# How to make an acoustic guitar sound brighter



## sol niger 333 (Oct 13, 2009)

Does anyone know? I have a martin hd-28 which sustains like a piano and is super rich sounding but it doesnt have enough top end or sparkle. Even with Elixir strings on it. Is there anything I can do to the guitar to make it sound brighter? I'm wondering if the wood has become moisture ridden or something. Anyone know methods of drying acoustics safely? Thanks in advance if you can help


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## troyguitar (Oct 13, 2009)

Elixirs are not particularly bright sounding strings for one thing. Maybe try something like these?:

Buy Dean Markley 2033 TLT Blue Steel Cryogenic Acoustic Guitar Strings | .011 Gauge | Musician's Friend


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## sol niger 333 (Oct 13, 2009)

Thanks dude I will give them a go. I thought Elixirs were super bright. This gives me hope for not having to sell the hd28 to get a Taylor


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## troyguitar (Oct 13, 2009)

Elixirs are effectively coated in plastic so they last a long time, but they're never particularly bright even when brand new. As far as I know blue steels are about as bright as you're going to get, besides maybe going to the super light gauge. The set I linked is kind of light on the high strings and medium on the lower strings.


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## hufschmid (Oct 14, 2009)

Brass bridge pins will make it sound brighter...

http://www.music123.com/D-Andrea-To...ferralID=4e87ea81-b894-11de-989b-000423bb4e79


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## Andrew_B (Oct 14, 2009)

i use and love, martin phospher bronze strings....
they are bright imo

those brass bridge pins are crazy.... haha


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## hufschmid (Oct 14, 2009)

HAUCH said:


> Brass, really? I always thought brass trem blocks and nuts were supposed warm up the tone




I dont believe one second that a brass trem block warms up the sound  Great marketing there  Just like a maple top will brighten the sound of the instrument  

But anyway there is a big difference between a tremolo bridge and little pins that go into a wodden bridge....

I have brass pins in my Vincent acoustic and they really do brighten up the sound if you compare with the original ebony pins....

EDIT: brass pins have surface treatement dude


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## hufschmid (Oct 14, 2009)

HAUCH said:


> Fair enough, I don't have first hand experience with a brass trem block... But guys like Greg Howe seem to think it's more than a little voodoo. Most vintage ibanez stuff had a bone/brass nut setup. They quit doing it because of grunge and corrosion caused by the reactivity. Corrosion doesn't usually conjure up the brightest tone.



Yeah endorsers always enjoy to speak out when they get paid for something...

Give 1'000'000'000$ to Steve Vai and tell him to get out of Ibanez and go Yahaha and tell him on the contract to say and claim that yamaha are the best guitars in the world...., Believe me he will follow you like a pet....  ..... even for 800'000$ 

On the other side Benedetto who has built 800 arch tops with his 2 hands claims that metal makes it all sound brighter... 

Whatever, myself I prefer to first try something instead to read marketing and magazines and I did try this brass block on a tremolo guitar repair and there is no way the sound was warmer...


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## hufschmid (Oct 14, 2009)

na, i'm only pissy when I read some stuff in magazines sometimes 

That's why I like to clarify some things sometimes in forums because people always read stuff which can be wrong sometimes then claim its the holy grail truth without actually doing some reaserch or experimenting first..

Exemple:

Because this person did read this on Steve Vai's website he did not believe me when I told him that the marker on the 3rd fret is the 3rd fret location which makes commun sens to any normal person... But because its written strangely on steve vai's website, I'm the lyer, not the website 

What facinates me is that he then asks to me if my guitar is a barione 



> Vai.com > The Machines > Steve's Guitars > Ibanez Universe DNA Baritone Custom If you read the description Patrick, they are at the lower in, by th nut. You can even see, there are two frets before fret maker number one. Your seven string is a baritone right?



We need a facepalm smilie in here...


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## caughtinamosh (Oct 14, 2009)

HAUCH said:


> I would first try and use a lighter set of strings, and put less windings on the posts.


 
I don't doubt what you're saying, man, but I'm unsure of how the number of windings is going to affect the sound.


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## TomAwesome (Oct 14, 2009)

+1 to Blue Steels. I have Elixirs on my acoustic currently, and they don't sound bad, but the guitar was so much more bright, chimey, and resonant when it had Blue Steels on it. Also, try a brass pick.


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## hufschmid (Oct 14, 2009)

HAUCH said:


> I have absolutely no scientific explanation for it, I swear it makes a difference though... at least to my ears.



There is a lots of vibration going on at the headstock, if you place your hands there when you play you would probably be suprised..

I would guess many wrappings of the strings would actually mute some of the vibrations which would then as a result give the impression that it does sound a little warmer because you cut some of the crystal sounding highs by doing so....

Dull and old strings always sound a little warmer also when you think about it....


