[yelro]

I bought a Yamaha SCF08 Folk guitar couple of months ago and the strings are very worn down to the point that I can smell the rust. I was thinking of buying Martin strings but since this is a folk guitar I really have no idea which type of strings is appropriate for it. I don't know the gauge of the guitar or any settings of it. Can anyone tell me the guidelines of buying the proper strings?

[allthumbs]

Do you finger pick or strum mostly? Your best bet is to take it with you to a guitar store so the tech can get close to the same gauge of strings. If the new strings have more or less tension, then your truss rod may need to be adjusted.

[scotty_b]

Yamaha typically ship their guitars with 12-53 gauge strings.

[DaveRed]

I've played steel string acoustics for years now and always use gauge 12 - 52. These are a good compromise for both finger picking and strumming. Martin are good strings but others like Gibson etc make equally good strings. The type of strings you want, whoever the manufacturer is are Phospher-Bronze. They hold their tone for much longer. There are cheap Martin sets out at the moment called Bronze Wound. In reality they are Brass wound and although they sound bright at first they don't hold their tone for very long. You can try different makes and see which you like best. Just remember to go for phospher-bronze which are specifically designed for acoustic guitars.