FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Dr Guitar String

Question:
I'm looking for the lightest guage acoustic guitar strings available - a set which will exert the least amount of tension/pull on the top of the guitar. I have some guitars which over time have their spruce tops esp. around the bridge area bowled-up by the string's pull. These are good sounding guitars - maybe because of the light bracing (?)- but I want to minimize the damage. I found Martin strings .010's w/a wound 3rd - but wondered if anyone else knows of ohter brands or solutions.

Answer:
the Bridge Doctor may have less adverse effect on tone than using very light strings. I've made and installed several flying braces of the bridge doctor type. They don't seem to have much effect on tone, but on the other hand, they seem more useful for preventing a top lifting than in actually getting a lifted top to go down again. For example, some months ago Jim Lowther mentioned he had put one in a 12-string as insurance against top lifting, and hadn't noticed a lot of tonal difference.