took delivery of a second hand Les Paul and noticed straight away that the Lower bass strings were thicker than what i was used to. I did not have a spare pack of strings (usually use 9's or hybrids on my strats and custom 24) so just played as normal.
I tune to Eb anyway and what i found was that i was able to play things with more control than on my other guitars. For example after a couple of hours the strings felt like any other string ie easy to bend but i felt i had more control over them. its seemed easy to control the bend for some reason compared to the lighter strings on my custom where i find it harder to consistently do a half step or a full step
i want to keep the string gauge on this les paul when i come to replace. is there any way of telling what gauge a string is once its on a guitar. i assume you can tell by feel but it would be good to know
Comments
I have a silly number of stringed instruments and a memory like a sieve. I routinely save the outer packaging from string packets and write the date of installation on it.
Fact.
I actually doubt the thinning under tension will make a difference you can see on a standard micrometer, but beyond the post is probably the best, if it's not a slotted one.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Ah yes good point, the mank factor! Reason for mention the thinning is I once measured a high-E 9s that came out nearer 8. It certainly surprised me that first time. A new Gibson, they definitely weren't 8s. Also measured a known set of 10s just now to check my own sanity... the high E measured 9 or even less, taking a bunch of readings and re-zeroing each time. But the low E is consistently around the 46 mark. This is a digi Mitutoyo btw
I've measured a *lot* of strings under tension, and I've never seen one read noticeably under the nominal gauge. I use a standard engineer's analogue micrometer.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein