Quick question - strings

[xicpanad]

Hi friends!
Just bought a Ibanez electro acoustic to a friend, but I feel the strings too hard on my fingers, and also the sound is kind of too loud. So I would like to know, wich tension do you use/advise to use on a electro acoustic guitar?
Cheers

[SteveG]

An acoustic is going to be harder than an electric on your fretting hand, so long as the action is ok and it is not tuned too high it is ok, you will get used to it.

Too loud? Play softer, no problem. Be glad you have the volume available when you need it!!!

[xicpanad]

Yeah I thought like that too, but thing is these strings ain´t the original ones for sure. Once a friend borrowed me is guitar and what I loved the most about it was the strings, they were so soft with fingers, and still a great sound.
Anyway, I´ll keep playing with these until I get better results.
Thanks Steve.

[SteveG]

He may have put heavier strings on since you played it I guess, ask him, or try a set of 10's when you change them and see if you prefer them?

Have fun with the new toy regardless 

[Davo]

Lighter strings help, but you may need a truss rod adjustment.

[corryhully]

hi
as mentioned in previous post you may need to adjust the action on your guitar. i have an ovation that i use guage 13s on. this is because the action is spot on. if i put 13s on my other guits they would hurt.
did the guitar you borrowed have nylon strings on by any chance ? they are certainy softer on the fingers. 
that said, they wil toughen up your fingertips.
bye terry

[OsCKilO]

Some accoustic guitars have the strings Quite high up from the fret board....

This makes it a little hard on the fingers sometimes.....

As for the loudness.... Have you tried finger picking...... You have a lot of control over the tone and will be able to feel the pressure you are applying better....


Your music sounds mighty fine though!

[Dmann]

I've tried lots of different brands and different sizes.

 What it comes down to is personal pref because no 2 guitars are the same and no 2 guitar players are the same.

 My acoustic electric is a Jasmine by Takamine and uses a piezo pickup under the bridge that is really really bass heavy so I've had to go with a lighter low end set of strings if I am plugging it in. When I first bought it, I was accustomed to using 11-52's (standard tuning) on an acoustic but found that it's just way too bassy for my personal liking and ended up EQ'ing out all the sweet tone just to try and accomidate for the huge low end ressonance. I've since changed up to using 11-46 and am quite happy with the brighter tone.

 other factors include are what type of music your playing and what tuning you are using. I know that many people use an E flat (1/2 step down) tuning on thier acoustics which does indeed sound better with a heavier gauge.

 Anyways, my personal favorite are Dean Markleys either the formula 82/r or the vintagebronze, I find they work well for my style (hard rock and metal) and I can get about a month of playing out of them (daily use about 2-3 hours a day playing) before needing to change.

 Also a few of my buddies who play a lot of country and mostly just strum as opposed to chicken picking and have sound hole pickups are of the opinion that a heavier gauge is the way to go for a fuller/ more sustaining strum.

 Strings are so cheap now a days, so I would say the best bet is to just go out and buy a couple sets, take 2 or 3 of your most played tunes and compare without tweaking recording settings or tuning and you will find your match.

Good luck.

[Sprocket]

Changing string gauge on acoustics can be a lil more involved.
For starters, most any acoustic(worth its weight) is going to come set up with a particular string gauge, I think 12s are standard.
The bridge saddle is cut and shaped to suit that particular string gauge so that the intonation is spot on...if you deviate from that you could run into intonation issues, as well as truss rod adjustments.
If your fingers hurt, and the action is too high you could benifit from lighter gauge strings(with less tension)...but Id check the intonation afterwards.
If its off, you could take it to a luthier and have him do some work to the bridge saddles....should cost you less than $50   

[Ted]

Lighter strings help, but you may need a truss rod adjustment.

What Davo said.  On my acoustic, I used to go back and forth between medium and light gauge.  Mediums are louder, lights are easier to play.  Ever since I bought my Telecaster, I mostly keep mediums on my acoustic because it's what I use when I play open mic's and I need the volume.

I also have to acknowledge that I don't practice enough, and that's a good part of the reason that the acoustic is harder on my wimpy fingertips.