personally I would not go lighter than 11/52.

It is true that heavier strings drive the cone, but it is also true that if they are causing you pain and are difficult to play that you should not use them.

My own brand of MM Newtone strings have been around for 25 years and I guess I am one of the main instigators of the idea of using heavier strings on National-style guitars, but I do also know some wonderful musicians that use light gauge strings on their National-style resonator guitars.

Here is a film of Robbie McIntosh playing a Fine Resophonic single cone with light strings. The Fine Resophonic is at 5:15. Robbie is a fantastic slide player on resonator guitars and he always uses light strings.



You have to use what feels and sounds right to you, not what anyone else tells you is right. If your current strings are causing you pain, then you have to use something else.

Newtone Strings will make you round core MM-style strings in any gauge you like. Talk to Neil Silverman at Newtone.

Shine On
Michael

[ricks]

Hi Aaron - I have the same model NRP guitar & have had to do quite a bit of experimentation with strings to get it to be ok for me - I tried both lights ( 12s ) & custom-lights ( 11s ), since I too don't get on with heavier gauges, but they were just too thin-sounding; I think part of the problem with this model is that it has trigone-style grills rather than f-holes, & thus a more 'open', less bassy sound - I ended up fitting baffles over part of the grills which brought up the bass a lot, but still can't go lower than Martin light-medium ( i.e. .0125 - .055 gauge, a sort of between-light-&-medium set ), which with a fairly low action, makes for good fingerstyle/slide compromise - plus, you could always drop the tuning a semitone or two to ease tension further; one of the Martin options in this gauge is the FX strings, which are lower than usual tension, & 80/20 rather than phosphor bronze ( if you can find any! ) are slightly lighter still - hope this helps,
rick

[pete1951]

Another way would be to drop a few semitones. Plain strings drop just over a semitone when you slacked them to the same pull as a string one gauge down. So an 010 @ E is similar in tension to an 011 @ D. If you tune down your 012 from E to D it will give you a similar tension. Okay, you might have to use a capo but could save on strings!
PT.

[blueshome]

Good idea Pete. Also no-one has asked about how hight the action is set on the guitar, this can really affect playability.

[twang1]

You should consider a good setup. And with bigger strings you can have a lower action with less buzzing. I've had issues with my hands in the past and I learned that it had to do more with the unnecessary strength I was using and not so much with my 16-59 gauge of strings. I don't know what your problem is but generally tendon problems are slow to go away. Some stretching and deep tissue massage helped me a lot.
Frank

[aaron]

Jan 27, 2017 11:25:29 GMT pete1951 said:

Hi

Thanks for all the responses here - so much great information.

In response to some of the questions:
Problem was only in my fretting hand - it came on very suddenly, was very severe and now is about %99 gone. ( stretching, contrast baths, deep tissue massage, rest, and a bunch of natropathic remedies for muscle / tendon problems all where used to heal).

Set up is the stock set up from National factory, I was hesitant to lower it as I thought it would make playing slide more difficult. But I am thinking about doing that or getting it done.  The current set up does feel and sound great when playing slide.  Fretting is however a bit too much work.  

What is the lowest ( with strings a bit heavier) that people go for slide? (string height at 12th fret)

Guitar sounds fine with 11s-50 except the g string is a bit thin sounding, so I might go a gauge higher on the g or change to a similar tension unwound string to see it that improves things.

Does anybody know what UNWOUND string would have similar tension to a wound 22?

I am also thinking about going back to heavy strings but keeping it a tone lower for standard tuning. I loved the sound of this especially when lowering the D to drop C tuning. It was almost like having a baritone guitar.

Which leads me to my next question. 

 pete1951 said:
Another way would be to drop a few semitones. Plain strings drop just over a semitone when you slacked them to the same pull as a string one gauge down. So an 010 @ E is similar in tension to an 011 @ D. If you tune down your 012 from E to D it will give you a similar tension. Okay, you might have to use a capo but could save on strings!"

I have been led to believe that high string TENSION is what makes resos perform optimally, but if you go heavy and then lower the pitch to achieve a tension similar to a lighter gauge then we are back where we started with lighter TENSION, implying that it is not the tension of the string but rather the MASS that is the critical variable.  
Michael wrote : 

"It is true that heavier strings drive the cone"

Heavier strings tuned lower is lower tension. 

know what I mean?  So is it mass or tension of the strings that needs to be considered?

