Nalo1022 Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 i was wondering would ther be any harmful effects by putting electric guitar strings onto a steel string acoustic?i love D'Addario Chromes but i cant find anything similar for my acoustic so i was thinking "couldnt i just put a set of chromes on my acoustic"? so ya any harmful effects that might oocur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 yes, yes you can. but you cant put acoustic strings on an electric... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 backbow on the neck...and it won't sound as good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meegs666 Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 acoustic strings are made thicker. if you put electric strings on the neck bow wont be right. if you notice, electric strings bend easily, acoustic strings are harder and pulled more taught. im not really an expert, but i can tell you that much. i think it could work, but from past experience, it sounds horrible. it will sound dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester700 Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Are you guys sure about this? I always figured the stiffness was due to the thicker gauges I always used on acoustics - 11s or 12s instead of 10s. The plain ones should be no different. Yeah, the wound ones will sound different, but if the gauges are right it shouldn't hurt anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcow Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 i think you're right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Strings for acoustics are usually made a little different than strings for an electric. Besides the obvious unwound-G (although the only strings you could get until Ernie Ball came around were railroad tracks with wound-Gs), the metals, number of winds, tension and the profile of the strings is going to be much different. Such as phosphor-bronze coated strings for acoustics vs. plain steel for electrics. The strings are just going to sound different, maybe a little more trebly and less boomy. Some people would call that a thin sound, others may find it perfect on a piezo-equipped guitar. Anyways, it never hurts to experiment. You never know if you'll like the sound unless you try it. Besides, it's not like you're taking a router to the guitar or throwing a set of non-returnable custom pickups at it either. The only thing you'll be out, if you don't like the sound, is a set of $5.00 strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iskim86 Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 not related to this thread whatsoever, but I put a acoustic guitar D string on my classical and the bridge saddle broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester700 Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Strings for acoustics are usually made a little different than strings for an electric. Besides the obvious unwound-G (although the only strings you could get until Ernie Ball came around were railroad tracks with wound-Gs), the metals, number of winds, tension and the profile of the strings is going to be much different. Such as phosphor-bronze coated strings for acoustics vs. plain steel for electrics. The strings are just going to sound different, maybe a little more trebly and less boomy. Some people would call that a thin sound, others may find it perfect on a piezo-equipped guitar. Yes, they use diferent materials, but it's still a round wire wrapped around a round or hex core that combines to a given gauge. Apparently, tension DOES change based on these differences. According to D'addario at : http://www.daddariostrings.com/Resources/J...nsion_chart.pdf On a .052 string tuned to E, Nickel wound string is 22.0, steel is 23.0, 80/20 acoustic bronze is 24.3, and Phosphor bronze is 25.2 lbs! I thought there might be some slight but negligable variation, but not this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester700 Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 not related to this thread whatsoever, but I put a acoustic guitar D string on my classical and the bridge saddle broke. A CLASSICAL string has MUCH less tension (the core on wound strings is silk) - the highest tesion E string listed on the site above is only 14.5 lbs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nalo1022 Posted September 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 ya ok so as long as theres not a big chance of harmful effects.....i didnt think there would be but i liek to double check things, plus i just got this guitar in june as a graduation gift from my rents so it has alot o sentimental value and i want to keep it in good condition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Now you got me thinking about the opposite. What about acoustic strings on a strat. Would that be stupid ? Might be, but I just have this feeling it's something I should try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 I have had many a guitar student who needed to start with electric strings on the acoustic. It won't hurt anything, a truss rod adjustment probably will need to be made but nothing more. Basically the only guitar you CAN'T put steel strings of any type on is a classical, the bracing simply will not hold up to it when designed for nylon strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Basically the only guitar you CAN'T put steel strings of any type on is a classical, the bracing simply will not hold up to it when designed for nylon strings. Unless you're a certain very popular Country musician who's always " on the road again" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Hehehe, well, there are steel string guitars that look like classicals, but typically the bracing is significantly different. A nylon string will almost always have far less and thinner bracing in the lower bout than a steel string. Willies guitars may not be true classical's, I don't know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 I think you're right, cuz I just looked it up. But, I remember he was on '60 minutes' and said " it's a classical guitar, but I put steel strings on, which you're not supposed to do". But it seems others know Willie's guitars better than he does http://www.martinguitar.com/artists/display_artist.php?d=28 I don't understand the part about the "hemp covered case". Hemp and Willie, I don't get the connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester700 Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Now you got me thinking about the opposite. What about acoustic strings on a strat. Would that be stupid ? Might be, but I just have this feeling it's something I should try. They might have a nice tone, but they aren't as magnetic as electric strings, so the wound-plain balance might be off. But then, IIRC there was a copper coated string a while back that was supposed to have a piano-like quality to it, and copper isn't magnetic either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.