Dropping a string gauge or two for the sake of my playing

fretmeister

@Axe2Grind Just a head up - the Dunlop 8-40 are currently just under £17 for a 3 pack! That's about £5.60 a pack.

Billy Gibbons Custom Rev Willy's Guitar Strings 08-40 | 3 Pack : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ

I love them so I've bought some spares too.

MikeP

String guage very obviously affects the unplugged natural sound of the guitar, not just tone but sustain as well. Whether that translates to any difference in the sound coming out of the speaker depends on what else you've got going on in between guitar and speaker

MikeP

For me playing comfort and ease comes above all other considerations, even the colour of the instrument. 

Blueingreen

Axe2Grind said:

Blueingreen said:

In early days of playing I played 8s.  I had difficulty bending which I now realise had a lot to do with my guitar, a "fretless wonder" Les Paul Custom - there was a lot of friction between fingertips and wood.  Once I realised bigger wire made bending easier I moved to 9s or 10s eventually settling on 9s.

But I've never believed lighter strings sound thinner. I have old recordings of me using 8s where the guitar sounds huge.

I also have some hand issues and if Elixir made 8s I'd probably have switched back to 8s by now.  I'm just reluctant to go back to uncoated strings I have to change 4 times as often.

That's good to know about the 8s not sounding thinner. When I played 9s, I always thought they sounded less meatier than 10s but its one of those guitarist things where its probably all in your head lol. Regarding coated strings with longevity, my current strings of choice are the Ernie Ball Slinky RPS Titanium coated strings, they last a very long time, I haven't changed my strings in about 8 months and they still sound great and don't get crusty like the uncoated normal slink's, they do an 8's set. I'd recommend if you don't want to be changing your strings often

Thanks for the tip, I actually have a pack of the Ernie Ball coated 8s to try, I just haven't got round to putting them on a guitar yet!

beed84

I tried 11s for a bit. They were too heavy. Went back to 10s but then decided 9.5s which hit the sweet spot. After a while I tried 9s but they were too slack and didn’t feel right; I certainly wouldn’t use 8s. 9.5s are the perfect balance for me.

Axe2Grind

beed84 said:

I tried 11s for a bit. They were too heavy. Went back to 10s but then decided 9.5s which hit the sweet spot. After a while I tried 9s but they were too slack and didn’t feel right; I certainly wouldn’t use 8s. 9.5s are the perfect balance for me.

I'm beginning to think I should gradually lighten up the gauge so I'm now thinking (and I didn't realise this gauge was available) I'll go for an Ernie Ball Turbo Slinky set which is 9.5 - 46. In the recent past, 9s did feel like a rubber band on my my short scale guitars, even the strat. I can always go lighter if required. Its only the lightest two strings that cause an issue with a 10s set so the Turbo Slinky set sounds perfect. I'll shall find out   

Shipwreck

beed84 said:

I tried 11s for a bit. They were too heavy. Went back to 10s but then decided 9.5s which hit the sweet spot. After a while I tried 9s but they were too slack and didn’t feel right; I certainly wouldn’t use 8s. 9.5s are the perfect balance for me.

I've been on this exact journey. In my "prime" I had 11s in Standard but most often in Eb. Then down to 10.5s. To regular 10s. To now 9.5 Ernie Balls. I like the low-end of a 46 in E but the lighter top strings make lead a bit easier. And I'm beyond any stoic rock and roll nonsense now - why make life trickier than it needs to be! 

bobblehat

Worth trying Elixir 9's . I find they have a little more tension than regular strings. No idea why.

beed84

Axe2Grind said:

beed84 said:

I tried 11s for a bit. They were too heavy. Went back to 10s but then decided 9.5s which hit the sweet spot. After a while I tried 9s but they were too slack and didn’t feel right; I certainly wouldn’t use 8s. 9.5s are the perfect balance for me.

I'm beginning to think I should gradually lighten up the gauge so I'm now thinking (and I didn't realise this gauge was available) I'll go for an Ernie Ball Turbo Slinky set which is 9.5 - 46. In the recent past, 9s did feel like a rubber band on my my short scale guitars, even the strat. I can always go lighter if required. Its only the lightest two strings that cause an issue with a 10s set so the Turbo Slinky set sounds perfect. I'll shall find out   

Shipwreck said:

beed84 said:

I tried 11s for a bit. They were too heavy. Went back to 10s but then decided 9.5s which hit the sweet spot. After a while I tried 9s but they were too slack and didn’t feel right; I certainly wouldn’t use 8s. 9.5s are the perfect balance for me.

I've been on this exact journey. In my "prime" I had 11s in Standard but most often in Eb. Then down to 10.5s. To regular 10s. To now 9.5 Ernie Balls. I like the low-end of a 46 in E but the lighter top strings make lead a bit easier. And I'm beyond any stoic rock and roll nonsense now - why make life trickier than it needs to be! 

Yeah, there’s definitely no point in using uncomfortably heavy strings, nor is there any shame in using lighter ones – there wouldn't be such a wide selection of gauges otherwise.

Turbo Slinkys are good if the bass strings are alright, though I would recommend 44–9.5s such as Primo Slinky's as it’s a great balance – I used Curt Mangan which are the best strings I’ve used ever. Also, I know companies like Stringjoy take it a step further and do balanced sets so the tension is more equal across all strings:

https://www.andertons.co.uk/stringjoy-nickel-alloy-hex-core-95-46-balanced-super-light-plus-guage-electric-strings/

They could be worth a try. Anything to find whatever Goldilocks would use  

stratcat

I used to play 14s on my Jazz guitar and 11s on my solid bodies. I've now gone down to 7s and 8's on my solid bodies due to arthritis in the base of my LH thumb. No real difference in sound but most importantly very little pain.

flying_pie

If you repeatedly A/B sound samples of different string gauges there might be miniscule differences audible but in the real world if someone sneaked into your house in the middle of the night, put lighter strings on your guitar and started playing it there's no chance you'd wake up thinking "urgh that sounds so thin, the strings must have been changed"

Go with what works for you and don't with about the numbers. FFS Brian May uses 8 gauge strings on a short scale guitar with Vox amps and you wouldn't describe his tone as thin