Full step down and John Pearse

Notguildy

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I am a new delighted user of John Pearse PB & silk thanks to this forum. This is a first time I like the sound of strings out of the box. They don't have that metallic sound I am not fond of for PB (and I also tried JP PB). I love the sound and the feeling under my fingers. I wonder how long they last...

For vocal reason I tuned my F30 half-step below standard tuning and got a little buzz which I think adds a nice touch. I'd like to go a full step down but I'm concerned about having too much buzz and also not leaving enough tension for the neck. Maybe with medium strings that would work but these strings exist in light only ( they refer them as light/medium).

What is your opinion? Maybe do you know any strings that sound the same way but with a larger gauge?

Sorry for this multiple questions post but this is your fault: you shouldn't have given me answers of such quality in the past!
 
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Buzzing can probably be minimized by tweaking the truss rod to provide a bit more relief. I've used silk & bronze strings for more than 20 years, and I suspect that taking them down a whole step might make them sound a bit flabby--they are, after all, lighter than solid-core lights. The medium-light GHS S&B set has a .054 low E, though I don't think that would make much difference. If I wanted to keep a guitar tuned a whole step low, I'd just use phosphor bronze mediums--but then, PBs are my preferred alloy. And to my ear, any new set (even S&B) sounds jangly for a couple days. By the way, GHS claims that their Vintage Bronze strings are warmer than standard PBs. I tend to take manufacturer characterizations with a lot of salt, but it might be worth the trouble to give them a try--and solid-cores will tune down better.
(And they make a medium set, too.)
 

davismanLV

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I've got GHS Silk & Bronze on my D65s right now. They're awesome. It's currently in open D, which is, in general, a lowered tuning. And as Russell has said, you can't always go by what a manufacturer says, but I use GHS Vintage Bronze on a regular basis and they're truly great sounding strings. Also, as he mentioned, the Silk & Bronze (by whichever manufacturer) are a lower tension string, so tuning them way low might get a bit floppy, or "flabby" as he says. As far as tuning them a whole step down, just do it. See how they sound. See what they do. It's just a tuning. Give the guitar a bit to adjust to the newer tension, or lack thereof, and see what you think. Truss rod tweak sounds like a good idea too.
 

Notguildy

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Thank you. I can't wait to try the GHS vintage in medium. Very hard to find here even online so I'll probably ask some American friend to order them for me on Amazon. Will seize the opportunity to get the S&B set too and some JP as they are much cheaper.

I'll go another half step down with my current strings. I didn't know some time was needed for the guitar to adjust but that makes sense. So I'll wait a bit.

About truss rod my understanding is that it should not be tweaked for buzzing purpose even it can help.
 
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