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I returned to guitar (after many decades away from the instrument) a few years ago and yet again found myself only playing my classical guitar (kind of an eclectic repertoire). I am not a jazz guy per se, but have jazz'ish tendencies when doing my own arrangements.
I have decided to add my Eastman AR905CE back into my playing. I find it more comfortable vs. the slightly narrower neck of the 175D. I have only been into this a week or two but surprisingly am finding the acoustic tone of the Eastman appealing (did not expect that).
So the question is what might be a good choice in strings for the case of a carved archtop that is to be played both acoustically (primarily recorded through a decent mic) and recorded 'electronically' (probably Amplitube V as a DAW plug-in). I am not into many electronic effects - mostly just trying to get what most would call a nice/warm jazz tone (some EQ and selective reverb and/or chorus would probably be it). I don't really have well developed sonic tastes in that regard (where in the case of classical guitar, I do). I play with Guitar Player Nails (artificial nails) so I don't really worry about nail wear and steel strings. If they wear badly I just replace them.
Other comments on 'playing both ways' would be appreciated. Thanks.
dave
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Hi, D,
I have been playing/performing Classical guitar(Classical/Jazz/Bossa) for the last 30 years and about two years ago awoke my Gibson ES125TC after a 40 year slumber. It was a complete relearning process in respect to understanding that the CG and EG are completely different instruments and the only thing they have in common, conceptually, is the fretboard. Working with amplifier controls, initially, was quite daunting to replicate the sound in my head and the one produced when playing. String choice is also essential as well as discovering the nature of your instrument. This takes time and considerable reflection. So, my advice based on personal experience is that you must first spend time with your instrument, unamplified, as you did with your CG. Understand how it projects its sonorities and its "nature" played across the entire soundboard/top. Where are the sweet spots? Where do hand adjustments become critical. Then, attempt to reproduce this sound with an amplifier to either duplicate your imagined sound or the true sound of your particular instrument. This took me well over a year of reflection. So: string choice: D'Addario EPN 21's pure nickel. Amplifier: Fender piano amp for a neutral sound. I hope this helps you.
Play live . . . Marinero
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Marinero, that was very helpful. Thank you for the valuable insight.
dave
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Listen to and watch one of the masters :
AFAIK he used medium gauge flats on his D'Aquisto as well on his ES-175 and his amp was only turned up so he could hear himself.
My own string-preference for my go-to guitar (a Trenier Jazz Special lam-top) is either Thomastik or D'Addario medium roundwound nickel ,
with an 013/017 for the B and E string. I use this guitar both for solo and band performances. My other stage guitar is a Super-400 CES, strung with heavy
flats and this guitar I play only with a pick.
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Very nice playing, Gman! Five stars!
Play live . . . Marinero
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Flat wound strings are not really designed for acoustic tone but they do feel great.
Acoustic strings are designed for acoustic tone and there are several choices in material and design.
My current favorite is D'Addario balanced tension nickel bronze though there are many good choices. For the lightly built Eastman I would guess their light gauge (12-52) is a good place to start. The medium (13.5-56) is still my favorite though and I do use them on Benedetto designs similar to your Eastman. Some like to avoid phosphor bronze because it's kind of zingy especially when you first put them on.
If you need both electric and acoustic, IMHO, Tomastik Infeld BeBop round wounds are the best. These are low tension so you can usually use a bit heavier so you might like the medium light (13-53).
With strings, like picks, you'll get a lot of opinions because it's kind of up to your own ears. Fortunately, it's not hard to experiment which in the end, is what you have to do.
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There are some choices for this application now, more than there used to be. Two good ones are the D'Addario nickel-bronze strings, which are bronze with a nickel plating, which improves the magnetic properties but allows most of the acoustic sound to come through, and monel strings. I like the Martin Retro monel strings a lot. I tend to waffle between them, but lean more to the monel strings. Those are cheap enough to try without a lot of angst about wasting money.
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Thanks to all for the helpful comments (and some good playing by Gitman). dave
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I suggest full nickel roundwounds. I have some Pure Nickle and D'addario Pure nickle or similar they sound wonder full. Hammertone finally got me to get a set and yes they are the best. Acoustic without the noise.
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Pure nickel roundwounds are good.
I like the John Pearse "archtop" set... cheap too!
It's a compromise for acoustic sound. 80/20 bronze will sound better acoustically, but the pure nickels have a nice sound too.
That said I really like the acoustic sound with thomastik flatwounds. Obviously a lot of projection is lost, but I like the feel and sound.
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