I am buying a 1930's archtop acoustic for jazzy blues-what EB strings ?

[old mark]

I am looking at buying a mahogany carved top acoustic archtop guitar from the 1930's. I play only Ernie Ball strings on my electric guitars and I want to know which type of EB strings would be a good choice for my old arch top...I play somewhat jazzy blues.
Thanks.

mark

 

[old mark]

I found this information on a blog about old acoustic archtops:
The arch top acoustics were designed to project heavily in the mid-range to cut through a large number of horns.
Recommended strings are phosphor bronze, at least 11's if you play lead, 13's for straight chording.

I have played strings as heavy as 13's, so I think 11's or 13's will not be a problem.

mark

 

[Spudmurphy]

I have a 1930's Paramount Archtop guitar and I use Earthwood Medium Light .012 - .054 Acoustic 80/20 Bronze

 

[DrKev]

Phosphor Bronze (deeper coppery colour) gives a richer sound but with plenty of clarity, the 80/20 bronze (brighter yellow colour) gives a more crisp, upper mid-range centred sound. Which one to choose really is a matter of personal preference - 80/20's can be a little dry or aggressive sounding on some guitars, on other guitars Phosphors can be a bit boomy. (FWIW, as a general rule I prefer Phosphors).

On such an old instrument I'd would avoid 13s unless you are sure the guitar will take such high tension well. Maybe start with 11s or 12s first and see how you get on.

 

[old mark]

That Paramount was made by Harmony...it's a beautiful guitar.
Mine was made in spring of 1939, and it's a Harmony-made Supertone archtop, sold throught the Sears catalog. Only made in 1938 and 39. this guitar w=uis made completely of birch, even the nut, and has a very interesting "old' blues/country sound. It is in much better condition than I feared it might be, although I will be lowering the bridge and there is one high fret at the high end...

Thanks I got the phosphor bronze 11's and I'm very happy with them.

mark