Aaron 

[aaron]

I just realized that my last post was perhaps a bit dense.

Here is the info that I am hoping some one here can shed some light on.

1) I I have been led to believe that high string TENSION is what makes resos perform optimally, but if you go heavy as some have suggested and then lower the pitch to achieve a tension similar to a lighter gauge then we are back where we started with lighter TENSION, implying that it is not the tension of the string but rather the MASS that is the critical variable.

Michael Wrote
"It is true that heavier strings drive the cone"

So do heavier strings drive the cone because of the increased tension or the greater mass? I always thought it was the tension, but if you can get good results from heavier strings tuned down, then that implies it is not the tension but the mass?

2) Does anybody know what UNWOUND string would have similar tension to a wound 22?

Thanks

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2017 19:40:45 GMT aaron said:

Hi 

Got an NRP wood body Resorocket this past summer,  I love it, it sounded amazing with the 13-56 John Pearse PB strings it came with. 

Problem is I think the tension was too much for me and I played it so much during that honeymoon period that I sustained a severe RSI. 

I play mostly finger style in standard tuning - but I am also learning and enjoying slide in open G and open D.   

This was a big problem as I am a music therapist and play guitar for a living.   The RSI made it impossible to play for several weeks.  I cant risk that happening again.  So I need to figure out what is the lightest tension set of strings I can get away with on this guitar. 

I have tried a couple different gauges of DR Zebras but I found they sounded dull and I did not like them much. 

I now have the Daddario Nickel Bronze 12- 53 on there ( with a 12 or 14 for the high E).   I think these NB strings sound fantastic and the (nickel seems to benifit the magnetic pup I have)  but this still feels like too much tension for me. 

I was about to try a pack of the Nickel Bronze 11-52, but I am hesitating as I will leave the high E at 13 or 14 ( for slide)  and there really is not much difference between the 12-53 and the 11 - 52 as the A and D strings are the same. 

(12- 53 =   12 16 24 32 42 53)
(11-52 =     11 15 22 32 42 52).

As much as I like the NB strings  I am thinking of trying PB again as the John Pearce 11s seem much lighter at

11 15 22 30 40 50  - much lighter than what I have now.

But I have read that higher tension strings are required to "drive the cone" and get the resophonic guitar to do it's thing - How much truth is there in this?

Has anyone else tried what would be considered unusually light strings on their biscuit style reso guitars?

What where the results?   Is trying the 11-50 a waste of time?

Any ideas or feedback is welcome.  
 

11's never were a waste of time for me because I string them underneath the tailpiece lip to compensate for the reduced tension. Alot of resonator Guitars have since been converted to allow for that. I use Magma GA100PB Phosphor Bronze Ultra-Lights (9, 11, 16, 26, 36, 46) on my National Round Neck Resonator nowadays because I play in E Standard Tuning (also Eb Standard Tuning) when doing song covers. I actually string the strings "backwards" underneath the tailpiece lip which compensates for the reduced volume by increasing the break angle over the bridge. This produces a sound that's somewhere between a Harpsichord & a Bandoneon so it's great for let's say Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder by Bach (BWV 244 last movement).

[Deleted]

Jan 30, 2017 4:07:13 GMT aaron said:

I just realized that my last post was perhaps a bit dense.

Here is the info that I am hoping some one here can shed some light on.

1) I I have been led to believe that high string TENSION is what makes resos perform optimally, but if you go heavy as some have suggested and then lower the pitch to achieve a tension similar to a lighter gauge then we are back where we started with lighter TENSION, implying that it is not the tension of the string but rather the MASS that is the critical variable.

Michael Wrote
"It is true that heavier strings drive the cone"

So do heavier strings drive the cone because of the increased tension or the greater mass? I always thought it was the tension, but if you can get good results from heavier strings tuned down, then that implies it is not the tension but the mass?

2) Does anybody know what UNWOUND string would have similar tension to a wound 22?

Thanks

A Plain 21 or 20, however I prefer using a Wound String these days as the wrap wire softens the tone a little bit, & Magma now makes Flatwound Phosphor Bronze strings.