Strings for fingerstyle comping and pick solos?

[somlaifischer]

Dear All - I am trying to understand what strings / setup / i should use - which sound great when playig comping or chord-solo using my hands, and also sound great (clean jazz sound, dark but not muddy) when paying solo with the pick.

Do you have experience with this? What worked for you?

I find that using 11 flat chromes are great for solo, but sound very dull when playing wiht my fingertips. Just tried pure nickel roundwound 10 set, sounds great when playing with my hand, but thin and wigly under the pick....

I have an eastman ER4 solid top, it sounds really beautiful when the 10' nickel roundwounds even acoustically, mid neck on the low strings. but very thing when trying to play high string solos. also tried these on an ibanez af archtop.

What worked for you best, when using fingers and the pick? or just should I learn to change some tone-amp settings?

(i am a hobbyist, but love playing. spend many years on classical. hurt hands in the past, so trying to avoid very strong strings, even if they sound great)

thank you

[mr. beaumont]

I like heavier....012s or .013s, and low action...I find that's not tough on the hands at all.

If you really want to stat light, you're going to need to work your amp and tone control a bit. You might try a slight roll off of volume too, not running it completely full takes the edge off the highs just a little.

[bluejaybill]

I would stick with round wounds and move up in thickness to.011 or .012.

Should be fine for both, roll off a bit of highs when picking if you need to.

[Cunamara]

I really like SIT 11-50 strings for electric, for both fingerstyle and pick.

[skiboyny]

If you liked the tension of the .11 chromes you could easily step up to a .12 round core pure nickel string, tension wise they would feel the same as the chromes, Nickel with a round core would have the most complex overtones while still remaining "fat" sounding. Pure nickel strings can be on the warm side. If you find that you would like a bit more snap try a Plated nickel string in the same gauge .12 those choices should work out real well for you playing.

Dear All - I am trying to understand what strings / setup / i should use - which sound great when playig comping or chord-solo using my hands, and also sound great (clean jazz sound, dark but not muddy) when paying solo with the pick.

Do you have experience with this? What worked for you?

I find that using 11 flat chromes are great for solo, but sound very dull when playing wiht my fingertips. Just tried pure nickel roundwound 10 set, sounds great when playing with my hand, but thin and wigly under the pick....

I have an eastman ER4 solid top, it sounds really beautiful when the 10' nickel roundwounds even acoustically, mid neck on the low strings. but very thing when trying to play high string solos. also tried these on an ibanez af archtop.

What worked for you best, when using fingers and the pick? or just should I learn to change some tone-amp settings?

(i am a hobbyist, but love playing. spend many years on classical. hurt hands in the past, so trying to avoid very strong strings, even if they sound great)

thank you

[achase4u]

This is something I sometimes struggle with. The pick provides so much more leverage and gross motor strength vs that of the fingers plucking in a classical style, in my opinion. The compromise for me is generally a set of 12s. Enough "give" for fingerstyle, but not too loose for pick style. When I play fingerstyle on a traditional set of 13s, they seem a bit stiff to the right hand if playing fingerstyle, but just about right with a pick.

Maybe try some Thomastik Bebops? The roundwounds might help with the more lively sound.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

To some degree, it depends on the guitar and how you play it. I don't agree that a pick provides so much more leverage and gross motor strength vs that of the fingers plucking in a classical style. Most picks have less friction against strings than our fingers do, so the bare finger grabs the string and lets you tense and release it as you wish (like a bow string) with excellent control of applied force. I feel like I could pluck far harder with my fingers than with a pick, unless I really slam the pick into the string with an exaggerated motion I wouldn't use in playing.

I've tried so many string types and sizes that I can't even remember them all. For me, TI flats give the best compromise of sweet fingerstyle tone and classic plectrum jazz tone. I use TI JS113s on my archtops right now, and I think I'm getting the best combination of fingerstyle and plectrum sounds and feel that I've ever had on any guitar. I use JS112s on my solid bodies and am equally happy. The 7th string is a 0.076" nickel roundwound.

Here's a clip of a brief "duet" I made for one of the Virtual Jam threads - the comping is fingerstyle and the single string is plectrum, both on my Eastman 810CE7 played through my DV Mark Little Jazz with the DI out driving my DAI. I was pleasantly surprised at the contrast between the two styles and what I think is pretty good and appropriately different tone from both. See what you think...

[RJVB]

I feel like I could pluck far harder with my fingers than with a pick, unless I really slam the pick into the string with an exaggerated motion I wouldn't use in playing.

I have that same feeling, and yet every time I compare the 2 methods, a pick gives me (much) more volume - even on classical strings. It may matter that I don't use picks lighter than the Gibson extra-heavy (an ebony wooden pick on classical strings).

I think it boils down to this. You can indeed grab in with more control when fingerpicking, but it's not so easy to release the string as abruptly as you can with a pick (unless you use fortified nails or fingerpicks).

[Cunamara]

And the tone is different between pick and fingers even at the same volume.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

And the tone is different between pick and fingers even at the same volume.

…for which we’re all thankful! One of the most wonderful things about the guitar is the wide range of tones and feelings it inspires. It’s certainly one of the most responsive of instruments to those who dare to play it

There’s an old saying that when Rubinstein hit middle C, it sounded better than when anybody else did. This is no more than imaginative hyperbole!