Jazz Strings - Need Help (X-post)

[saxguy]

I am purchasing a Gibson Steve Howe ES-175 which comes with 340 Nickel Plus .011-.052 strings. I want a very warm, non-edgy sound. Would I be better off restringing with a set of D'addario Chromes .013-.056 to achieve this? Can anyone recommend a different set of strings with excellent tone and playability to complement this guitar?

Any ideas for an amp as well - I'm leaning towards a Roland JC-120 or a Fender Super Reverb.

[cyberfret]

I am jealous :)

As far as the strings, I guess it really depends how long you have been playing and what gauge of strings you are currently using. Since this is definitely not a beginner guitar, I am guessing that you have been playing a while. Unless you have already been using a very heavy string on your current guitar, I would not jump right to the .013 - .056. That is really something you have to work up to. And unless you play the guitar every day for at least an hour, I would never put that heavy of a string on your guitar.....you are just asking for injury. Try the .011 - .052 flatwound string first.

As for the amp. I had a JC-120........if you want a warm tone, this is not the amp for you. It is a Solid State amp, and warm is just not in this amps vocabulary. So out of the 2 I would personally go with the Fender Super Reverb which is a tube amp. Tube amps will have a much warmer tone.

Have fun with your new toys :)
--Shawn