Strings gauges, personal preferences or different tone?

[MrRhoads]

Besides being a personal preference with string gauges does anyone find any tonal advantages with lighter or heavier strings?

 

[wwit]

of course there are tonal differences. But that said, exactly what sound you get out of different guage strings has a lot to do with the guitar they go on. The only real way to know, is by expeirmenting with thicker gauges untill you find the sound you like.

Its been my expeirence that thicker strings typically lead to to a bell like tone or even a piano like tone. Thicker strings allow you to roll off the guitar volume and get better articulation on notes. YMMV

But then theres Billy Gibbon's who has tone most would kill for that uses specail super lite sets based on the .07 string...7's to 38's I think and sounds like heaven. So his string thickness throws most of my hobbiest theories out the window.

 

[MrRhoads]

of course there are tonal differences. But that said, exactly what sound you get out of different guage strings has a lot to do with the guitar they go on. The only real way to know, is by expeirmenting with thicker gauges untill you find the sound you like.

Its been my expeirence that thicker strings typically lead to to a bell like tone or even a piano like tone. Thicker strings allow you to roll off the guitar volume and get better articulation on notes. YMMV

But then theres Billy Gibbon's who has tone most would kill for that uses specail super lite sets based on the .07 string...7's to 38's I think and sounds like heaven. So his string thickness throws most of my hobbiest theories out the window.

Yeah, sometimes string gauges doesn´t seem to mather
Volume differencies can be compensated with the amp.
Normally i use 10-46 on my Strat and 11-48 on my Les Paul and i´ve used 13-60 once long time ago always standard tuning
I might order some strings, 08s and 09s and see
The Strat would be the test object so it will take some work with setups going back and forth between the gauges since i have the bridge raised a little.

 

[campbellj]

Im sticking with 10's on my LP, but still exploring different brands to see which ones I like best. I might put 9's on my strat though just to see.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

On an acoustic? Sure.

On an electric? Much more subtle.

In either case, I've never heard someone playing, and said, "Wow, he's playing 12s, I can tell by his tone."

 

[MrRhoads]

On an acoustic? Sure.

On an electric? Much more subtle.

In either case, I've never heard someone playing, and said, "Wow, he's playing 12s, I can tell by his tone."

Ha ha, good point

 

[Exluthier]

I play 12s and 13s. To me the guitar sounds like it has more balls to it, but it's not really dramatic. For me it's more of a practical matter, I rarely break strings and I'm from the Buddy Guy school of string bending.

 

[River]

Different, but not necessarily better or even noticeable on an electric. Bigger is "better", sometimes and somewhat, with an acoustic. Generally, they like the gauge for which they were designed. I pull that down a gauge so I can still do decent bends.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I play 12s and 13s. To me the guitar sounds like it has more balls to it, but it's not really dramatic. For me it's more of a practical matter, I rarely break strings and I'm from the Buddy Guy school of string bending.

Exactly. I started with 9s, and went to 10s once I got into a loud band and kept breaking strings. I went from breaking one per week to one per month. Then I went to 11s on my electrics (because I was playing 13s on an acoustic already, 11s don't slow me down) and increased the interval between string-breaks to years. I can tell the difference it has on my preamp, but there's ways to get around that, too.

 

[MrRhoads]

Think i´m gonna order a set of 008s to try

 

[tazzboy]

Mines a combo of the two. I use .009s for my standard tuning and for alternate tuning I Will good in the gauge range like 11s or 12s.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Make sure you order spares!

 

[MrRhoads]

Make sure you order spares!

Well, i never brake strings actually.
Hasn´t done that the last 10year, belive it or not

EDIT; Well maybe i have but i can´t remember the last time it happened

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Well, i never brake strings actually.
Hasn´t done that the last 10year, belive it or not

EDIT; Well maybe i have but i can´t remember the last time it happened

Going to 8s, from 10s, I'd expect that to change.

 

[Exluthier]

Exactly. I started with 9s, and went to 10s once I got into a loud band and kept breaking strings. I went from breaking one per week to one per month. Then I went to 11s on my electrics (because I was playing 13s on an acoustic already, 11s don't slow me down) and increased the interval between string-breaks to years. I can tell the difference it has on my preamp, but there's ways to get around that, too.

The funny thing is, my acoustics are a small parlor sized guitar and a twelve string, it's been a while since I played either but I think they're both strung with 11s, lighter than what I have on my electrics.

 

[Mookakian]

I just cant stand the low EAD strings being too thick, I know Earnie has the Hybrid set with heavy tops light bottoms, but I think the other way would be much better, 48 bottom E and 11 top E set would be stellar. Now im just being a brat with that post Mix and matching is just too costly though

 

[wwit]

I realy like 9's on my Strat. When my JBLP came in, I restrung with 9s before even plugging it in...didnt care for it.

I went out and got some EB 10's and realy liked the difference. Alot of folks recomend 11's on the LP, so bought EB 11's and absolutely hated the set I put on. Guitar lost volume and just sounded like mud in the worse way. Back to 10's and back to the tone machine again.

Was odd how bad it sounded with 11's. Ive been playing EB slinkeys for at least 15 years and have never gotten a bum set. But im inclined to think something was up with the set I had. I bought 4 packs at that time, so likely they all were from the same batch. I ended up exchanging those for more 10's.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

The funny thing is, my acoustics are a small parlor sized guitar and a twelve string, it's been a while since I played either but I think they're both strung with 11s, lighter than what I have on my electrics.

Yeah, 12-strings I always string light, but on a dreadnought I like 12s or 13s. There's a tone when the top is pushed hard that I really love.

I've got a buddy with a Larrivee parlor guitar which he strings with 11s. It's a great guitar, too ... but he gets a little nervous when I start bending strings on it.

 

[Backstage]

I am playing 10s on electric and 12 on acoustic as long as I can remember. I don't know why I never experiment with different sizes - only string types (pure nickel etc.). I always want to try out Gibbons 7s set just for fun.

 

[Exluthier]

I just cant stand the low EAD strings being too thick, I know Earnie has the Hybrid set with heavy tops light bottoms, but I think the other way would be much better, 48 bottom E and 11 top E set would be stellar. Now im just being a brat with that post Mix and matching is just too costly though

I order my strings from juststrings.com, I just build a set. I think they run 58, 48, 38, 22p, 17, 13. Or I'll swap a 15 for the 17 and a 12 for the 13 depending on what I'm playing.