Came across this by accident. There are quite a lot of folk that are of the view you should play the thickest gauge strings you can handle on the basis that thicker gauge means better tone. I use 009-042's but always wondered whether they were right or not. This vid is very interesting and its well worth listening to the discussions, the view of the sound engineer, and then the 'summary' comparisons from 14:30 and the differences you can hear as to which gauge punches through the mix better is really noticeable. Will I be rethinking my string gauge? Have a listen!
I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
Comments
Lighter strings compress when you dig in whereas you have a greater dynamic range within the actual string with a heavier gauge
For me the feel is much more important than any sound difference could be when we know that the sound differences are going to be subtle anyway. It's not like anyone can hear a record and know what gauge strings were used on it.
I couldn't be putting up with the strings going out of tune by being too light or them being too heavy that it makes it more difficult to play.
That's how I made my choice of size 10s - thinner strings feel too flimsy so 10s are the lightest that I don't find I bend without wanting to.
When I used to play for hours a day I used to use 11s. Now I play a lot less I play 10-46 so that I have just enough but not too much tension.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
I'm with @soma1975 and @thegummy
Don't worry too much about it, you'll know very quickly whether 11s or 8s are for you! And if Allan Holdsworth can play 8s, and SRV could play whatever bass strings he was using, strings are just one part of the overall tone pie!
And @sweepy the trem on my Jazzmaster is very different, that's just a matter of tension. Thicker strings require more lbs of force to stretch.
The sound differences are fairly minimal to my ears.
If you want to punch through, turn your amp up.
Maybe might have been better to play strings without the fuzz/overdrive so peeps could make their own comparison.
But that's specifically in a recording context, I don't record (nor am I likely to), so for me the playing feel of the guitar is more important. And 8s and 9s feel too rubber-bandy. I tried 11s and didn't think they improved the tone - the wound strings seemed to sound thuddy rather than tighter/bigger/more focused. So I stick to 10s.
http://www.rotosound.com/history-4/
"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