Is it advisable to use 11-15-22-30-42-52 (ernie ball light string gauge) in a dreadnought guitar?

Question

I've been playing acoustic guitar for some time and I've been using martin's SP light string gauge, which sounds fine to me but I find kind of difficult playing whith these guitar when strumming (my fingers hurt), so I've been thinking about using a lighter gauge, but on the internet I've read that using a gauge lighter than 12-54 is not advisable for these kind of guitars, I'm kind of confussed, so, If anyone could give an opinion, I would thank it so much!

Answer 1

Hey Luis

Whoever told you that iit's not advisable to go lower than .012 is sick.

you should put light gauge starting with .010, .013 etc... That puts less tension on the neck and much easier on the finger. The sound will be lighter but in the long run, it is better for the neck. Use phosphor bronze.

Martin is a good string and so is Den Markley.

Answer 2

it is preference, but try using light or extra light.  ive found that martins sound the best at this gauge, while gibson or ernie ball are better for heavy gauges.  martins phosphor treatment or whatever allows the strings to ring just as loud while not being so heavy

Answer 3

na bro it's all about preference. people say it's bad because the strings are what keep tension on the neck and keep a certain bow to it. if you change your strings to a lighter gauge, than that means less tension on the neck and it is possible to throw the necks bow off a little bit. but heres the thing - 99% of the time that won't happen, and even if it did it's a very minor problem to fix.  but just incase, Unless you are going to clean the fretboard, change the strings one at a time as to keep some stress on the neck. oh and also change them in this order - 1-6-2-5-3-4

Hope this helped.