Eagle Classic Handling Heavy Strings?

[RamblinGuy]

What a great surprise to find this active forum!

 

I have owned an Eagle Classic for 10 years or so. It has a surprisingly good/loud acoustic sound with no amplification. I want to beef it up by trying heavier strings. It is now strung with Dean Markley Jazz: .012 - .054.

 

I just ordered La Bella black nylon tape wound "lights" at .012 - .056. But I also want to try their "medium" jazz strings at .014 - .067 (!). The latter is what's used by John Pizzarrelli and his father Bucky, and they get that tremendous punch with these "mediums" (which anyone else would call super heavies).

 

My question is the Eagle's guitar's arch top is already "dished" pretty well (sagging under pressure). Would heavier strings cause more of this "problem"? And is this sagging a problem in the first place, or is it normal behavior for a carved-top archtop?

[Kuz]

What a great surprise to find this active forum!

 

I have owned an Eagle Classic for 10 years or so. It has a surprisingly good/loud acoustic sound with no amplification. I want to beef it up by trying heavier strings. It is now strung with Dean Markley Jazz: .012 - .054.

 

I just ordered La Bella black nylon tape wound "lights" at .012 - .056. But I also want to try their "medium" jazz strings at .014 - .067 (!). The latter is what's used by John Pizzarrelli and his father Bucky, and they get that tremendous punch with these "mediums" (which anyone else would call super heavies).

 

My question is the Eagle's guitar's arch top is already "dished" pretty well (sagging under pressure). Would heavier strings cause more of this "problem"? And is this sagging a problem in the first place, or is it normal behavior for a carved-top archtop?

 

No, I wouldn't do it, not at standard tuning.

 

Ren has said on factory tours that arch tops are meant for .012s.

 

Vince Lewis plays his Heritage with .011s and has one of the best Jazz tones out there.

 

I would DEFINITELY call the factory first before stringing up the barb wire.

[tulk1]

What Kuz said. As well as Welcome to the HoC. Good to have another member. Jump in, opine away.

[hubberjub]

I use .12s on my Eagle. I couldn't really imagine going any heavier with it. But that's just personal preference.

[ingeneri]

I'd just point out that referring to .12s or .13s is a bit of a misnomer as the gauges vary among brands. I use Thomstik Swing flatwound .13s with no problem, but the 6th string is only .53. I find this range has a great balance: providing enough heft on the high strings while not overdoing it on the 5th and 6th. In contrast, .13 guag chromes or Sadowskys tend to run a bit too heavy on the bottom end for me. Good luck with the La Bellas.