Any tonal differences d'addario 10-46 and 10.5-48 ?

Telejester

I've tried d'addario 11-49 on my Tele and couldn't live with the high e string tension when bending. I'm just wondering does the 10.5 set sound any fuller than the 10 set and does the 10.5 have the bending strains like the 11s do on a 25.5 inch scale neck ?

octatonic

Fuck all.

richardhomer

No. Depending on how hard your right-hand attack is, doubtful there's any real tonal difference between 9s and 10s either.

The 'big strings' obsession seemed to start when Stevie Ray Vaughn became popular - there's plenty of great music which was recorded on guitars strung with light strings....

tone1

  

Evilmags

Malcolm Young and Rick Parafit predate SRV by a long way and massive strings  are a big part of both players sound. 11s are fairly common even woth technically advanced players. 

fandango

Just make sure you check the intonation when changing string gauges.

Jimbro66

I use 10.5 - 48 on my ES-335 to give similar tension and feel to 10 - 46 on a Tele. That's the only reason.

professorben

I find thicker strings sound thicker. 

Less treble more bass and mids. 

On a Tele tho I think that might be a good thing. 

guitars4you

I know many players now use 9.5's as against 9's or 10's - so obviously the same principle but I don't even stock 10.5's and have never been asked for them - I dare say many players use 9's or 10's, so some form of hybrid is logical, but sales of 11 gauge are far smaller anyway - So nothing against your thinking - As for the question and any difference in tone then I'd say negligible - Eric Johnson battery story springs to mind - Granted the feel/tension  will be more noticeable, but little regarding tone - I'd be amazed if any intonation adjustment is required as well, but check accordingly

Sassafras

Not to my ears. Especially once you've added overdrive, pitch shifting, reverb, fuzz, phasing, delay, and all the rest of it.

Kebabkid

I'll tell you in about a week or so when I get my *Fender RC Strat  back from my repairer (fitting a baseplate) and I've decided to try D'Addario 10.5s.

I normally play 9.5s or 10s but the *hardtail Strat that I recently bought came with 11s and I love the sound and general feel of it as they don't feel like too taught 11s but like the OP, I couldn't bend the high E 11 comfortably and swapped it for a 10, but that still didn't feel right (too slinky). Hence, the 10.5s.

I know when I swapped to 9.5s a few years ago, I could feel the difference and thought it a good compromise but tonally, it was negligible.

professorben

Sassafras said:

Not to my ears. Especially once you've added overdrive, pitch shifting, reverb, fuzz, phasing, delay, and all the rest of it.

You mean 'interest'

Telejester

Kebabkid said:

I'll tell you in about a week or so when I get my *Fender RC Strat  back from my repairer (fitting a baseplate) and I've decided to try D'Addario 10.5s.

I normally play 9.5s or 10s but the *hardtail Strat that I recently bought came with 11s and I love the sound and general feel of it as they don't feel like too taught 11s but like the OP, I couldn't bend the high E 11 comfortably and swapped it for a 10, but that still didn't feel right (too slinky). Hence, the 10.5s.

I know when I swapped to 9.5s a few years ago, I could feel the difference and thought it a good compromise but tonally, it was negligible.

I'd be interested to hear if the 10.5 is or isn't as unwieldy as 11s on 25.5 inch scale

crunchman

Didn't know you could get 10.5s.

Might try them out. My Gretsch is Long scale (25.5") and it came with 11s which sounded great, but did feel tight and was hard work.  I tried 10s but it didn't seem to respond well to them.  I then went back to 11s and tuned down to Eb, but sometimes it's a bit awkward being tuned to Eb, so last week I strung it with 10 to 52s in normal tuning. I'll play that a bit more but I might try these 10.5s as well.

monoamine

Jimmy page occasionally used a 7 sized banjo string as a high E. Billy gibbons also did a similar thing. Neither sound thin or weedy

Sassafras

professorben said:

Sassafras said:

Not to my ears. Especially once you've added overdrive, pitch shifting, reverb, fuzz, phasing, delay, and all the rest of it.

You mean 'interest'

I meant "crap" but was too polite to use rude words.

Kebabkid

crunchman said:

Didn't know you could get 10.5s.

Might try them out. My Gretsch is Long scale (25.5") and it came with 11s which sounded great, but did feel tight and was hard work.  I tried 10s but it didn't seem to respond well to them.  I then went back to 11s and tuned down to Eb, but sometimes it's a bit awkward being tuned to Eb, so last week I strung it with 10 to 52s in normal tuning. I'll play that a bit more but I might try these 10.5s as well.

Yep, D'addarios and think you might be able to buy singles so you can customise your gauge.

http://daddario.com/DADProductDetail.Page?ActiveID=3769&productid=22&productname=EXL110__Nickel_Wound__Regular_Light_Plus__10_5_48&sid=8121ffb1-8599-421e-bfac-b8a5a93b5b6b

sweepy

I use 10.5's on my LP and they work perfectly, 11's feel too stiff and 10's seem to rattle more 

Gagaryn

tone1 said:

  

Those two blethers need to learn to edit - one an hour to tell us whether string gauge matters?

exocet

I used to use the 10.5 - 48 gauge on my Tele because of the additional tension in 11s.
More recently I've gone 10 - 52 because you can buy them in bulk packs.
Finally I didn't notice a difference and I soon got used to lower tension.

Niallseroreilly

Wouldnt touch a guitar with 10s... has to be 10.5