Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: tomjackson on May 30, 2009, 11:41:54 PM
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Forget about your ultra low tunings here, I'm only interested in EADGBE tuning.
What gauge do you use and why?
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I use 11s and 12s and still bend strings :)
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Ditto with Jonny - Play acoustic blues for a while and anything less than 11 feel like bits of dental floss.
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11's to 54's tuned to E are my favourite on my Flying V. 11 - 48 on every thing else. Lighter strings now give me cramp.
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11s and like the others I bend the b*ggers. I do like SRV too as it happens but it wasn't anything to do with his choice that I chose them. They do seem to last quite well.
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I voted 10's 'cause that's on my Tele and Yamaha. On my Gretsch it's 11's. That has alot of string behind the nut and behind the bridge so bending isn't as hard as it seems. They just feel right on that guitar.
SRV?
(http://www.oudvalkenburgzh.nl/gallery/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1592&g2_serialNumber=2)
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Well I used to use 11's and the bending was never a problem, 12's it started to get a bit hard, - 1 step bends hurt, 1 1/2 step was impossible! And I had to buy a plain G as well as the set.....
I use 10's with a heavy bottom nowadays but I'm a bit surprised that there's not many 8 or 9 users on this forum but then again downtuning has taken over in the metal world now so may be that's why?
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11-52
I just REALLY don't understand even a little bit HOW anyone can play with anything lighter?! 10s just flap all over the bloody place.
SRV?
Stevie Ray Vaughan? I thought he was quite well known?
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Well I used to use exclusively 11's but changed to 10's with a heavy bottom on my Tele to pull off some Nashville style unison bends. In fact to make it easier 9's would be better but that's just wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJaSZxZJFV0
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I tune all (well, almost all) my guitars to Eb & use 10-46s on all my 25½" scale guitars.
But on my Gibsons I use 10-52s - I kinda like the looser feel on the top strings but like the bottom strings not to flap around too much. It accentuates the differences between 24¾" & 25½" in a good way... :)
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I use a 27" 7 string and used to use 11-75s. Tried a 80 yesterday and it still could go tighter I think, however, got a little problem of the string unwinding and thus moi needing a custom machine head :lol:
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i use 11s on everything except my union jack steinberger, and OFR flying V which have 10s.
11s is my preference, and i have 11s 'in stock' so to speak. but to speak the truth even if two guitars have the same scale length i noticed the string tension can be different. ideally i'd change a couple of guitars to have a different gauge, for example my wezv strat has a noticeably higher tension than my jazzmaster with the same scale length.
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I voted Hybrid because I tune down to drop B. I just like the hugeness og the sound.
I have used as thick as 13-56 but i found it far to thick.
I am currently using 11-54 beefy slinkies and they feel very good.
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I mainly use standard tuning, or occasionally down half a step and use D'Addario 10-46s on all my guitars. I will probably be trying 10-52s on my SG come next string change.
Many years ago I used to use 11s. I can't remember the variety, but the G was wound and it would always break from all the bending it got. Since changing to the D'Addario 10-46s (about 12 years ago I think) I can count the amount of broken strings I've had on one hand.
I've never had a guitar with 9s on, but playing friends' guitars that have them I can't stand them. It feels like you're picking air. :lol:
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Ah bollox i just read the post that says forget about drop tunings.
I would re-vote for 10's best of both worlds. they just have more "feeling" when you play.
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I voted 9's as I use them on my Charvel and Strat. Mind ou I don't play them much at the moment as I'm always playing my Custom which has 10's.
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10s because I like to be able to bend the strings easily, any lighter than that and it's too easy.
On some guitars I'm tempted to try 11s, but I don't believe in the old "the heavier the better" adage. Playing guitar's difficult enough without having to fight it all the time.
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10s because I like to be able to bend the strings easily, any lighter than that and it's too easy.
On some guitars I'm tempted to try 11s, but I don't believe in the old "the heavier the better" adage. Playing guitar's difficult enough without having to fight it all the time.
I like my girls to fight back a bit (not too much mind) :lol:
I voted 11s some time ago...
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11s because anything else feels too flimsy on a Les Paul/24.75" scale guitar. However, SRV is not my hero and I do bend strings, so the poll choices are somewhat flawed :P
I do like my guitars to "fight back" a bit, I've recently raised the action on my Pearl a bit as it was just too easy to bend the strings before. Even with 11s its really bendy, feels like 10s on my other guitar. I actually found it harder to play with the lighter string tension, just doesnt feel right to me.
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11's here as well on my 24.75 scale. i recently changed to 10-68 on my 7 string because 11's felt really tight on a 26.5 scale, so that's pretty much the only culprit. it's pretty much 11-50 everywhere. I like the tight feel and have enough callouses to go up a minor third on a bend :D
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Used to be 9s (or sometimes 8.5 on the top!), but since i've started using halfwound strings on the LP, i've been using 11's there- all they had in the shop. Generally using 10s on strat scale guitars, but i think i'm gonna up it to 11s at some point.
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I use 11's all the time, went down from 12's about a year ago though.
I tune to D standard mainly, but would still use 11's in E standard
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Depends on the guitar. I use 9-46 on my superstrats, 10-46 on my LP and 10-52 on my strat. I like the tone of the 10-52, but I like the slinkiness of the 9-46.
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10s on everything - they work for me feel and tone wise. Tempted to try a set of 11s on me SC245 though - found myself overbending a few times cos of the shorter scale length.
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I use 10's on all my guitars. Have never tried anything thicker and 10's suit me just fine. When I from time to time pick up a guitar with 9's I'm always overwhelmed at how light and "weak" they feel.
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I've used 10-46 since forever but I'm using 9-46 atm as thats what my new guitar came with and I don't want to change the set-up - great for bending 3 tones :lol:
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11's with a heavy bottom (54) just makes it feel a lot easier to play to me. 9's & 10's feel like toy strings to me.
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I recently re-strung an old backup guitar I had with 9s for my nephew who's learning to play. Good God! They just didn't feel right. I'd end up bending up to a fourth before realising I was bunching a whole load of strings together.
Quite happy with 14-68s at the moment (in Drop A, admittedly).
Roo
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54-11 - tuned to Eb
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85 is in the post :lol: B standard upon a 27" scale 7 string, mwahahaaa, me likes tight strings tone.
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Saw an interview with Alex Skolnick from Testament. He currently uses 13-56's on a Les Paul (tuned to Eb mostly I think from looking at some Testament tabs)
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i like 9s. they can be slightly slack on 24.75" scale length, but 10s are still too much, and if push comes to shove, i'd rather have slightly too slack than too tight.
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I use a modified 10-46 with the 46 swapped out for a 60. I rather like it, 54s didn't do it for me and anything thicker or thinner than a 10 doesn't feel right. My first guitar came with a set of nines, which I ended up breaking many of the first night I had it. I tried tens and found them ok. I moved up to elevens, I liked having a thicker low e string but didn't care for the thicker high e. So I used a custom (bought singles and put 'em together myself) set for a little while before getting back to my present set.
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I like experimenting with different strings on different guitars to enhance their individual qualities.
That said I like light strings and heavy picking :O)
Some examples:
10-52 on the Edwards (GHS EricJohnson)
95-44 on the SG (DR Strings)
09-46 on the PRS (EB Slinky)
09-46 on the Axis (SIT)
See my strins box here:
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Just set up my Carvin with 11, 14, 18, 30, 42 , 54 tuned to E Standard. Sounds great :D When should I start being worried about the neck twisting with such heavy gauges?
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I've just swapped out DR Pure Blues 10s for a set of 11s on my Strat tuned to Eb and I'm pretty surprised how much difference it's made to the tone and the feel. Hitting big open strings really booms out now which it didn't with the 10s I've used up until now and the other thing I've really started to appreciate is that because it takes a little more effort to bend the strings my bends are much more precise than they were before.
I also found that bends with the DR Pure Blues strings were easier than with other brands I've tried, perhaps because of the round rather than hexagonal core? So if anyone fancies trying heavier strings but are worried that they won't be able to move them it might be worth experimenting with different brands as it seems that when it comes to bends not all strings are created equal.
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Just set up my Carvin with 11, 14, 18, 30, 42 , 54 tuned to E Standard. Sounds great :D When should I start being worried about the neck twisting with such heavy gauges?
Finger 1st fret and the highest fret, if there's more then about a mil of gap between the string and the 12th fret, that's when it's truss rod time! But be damn careful with truss rods.
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I voted for 10's. When I started it was 9s, even 8s, but I think that I was influenced by all these heroes of mine saying that lighter gauges are for wimps and that you have to bleed for your art.
Don't believe that now, and I do think that you can get great tones from 9s or even 8s - it's more about pick attack and amp settings, in my humble opinion.
Mark.