Guitar String Conundrum

mewso

So my mother has played acoustic all her life but a couple of years ago she sold her acoustic because she was finding it too hard to play. i.e. found the strings too hard on her fingers. She bought a cheapo classical but hates the wide neck on it.

So I offered to give her my old Yamaha acoustic but I want to string it with strings that she will find easy to play. I don't know if it's simply a matter of getting ultra-lights or what but I know sound may be compromised if I do. I was also looking at folk strings (silk and steel) but again I'm not sure how they will sound. What would people recommend. Simply a good brand of 10s or something different. Shes basically a strummer of chords and a bit of folksy picking. Nothing fancy.

I recently put some nano-webs on my acoustic and like the sound so maybe the lighter version of those will do.

That old adage of sticking with the strings until your fingers harden is fine for the young and eager but the market isn't exactly aimed towards the 60-somethings who want an easy life.

Dublin Guitar

The silk and steel sets are exactly what she needs. They sound half way between a classical and a normal steel string acoustic, as you would expect. Imagine a very mellow acoustic with not a huge amount of sustain.

If anyone has an old acoustic that they don't use they are a cool, simple way of breathing new life into a guitar that you normally wouldn't get much use out of as they sound and feel a little different. (I think that sentence kind of got away from me.. but you get the idea!)

I believe both Martin and D'addario make Silk and Steel sets.

mewso

Yeah I have a Martin Silk and Steel set in my basket on Thomann. Not overly pricey either so I may as well give it a go.