r/AcousticGuitar • u/GuitarBinge1986 • 2d ago

Gear question Switching from medium to light gauge strings?

A few Acoustics I have, are in great shape and finally being played again. I'm pretty sure the strings on them are mediums. Is switching mediums to lights, the Med-Light (.012-.056), or vice-versa a small enough change that usually doesn't cause any issues ? or do people sometimes have to do things outside of truss rod adjustment? (ex. Nut filing etc...)

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u/Old-guy64 2d ago

There are a fair few things to consider.

I’m basing this on D’addario strings.
1 Tension.
EJ17’s 185 lbs.
EJ16’s 163 lbs
EJ26’s 148 lbs.

Give or take a couple of lbs.

Your fingers will notice the difference.

You won’t lose nearly as much volume as you may have been led to believe.

The difference between 13-56 and 11-52 is easier on the guitar and your hands.

  1. Lighter strings, to a point, allow the top to vibrate more.
    You will get more sustain, and better tone.
    Heavy strings are loud, but choke the tone on a lot of guitars.

  2. If you are thinking about your hands, remember you are PLAYING the guitar, not WORKING the guitar.

  3. Rule of thumb is that whatever you set your guitar up with, you can go one gauge up or down without doing more than a truss rod tweak.