The secret to good tone is...

Bucket

I think my tone is alright and I use 9s.

There are so many variables that make SO much more difference than strings. Use what feels comfortable... if you're more comfortable chances are you'll play better, which means you'll sound better anyway.

Lixarto

Bucket said:

There are so many variables that make SO much more difference than strings. Use what feels comfortable... if you're more comfortable chances are you'll play better, which means you'll sound better anyway.

Wisdom for that.

ICBM

monquixote said:

A mate of mine was a big jangly Ric player and he always said a wound 3rd was really important for max Ric jangle.

He was right. Ricks just don't sound quite right with a plain 3rd really - it's too clangy.

koneguitarist said:

Lack of top or bottom does not make sound small, more solid in the frequencies we hear.

Lack of bottom makes a sound small, no matter what you do with the rest. If you don't think so then we simply don't describe 'big' or small' sounds as meaning the same thing. (Which is quite likely!)

koneguitarist said:

It's another of those myths big strings are best.

Once again, I never said that bigger strings are *better* - just that they sound fuller and bigger. Not the same thing…

I like quite a lot of players who use light strings, but personally I prefer the tone from heavier ones.

steamabacus

When I was younger I certainly subscribed to the "big strings = good tone = better" mindset. I ended up with 11-52s (wound 3rd) on a 24¾" scale. Now I'm older and wiser, don't gig out and mainly record at home and I've actually lightened up a bit as far as string gauges go - it varies with different guitars,11-49 on a Gibson scale now. I even have a 25½" scale strat-type that I deliberately strung 'light' with 10-46s.

My take on it is this. All strings have a 'dynamic window' in which they function best. You can dig into/thrash heavier strings more before their vibration goes 'chaotic' and the sound loses it's integrity. Conversely, heavier strings take a little more force to get vibrating clearly than lighter gauges. Also, lighter strings are a little easier to manipulate under the left hand (I'm right-handed) responding to vibrato, bending, etc a little differently.

So what this means for me is that I play differently with different gauges. With heavier strings, I can dig in more, thrash the guitar a bit more, play a little more muscularly. I'm naturally a fairly aggressive player. With lighter strings I have to restrain myself a bit, relax a little more, be gentle with the guitar.

I don't think any gauge of strings is inherently better tonally. I reckon it's more about how they interact with your picking/strumming style.

richardhomer

steamabacus;205913" said:

All strings have a 'dynamic window' in which they function best. You can dig into/thrash heavier strings more before their vibration goes 'chaotic' and the sound loses it's integrity. Conversely, heavier strings take a little more force to get vibrating clearly than lighter gauges. Also, lighter strings are a little easier to manipulate under the left hand (I'm right-handed) responding to vibrato, bending, etc a little differently

Brilliantly put! 'Wisdom' awarded without hesitation....

I use 9s on my Strats, 10s on my PRS and 335 and 13s on my acoustics.

Needless to say, my acoustic technique is a lot more heavy-handed than my electric playing. The set up of each of my guitars is ideally suited to the way I play them....

Kerpunk

You wouldn't put 9s on an acoustic and expect to have good tone so why would you on an electric?

But then again unless you learn proper fretting, picking/plucking and vibrato you'll never have a good tone.

monquixote

Kerpunk said:

You wouldn't put 9s on an acoustic and expect to have good tone so why would you on an electric?

But then again unless you learn proper fretting, picking/plucking and vibrato you'll never have a good tone.

Because hundreds of tracks considered amongst the greatest tones committed to tape were done with 9s.

steamabacus

Kerpunk said:

You wouldn't put 9s on an acoustic and expect to have good tone so why would you on an electric?

But then again unless you learn proper fretting, picking/plucking and vibrato you'll never have a good tone.

I don't think there's any reason why 9s on an acoustic is inherently wrong. On the right guitar with the right player it might sound superb.
I have a Washburn electroacoustic that has 10s on it - it's a naturally 'stiff' feeling guitar, string gauges feel heavier than you'd expect. For me, that guitar sounds better lightly strung.

