Any older players adopted lighter strings?

Lewy

axisus said:

I was 9s on everything most of my life. I tried 8s once and they were unplayable. Took them off the same day.

I've always had finger issues though, and after reading up on how many well known players used 8s (plus 'that' Rick Beato video), a few years ago I tried them again - and loved them! Now it's 8s all the way for me, I can get more feeling and nuance out of them and it's helped my finger issues.

I very much enjoy the Malmsteen set by Fender - 8-46 so 8's on the top and 10s on the bottom and it works great. 

cbilly22

Yup, I played 9-46 for years, then went to 9-42 and now use 8s but with a 42 bottom E.

dcg

I am beyond old, in fact past the biblical 3 score and 10, but have been using progressively heavier strings for nearly a decade; nothing below 11-49s on my Teles and my R8, and 12s (Tomastik Be Bops) on one particular Tele outfitted with Lollar Charlie Christians.  I bend everything, including the 12s, and enjoy better tuning stability and definition within chords; skinnier strings I somehow manage to fret out of tune, or over bend.  So I may be bucking the trend somewhat, but in a gradual move to playing prettier (read faux jazz), I've found the chunkier strings really help my playing.

guitarjack66

Fishboy7 said:

I'm the wrong side of 40 but I'm not doing loads of bending and vibrator though.  

Keep your sex life off the forum please!

ESBlonde

I’ve been playing 9s on most of my electrics for 45 years, I have succumbed to putting 10s on both my acoustics in recent years because 2 hour sets would become uncomfortable. There is no tone loss on electrics and anyway there are knobs for that. 

guitarmangler

On the subject of lighter strings, I knew Brian May used 8’s , but thought it was a standard set. Evidently it’s this gauge 8, 9, 11, 16, 22w, 34w. 

34 as low E and a plain D string ! On a 24” scale! Wow. Might have to get a set to see how it feels.

koneguitarist

I went from regular 10 gauge on Fenders and 10-52 on Gibsons down to 8s. Mainly down to hand problems, but prefer it to be honest. 

menamestom

I think if your technique is really good, you can use 8's.

I use 11's.

axisus

guitarmangler said:

On the subject of lighter strings, I knew Brian May used 8’s , but thought it was a standard set. Evidently it’s this gauge 8, 9, 11, 16, 22w, 34w. 

34 as low E and a plain D string ! On a 24” scale! Wow. Might have to get a set to see how it feels.

Now that is interesting! Curious to try ....



[EDIT] So I looked up and Brian 'used' to use that gauge:

..... Pete [guitar tech] does bring up the earlier gauge being .008 and states that they were breaking a lot of strings and more to the fact that Brian of course uses a sixpence as a plectrum which will only heighten the probability of breakages.

It seems that they've settled on the incredible Optima Gold Strings .009 - .042 and really put their full trust into the strings night after night.

bertie

Lewy said:

Don't know your definition of older but at 51 

crikey,  old git...................................................... 

I find my playing gets very very sloppy with light (er) strings - I over bend, even tho I dont consider my self "heavy handed"  Ive found this even more so since getting the LP -  I keep catching the top E on the fret/nib. 
I guess its from playing the same style on acoustic as on electric ? 

10.5s on short scales,  10s on Fenders,   12s on acoustic,  tho my knuckles,  slight trigger finger (index) and onset dupuytren's may well change this in the near future  

mattacjones

For my part I have put 9's on the les Paul and Collings, both Gibson scale and am getting used to it. Think there's a slight intonation change needed as a result on the Collings. Weirdly, the strat feels good with 10s, which makes no sense to me!

mo6020

I've got heavy hands, so play 10-52 on Fender scale guitars and 11-50s on Gibson scale. On acoustic I'm either using bluegrass sets or 13s.

I've used those guages on electrics forever, but I used to use 12s on acoustics and am getting heavier as I get older (sadly in ways other than string guage, too)...

rockmonster

I’m 61 and have been using 9-46 elixir strings for many years now. My current band of 18 plus years detunes a semitone. I used to really struggle with 10’s due to my weedy little hands and certainly found two consecutive gigs on a weekend hard work. Now I don’t. Elixirs last way longer too! I’m still struggling with the choice of acoustic strings though. I find electric guitars far more forgiving as regards big tone and big strings compared to acoustics. One can dial in “bigness’”on the amp! A lot more tricky with acoustics I find!

beed84

While I'm not old yet, I'll share my thoughts anyway ...

After seeing this thread the other day I thought I'd try a set of 9s I had kicking around (mostly I've played 10s, but have since settled on 9.5s). This is on the back of popular YouTubers suggesting I'm playing the wrong strings, i.e., 10s and above (these being "pointlessly" heavy); the stigma attached to playing thinner gauge; and the B.B. King argument "Why work so hard?". But I was also curious as to whether I could play 9s and actually like them ...

Strung them yesterday; took them off today. Obviously they're easier to fret and bend, but they generally just feel weird and mess with the way I play. Tonally they don't sound right to me either, especially the top E. I know it's only half a gauge more, but to me the 9.5s have the right amount of sponginess and tension. That said, I might go back up to 10s. One thing that heavier strings do do is prevent me from trying to play too fast, which isn't a bad thing.

I say all this. I could be playing 8s when I'm 60.

menamestom

I'm changing to 10's now, my strat is 11's standard tuning.  10's feel super bendy with hardly any tension.  I'm getting used to them and like them, but I couldn't deal with any less.  I'll stick to 10.5's or 11's on my Gibson.

I do wonder how people feel 10's are in any way heavy, assume it's for things thumb behing the neck legato, but even then they feel pretty slick.  I can see how 11's or 12 put strain on the joints but not 10's.

Also, acoustics I like 12's or 13's.  Especially on a dreadnought.  Anything less and the top doesn't seem to work enough.

duotone

9-42 user here. If it’s good enough for John5 it’s good enough for me!

I have 8’s on my Ibanez Ergodyne & I find them too light. Will probably change them to 8.5 or 9 at the next string change.

Lewy

menamestom said:

I do wonder how people feel 10's are in any way heavy, assume it's for things thumb behing the neck legato, but even then they feel pretty slick.  I can see how 11's or 12 put strain on the joints but not 10's.

I can only speak for myself but it's less about not being able to cope with the heavier strings, it's more about the lightness of touch that is facilitated by lighter ones. I want to play with as light a touch as possible. I'm exerting more downward pressure on my keyboard typing this message than I do on the strings when I play and that's how I like it. It means I can play with more precision, more speed when I want, and I have a reserve of capacity that I can call on should I need to.

ICBM

I still use 45s.


On bass, of course .

For guitar I used to use 11s on everything - I liked the big vibrant sound of them, and the tighter feel when bashing chords - but now I’m 56 and not playing guitar as much as I used to, I’ve gone down to 10s on electric, just to save a bit of finger strain on bends. I still use 11s on my acoustics.

I did borrow a friend’s Ibanez RG for a few months and he had 9s on that, and if I was going to own one I would also… it just felt right like that.

wjpp

I used to always use 8s, but about a year ago moved to 10s. I much prefer the thicker strings as it makes my bends so much better. I just don't have the good technique to really nail bends and on lighter strings I just over bend too much. It is more work though.

FelineGuitars

axisus said:

guitarmangler said:

On the subject of lighter strings, I knew Brian May used 8’s , but thought it was a standard set. Evidently it’s this gauge 8, 9, 11, 16, 22w, 34w. 

34 as low E and a plain D string ! On a 24” scale! Wow. Might have to get a set to see how it feels.

Now that is interesting! Curious to try ....



[EDIT] So I looked up and Brian 'used' to use that gauge:

..... Pete [guitar tech] does bring up the earlier gauge being .008 and states that they were breaking a lot of strings and more to the fact that Brian of course uses a sixpence as a plectrum which will only heighten the probability of breakages.

It seems that they've settled on the incredible Optima Gold Strings .009 - .042 and really put their full trust into the strings night after night.

on a guitar that is only a 24" scale!!

I have for years now used 9-46 in regular tuning on a 24.75" guitar . I used to use 10s but then just thought ...why struggle?

Worth noting that lighter strings have a different harmonic content to heavy ones with way more "sizzle". It was IMO something that was a factor in the 80s guitar sounds.

If tuning down a half step then try the 10-48s /10-49/10-50 (depending on maker) for the same feel as 10-46 in regular tuning.