Art & Lutherie Ami guitars and Thomastik John Pearse Folk strings

[Lafayette2009]

Lately, I have been developing an interest in Art & Lutherie Ami guitars. I have heard a lot of good things about Amis.

I also have been thinking of and been window shopping for a cheap priced, smallsize flamenco guitar (no, I don't want a classical) thinking maybe this will fill my needs and desires to play blues, folk, and country western.

Because of my Muscular Dystrophy my hands are weak. I find playing nylon strings easier, however I prefer the sound of steel. Actually, to be more precise, I like the tone of the low tuned strings of nylon and the metallic tones of the Bs and high Es of steel (steels have more bite).

I have read that the Thomastik John Pearse Folk strings have some of these attributes that I am looking for. Will these Thomastik John Pearse Folk strings work with the Ami steel string and/or Ami nylon string guitars and will they produced a sound that can be heard? In my exploration I have read that these strings have the tension of nylon.

For experimental reasons I'm contemplating putting them on my Baby Taylor (I want if possible more bass) and my old laminated Takamine Jasmine classical guitar (because in the twenty plus years I've own it it has never been inspiring to my ears and heart).

My other idea is to find a real cheap classical guitar and put the Thomastik John Pearse Folk strings on it.

I welcome any comments and suggestions.

Lafayette2009

 

[mrpinter]

I don't have any experience with Ami guitars or with the John Pearse strings made by Thomastik-Infeld. But I do have some experience with a couple of other types of Thomastik-Infeld classical steel strings, and they might be perfect for your needs. I'm referring to the Classic S Precision and Classic S Rope Core sets (KF110 and KR116 respectively). These both have the tension of a nylon string set, with the KR116 Rope Cores being a little softer than the other.

They can't be used too well on most classical guitars because they have ball - not loop - ends, like regular acoustic steel sets. They might be good on your Baby Taylor - if that has regular acoustic flat top type tuning machines and pins in the saddle. If you've been playing regular acoustic strings on the Taylor you might find it needs a truss rod tweaking to keep the Classic S's from buzzing - since they're so much lighter in tension. But if you can make them work you might find, like I did, that they have a wonderful, clear as a bell tone and with hardly any effort to play.

 

[TNO]

The cedar-topped Amis are really nice. Focused tone that cuts through, almost like an electric guitar.

 

[Lafayette2009]

KennyWTelejazz thanks for the video. The more I see and hear of the Ami the more I like it. Just wish I could see and hear the Ami nylon string being played.

TNO thanks for your comment.

Mrpinter your suggestion has added encouragement to my idea of putting on the Classic S Precision and Classic S Rope Core sets (KF110 and KR116) on my Baby Taylor. If I discover they don't fit the Baby Taylor then I will put them on my Takamine. Who knows? Maybe they will liven it up.

By the way, can you suggest an on-line store that I can order them from?

Lafayette

 

[mrpinter]

I order all my T-I strings from juststrings.com. They always ship right away and prices are as about as good as you'll find.