Easier String Bends on an Acoustic Guitar

While string bending with today’s ultra-light gauge strings is easy on an electric, it can be difficult on an acoustic, even if the manufacturer put on a light gauge string set. Wimps! In our day we had . . . oops, got carried away. Try this: Leave the lower three wound strings alone and then replace the G, B, and high E strings with nickel-plated electric guitar strings. To start, you can use a .010 on the high E, a .013 on the B, and a plain .017 on the G. As your fingers get stronger, you can move up to a slightly heavier set of strings.