Setup wise, what should I expect changing light strings to mediums on a jumbo...simply tweaking the truss rod if the string height changes at the 12th fret?
Rich
Rich
Setup wise, what should I expect changing light strings to mediums on a jumbo...simply tweaking the truss rod if the string height changes at the 12th fret?
Rich
Yeah that's probably gonna be needed.
Which guitar is it, do you know if it was originally intended for mediums? (NH's were)
Reason for asking is because if it was intended and set up for lights, you may wind up tweaking the truss to completely flat (potentially causing some buzzing) without achieving the height you like at the 12th fret, so.... :
Depending on your finger strength and how finicky you are about action, you might even want to lower the saddle a wee bit, and possibly even deepen the nut slots.
It's surprising how much effect they have on "feel", especially when you up the tension to mediums from lights.
BUT if it was originally intended for mediums they're probably already at a good depth.
Should I go into the lecture about the issue that going to mediums on a top intended for lights can actually be counter-productive?
Tops are designed with a certain amount of "preload" in mind according to the gauge the guitar's designed for.
If the tops gets too much "preload" it's actually choked off and can't vibrate as well as when it's got the right strings.
In theory.
And any given individual guitar's mileage may vary.
And besides the issue of the increased stress on the neck joint increasing likelihood of need for reset.
And full disclosure:
I recently started keeping my D25 and F65ce tuned a full step down and LOVE what happened to the sustain....at the expense of a slight amount tuning stability..but I'd be much less worried about using mediums tuned down, on a guitar designed for lights...
:friendly_wink:
Great, Adorshki, thanks for the opinion. Actually I have three Guilds that I recently acquired that came with Elixir lights. A Westerly G-41, you know, the massive dred, a Westerly JF-100NT CRV and an NH Orhpeum 12 fret dred. From your response, it sounds as if I could switch all of them to D'Addario mediums like EJ-24 or EJ-17 or EJ-19. Right?
Rich
Adorshki, they are from TX, so guess I can assume they were built for mediums. Still, after affixing the strings I should check the string heights and fiddle with the truss rod, no?
:friendly_wink:Adorshki, many thanks for your continued thoughts.
Right there you should be able to tell if the nut's slotted for an .053 or an .056. E string.I should add that my JF-100NT CRV has the original micarta nut and saddle.
Sounds good.There is good saddle height left.
Rich
I'll take a pic of the JF-100 nut and post it.
Rich
Certainly no expert here but I will say I think there is a noticeable difference in both volume and tone with Medium vs. Light gauge strings. Lights have their place on 12 strings and small bodied guitars but for me at least all of my Dreads and Jumbos (non 12 string) will always have Medium gauge strings.
I was primarily going by the slot widths especially the wound ones just because that's where I'd expect the difference to be most visible.FNG, I'm looking for more bass. Also, I'm used to playing on mediums. Lights feel too thin for my large fingers. I'm still not convinced that the micarta nut on my JF-100 wasn't designed for medium strings. If you look at the way the lights are sitting in the groove, there's plenty of room on the sides of the strings. The 1 -3 strings completely disappear into the groove, no?