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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | I picked up a half-size Applause on eBay to have around for my grandson to play with, but I reckon I'll actually play it, too. I'm interested in opinions on how to string it, as it seems .12-.53 might be too much for it. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Light 'Silk & Steel'?  |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | depends what you tune it to. Those should be fine for standard. That's what I always did. I would also tune my little one up to G. With a shorter scale you can go up in pitch to keep the same tension. |
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Joined:
November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | I would go with the lightest strings possible and if you can work the nut and bridge as low as possible provided you can take them back up later. I have an old japanese copy of a OOO martin parlor guitar and the action is very low all the way across the neck and it makes it very playable especially down the neck where he will most likely be playing. It will buzz as you move up the neck but it will be a while until he is playing it hard past the 6th fret anyway. The martin silk steel .011s go to .047 I think that would be perfect for a beginner. The bass E is .047 which is pretty small and it will still provide a fuller bass sound than bronze strings of the same diameter. (at least to me) I just tried out a set and they offer a deep rich sound for such a small string.
The easier it is to play the more instant gratification he will get and hence he will become hooked to play more. |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Shorter the scale length, the less string tension at equivalent tuning |
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Joined:
November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | Excellent point Jeff. I noticed a huge difference going from my 3/4 guitar to the Legend. Much more string tension. |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498
Location: San Bernardino, California | What's the scale length? I can can give you a good starting point based on that.
- I've got a some short scale guitars that I tune up to an A using .008-.038 strings. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | Line it up to a standard scale guitar and if the 12th fret reaches the 9th fret on the standard then you will be tuning 1 1/2 steps higher, etc.
String gauge accordingly. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 347
Location: Reno, NV | I have an Applause AA13 that I use .12-.54 Martin SP's on.. No adverse affects from that guage strings yet. Its a 22-1/2 scale I believe. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Thanks for the ideas!
Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year to all. |
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Mini-guitar stringing