I think what you can say is that you can't generate as much volume with lighter strings. So, at the back of the room the tone might not be as good. But in front of a mike it might sound superb.

impmann

Don't forget Mr Page used very light strings on the Les Pauls... oh yes, and "Number 1" didn't have a PAF fitted in the bridge position for most of Page's career, either... so much for "perceived wisdom". :-)

But hey, like I say opinion and all that... 

Kerpunk

Interesting side thought. 

How many people here really listen to the acoustic sound of an electric before buying it?

monquixote

Kerpunk said:

Interesting side thought. 

How many people here really listen to the acoustic sound of an electric before buying it?

I do.

richardhomer

Kerpunk;205969" said:

Interesting side thought. 

How many people here really listen to the acoustic sound of an electric before buying it?

Always....

Apart from the instrument's sustain characteristics, I'm unconvinced there is an enormous correlation between plugged and unplugged sounds.....

koneguitarist

I always play the electric acoustically before buying.

richardhomer said:

Kerpunk;205969" said:

Interesting side thought. 

How many people here really listen to the acoustic sound of an electric before buying it?

Always....

Apart from the instrument's sustain characteristics, I'm unconvinced there is an enormous correlation between plugged and unplugged sounds.....

One thing a Gibson tends to sound more Gibson like and a fender more fender like unplugged. due to construction.

There are so many pickups you can put on a electric guitar, key to me is feel and playability, tone comes next.

midiglitch

1.  Practise

2.  Volume

ICBM

richardhomer said:

Apart from the instrument's sustain characteristics, I'm unconvinced there is an enormous correlation between plugged and unplugged sounds.....

Agreed. The resonance and sustain you can tell, the tone much less so unless it's extreme. You do get a few guitars that are either extremely dull - but still resonant - and others that are very toppy unplugged, and that does tend to come through in the amplified sound, but smaller differences less so.

I always play an electric guitar unplugged (unless I'm buying totally unplayed!), but I don't always base a buying decision entirely on it. I've had a few guitars which sounded poor acoustically but great plugged in. Although I don't still have any of them… maybe that means something.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

richardhomer said:

I accept you get a 'different' sound from bigger strings, but not necessarily a 'better' one.

+1

I completely agree too, since 'better' is totally dependent on the music.

But I really think you can hear the difference in string gauges (broadly) and that heavier strings give a 'bigger' tone - by which I mean a fuller sound, more bottom end, wider bandwidth or however you define it. Whether that's what you want/need for the type of music you play is a completely different thing. I would say that Iommi proves that it isn't, in fact.

Yeah- when I was more used to using 9s exclusively I thought 10s sounded a bit unsubtle, for want of a better word, and I didn't really like it. While I didn't like how they felt to play (and obviously that wasn't helping), I didn't really like the tone, either.

Since I got a bass though I care a lot less about that )

Bucket said:

There are so many variables that make SO much more difference than strings. Use what feels comfortable... if you're more comfortable chances are you'll play better, which means you'll sound better anyway.

+1

Even if someone else does sound "better" with thicker strings, that's no guarantee you will.

Kerpunk said:

You wouldn't put 9s on an acoustic and expect to have good tone so why would you on an electric?

Cos they're, er, different instruments? With an acoustic you only have the guitar (ignoring electroacoustics, and even with them you're still trying to make them sound as acoustic as possible) so the unplugged tone is the end result, and anything you can do to make that sound better and louder is important. Whereas with a guitar you also have an amp, and many effects, distortion etc. which totally change the overall tone of the thing.

That's a bit like saying you wouldn't put petrol in a bicycle so why does your motorbike need it?

suspiciousminds

Simples for me:
Valve amp and p90's = monster tone.

noisepolluter

Tone is adding treble, bass and gain until you can't hear the other guitarist any more. 

Neil

Another very cheap tone alteration is to change the thickness of your plectrum.

Panama_Jack666

Neil said:

Another very cheap tone alteration is to change the thickness of your plectrum.

Matt Schofield swears by a plectrum being a key part of his tone...

Of course it's nothing to do with his 4 grand two rock!

NOTE: (I do agree with him though, a plectrum can change the sound quite a bit and when I meet musicians who's tone I like, I always ask what plectrums they use).