old guitar new strings

Sun Mar 19, 2023 6:54 am

hello folks,

Yesterday I set up an old G&L that I have owned for at least 30 years and never played. The guitar is in new condition with no signs
of ever being played. It has a Leo Fender trem on it with fine tuners.
I have been restringing my guitars lately with "Balanced Tension" strings produced by both D'Addario and Stringjoy. This guitar now has
polished frets and an oiled board and looks new. The frets have zero wear.
This purple Rampage is a pleasure to play now. I swear this is the first time the strings have been changed since it was purchased.

Has anyone else tried "balanced tension" strings? What are your thoughts? I do not think they will be everyone's cup of tea but they sure are
easy on the old hands. At Stringjoy you can formulate your own sets. This is pretty cool.

Re: old guitar new strings

Sun Mar 19, 2023 9:23 am

Congrats on "waking up" your old/new guitar! I put a set of balanced tension Santa Cruz strings on my acoustic a couple years back. I immediately noticed the difference in feel. I was quite satisfied with the tone and longevity, which balance the higher cost. But I've since returned to Pearse acoustic strings.

I hadn't thought/didn't know they were an option for electric. Hmm.... Just yesterday, I restrung my ASAT Classic signature, perhaps for the first time (?!?) since I bought it 5 years ago. My favorite electric strings are the Pyramid round core nickels, which have an incredible feel and tone (plus longevity) compared to hex core strings.

Re: old guitar new strings

Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:07 am

I have tried D'Addario XL110 balanced tension. I did not care for them compared to other sets I use. To be fair I'm not really a fan of regular XLs either and the BTs are essentially the same set as only 3 of 6 strings are of a different gauge.
I do like Santa Cruz for acoustic but my recollection is they claim a "parabolic" tension across the set. Supposedly optimizing the EQ of the set. Don't know but they do sound great and have a good feel to boot. I'm told they are actually wound by D'Addario???

Re: old guitar new strings

Tue Mar 28, 2023 8:06 am

I have used the xl's in the past as well and did not find them to be the final word in strings. The strings I am using are the NYXL line. They are very nice for my old hands.