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## Elysian (Oct 14, 2009)

hufschmid said:


> Brass bridge pins will make it sound brighter...
> 
> D'Andrea Tone Pins Brass Bridge Pin Set General Parts at Music123.



Ebony bridge pins also work well, and you can get them from Planet Waves for 11-15 bucks. I have them in my acoustic, love them. Also, replacing the saddle and nut for a bone or Graphtech Tusq piece would help liven up the tone.


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## troyguitar (Oct 14, 2009)

Comparing brass bridge pins to a brass trem block isn't really apples to apples. The average stock bridge pin is plastic, so replacing it with brass/aluminum/ebony is replacing it with a much harder and more dense material. A stock trem block, however, is not made of plastic  so you won't see the same type of difference.

Especially considering OFR's at least have brass blocks to begin with (they're just coated).


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## sPliNtEr_777 (Oct 14, 2009)

have you tried an aphex acoustic xciter? I have tried the guitar aural xciter with big bottom and I cant live without it- I never turn it off! You can pretty much manipulate anything- make it sound fat, wet, dry, glassy, trebly, bassy, anything, it does it all!






Oh, obviously this will not work if you dont have an onboard preamp.

If you didnt want to go down the fx route Im with hufschmid on brass endpins, or maybe a brass nut?


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## TomParenteau (Oct 14, 2009)

I cut my own nut out of a bone blank for my Sigma (Martin) to replace the stock plastic one. Big difference! A little brighter, but overall much better. Richer, more lively & sustain-y. 

And of course it looks much better and has more exact string placement because I made it myself.


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## FretWizard88 (Oct 14, 2009)

Personally, I think Martins have a darker sound than most acoustic guitars. Another thing that might help to brighten the sound is to not use coated strings. The coating dampens the sound and gives your guitar a darker sound. If you play a Martin use Martin Strings they seem to work well.


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## FlyingBanana (Oct 14, 2009)

These are titanium. They won't corrode...and will definitely brighten your guitar up. I got em on my martin.


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## Andii (Oct 14, 2009)

Definitely the strings. Coated strings don't work on acoustics. Even the Ceartone EMP coating that's supposed to be really thin ruins the sound completely. Elixir coatings are even worse because they are really thick. 

The wood combination on your guitar is absolutely ideal IMO. I think once you change the strings you'll really like the results.


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## awesomeaustin (Oct 14, 2009)

I've put Bone bridge pins in my acoustic and it made it super bright


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## TomParenteau (Oct 14, 2009)

Andii said:


> Coated strings don't work on acoustics.


 
Coated strings don't work on electrics.


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## dewy (Oct 14, 2009)

There's Elixir phosphor bronze strings on the Taylor hanging on my wall...They sound better than any other acoustic strings I've ever used :idk:


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## Andii (Oct 14, 2009)

TomPerverteau said:


> Coated strings don't work on electrics.


 I agree, but on acoustics the ill effects are multiplied to the point where I can't see an application for them at all.


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## troyguitar (Oct 14, 2009)

Andii said:


> I agree, but on acoustics the ill effects are multiplied to the point where I can't see an application for them at all.



They're for people who only play their acoustic once a blue moon and don't want to put new strings on every time they play it. 

I actually don't even own an acoustic because I would be one of those people


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## TomParenteau (Oct 14, 2009)

Yup! What I do is use them on the acoustic that is usually out of its case & handy to grab & play. I do play it, but I don't worry about it being a little dirty and I don't want to change the strings very often. The coated strings sound 3 months old when they're new. A year later, they still sound 3 months old.


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## dobrocop (Oct 26, 2009)

hi , im new here,.i have found elixir p/b nanoweb to sound like a new set played in for an hour or two,.just greatt,.and have brass EASYPINS and brass standard pins on my main acoustics and its true they add i nice bit of treble/top to the sound,.the type of plectrum makes a big treble difference also,.i use a heavy martin or j dunlop tortise type and get a great smooth sweet brightness,.and ive never found any type of elixir over dull or muffled and love the smoothness ,.only problem with elixir is thhe constant breakage of the 3rd ,.dosent matter if its the LIGHT,MED,or HEAVY the 3rds always break ,.happens on all my acoustics,.guitars are kept in perfect setup,.i dont thrash heavy,.3rds break at diifferent places ,.no 2 breaks are the same place,.so i think its the strength of the string,.but im a prisoner of elixir as im blessed with TOXIC fingers and can destroy a noncoated set in half a gig,.tried all the coated clones and none work as good as elixir,.will soon try the CLEARTONEs and we will see what happens,.as for your martin ! i think you will lose the piano sustain if you use a lighter gauge,.i find that anything lighter than LIGHTS on an acoustic dosent move the top and back an can make a great guitar sound cheap,.cheers, dobrocop.


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