Going up or down in string gauges? Now general string adventures

ICBM

stickyfiddle said:

That said, there's something about heavier strings on the hollow ES330. They just get it feeling more "alive", even in lower tunings - open G, open D and D standard are all particularly lovely.

If you don’t do a lot of string bending, try a wound G as well. Hollowbodies always sound better with one in my opinion.

professorben

I dropped to 9-46 when I changed to Ibanez guitars. 

It suits the vibe of the guitar to my mind and I’ve not noticed any issues. 

Lestratcaster

Started with D'addario 11's on my Strat when I was first trying to play but since switching to Ernie Ball 10's I've stayed there for a good 10 or so years now. I also went UP gauges the lower I tuned down to in bands! Used to play Beefy slinkies and then went up to the Not Even's.

DB1

I don't particularly like a wound G on a hollowbody, to be honest. Sounds a little dead to me, but that's just IMO. I vary from guitar to guitar - 11 flatwounds on my ES-275. Ernie Ball 10.5's on my ES-330, normal 11's on my Dupont Bebop, normal 11's on my Little Sister Crossroads and 10's on my SJ-100, and it's still tense enough and loud enough to be a very usable cannon. I used to use 10-46's on most things, but horses for courses now. 

stonevibe

I got my one and only acoustic guitar down to 11s this weekend. Its an ESP LTD thing that I have had for a few years and it plays more like an electric anyway, so it suits it really well.

stickyfiddle

ICBM said:

stickyfiddle said:

That said, there's something about heavier strings on the hollow ES330. They just get it feeling more "alive", even in lower tunings - open G, open D and D standard are all particularly lovely.

If you don’t do a lot of string bending, try a wound G as well. Hollowbodies always sound better with one in my opinion.

I typically do bend a fair bit, though less in alt tunings than standard. Might be worth a try. Not sure Elixir do wound-G sets though?

Bennyboy-UK

I settled on 9-46 on everything about 25 years ago and just got on with my life.

Musicwolf

I’ve been steadily migrating from 10s to 9s on all of my guitars to the point whereby now only the Casino is strung with 10s.  I’ve still got 7 packs of Ernie Ball 10s sitting around so I may go back up a gauge on either the Tele or the Single cut (or both) for a bit of variety.  I can’t hear a difference in tone but they do alter the feel which in turn influences my playing.

octatonic

9-46 on Fender, 10-52 on Gibson, down from 11's and 12's.

bbill335

i went from 11-56 beefy slinkies to 11-52 dadds because bending a 22 g string became fatiguing. i also got better at DIY set ups. dadds are nicer all round imo, but now EB offer an 11-52 set, like a heavier version of the skinny top/heavy bottom.

I find with standard sets (eg 11-48) that the different gauges are just too close to each other and the strings don't feel very distinct. 

JD50

10s on my Jaguar and Musicmaster
11 flats on my Mustang
10s on my Les Paul Special

So 10s or 11s depends on what I have laying around.... maybe I should try some 10.5s for fun?

ICBM

stickyfiddle said:

I typically do bend a fair bit, though less in alt tunings than standard. Might be worth a try. Not sure Elixir do wound-G sets though?

Well, if you use Elixirs then tone is irrelevant anyway...

Schnozz

I like having 9s on a Floyd Rose, but otherwise 10s.

DB1

JD50 said:

10s on my Jaguar and Musicmaster
11 flats on my Mustang
10s on my Les Paul Special

So 10s or 11s depends on what I have laying around.... maybe I should try some 10.5s for fun?

I've found 10.5's to be a good compromise. 

Litterick

The only way is up.

jeroenvanhulsteijn

When using flats I usually go up. When using trems I prefer lighter gauges. When tuning down I prefer heavier gauges. 
Nowadays I use what I have laying around. I have one guitar with 8s, but thats a tad to skinny for me. I prefer a bit more resistance. 

DeeTee

9s on my Tele, 10s on my SG and 11s on my Mustang.

I've been playing the Tele a bit tonight, and I notice that the string tension is still a bit lighter than the SG. I don't have big hands, so I found it worked really well for me as it was easier to control the bends. Wondering if I should try 9.5s on the SG as a result.

skullfunkerry

I haven't gone down a string gauge as such, but when I bought my Strat it had 10s on, so I was going to go up to 11s when I retuned it to drop C... in the end though, I stuck with 10s and found the lower tension felt great.
I must admit that I was a little worried about what people would say on here, but then I saw a comment from someone about higher string tension meaning more likelihood of RSI or carpal tunnel syndrome and that kind of made my mind up that I wouldn't care what anyone said... and actually, no-one has said anything

Alterlifeson

I chop and change between standard 10s and a 10/9 hybrid (lighter tops). 10s are fine on everything else, but the vintage radius has a huge effect on bending a whole step and beyond on 10s for me.

adamm82

soma1975 said:

Been playing 10-48 or 10-46 for a good few years after a dalliance with 11s prior to that. 

Reading recently about Jimi using a 9-38 set and BB and Billy Gibbons using ultra light strings has anyone here made the jump to something like that and what do you feel you have gained and lost by it? 

Yeah I ended up on 9-46 these days. I used to like 10's, But strangely I've gone the other way when it comes to picks. When I was a beginner i used to use .46mm then .88mm now 1.0mm