String Gauges and types

[PhilKing]

What guage strings is everyone using.  This makes an amazing difference to the tone.  Also the type of string.  I am using pure nickel wound and 10-46 on Fenders and PRS's, 11-49 on Gibsons.  Mostly I use D'Addario, but I also use John Pearse strings (from the USA, though he is the 'Hold Down a Chord' guy!).  Pure nickels come out of the packet sounding a bit bright but after playing a couple of hours the tone is there and lasts.

I can't really get on too well with 9-42, not enough beef in there, as an old blues guy, I like the guitar to be able to fight back too  8)

Phil

[Bird]

One of the recent guitar mags had a Billy Gibbons piece in it. Apparently he used heavier gauge strings for a time, believing they resulted in 'superior' tone. Then B.B. King turned him onto 8's. Between the two of them they make a pretty good case for lighter gauge strings.

[TwilightOdyssey]

DR Pure Blues 10's.
They are pure nickel, sound fantastic, and last forever.

[HJM]

I used to be really picky about strings - DR Pure Blues were one of my favorite - and still are. Thomastik make great strings too, as do Firewire, never Elixir though!!

Currently using Everly B52 strings they cost about a third the price of a set of Thomastiks, for about a 5% dip in performance, plus at this price I can change more often! I had about 70 sets, so when they're gone I'll see what else I can get at the right price.

[Tim]

GHS TNTs, used them for almost 20 years, no problems :twisted:

[willo]

i use 9's. I had 10's but couldnt be bothered with them-if there was a tonal increase it was not hugely evident to me. i understand that technically speaking, heavier gauges will improve tone, but i still enjoy shredding away on my 9's. After all, Jimmy Page used 8's, didnt he?

[TwilightOdyssey]

GHS TNTs, used them for almost 20 years, no problems :twisted:

If you get the chance, Tim, definitely check out DRs

[chris o'donnell]

I have recently changed form 10s to 11s. Slinkys. Tone seems to be quite beefy compaired to 10s but bending at the twelth fret is a bit of an effort.

Was thinking of trying Skinny Top Heany Bottom (10-52). But I might be getting too clever for my own good. I'll let you know what they are like.

Chris.

[Bird]

I'm pretty sure Jimmy Page used 9's, super slinky Ernie Ball.

[Jag Panzer]

DR Strings High Beam Electric 10's.

I'm a big DR fan.

[TwilightOdyssey]

DR Strings High Beam Electric 10's.

I'm a big DR fan.

Mark, you prefer the Hi Beams to the Pure Blues?

[HTH AMPS]

There seems to be this 'bigger gauges are for REAL players' kind of vibe, not specifically here, but just genarally amongst players.  Toni Iommi used light gauge strings (8s I do believe) and his tone was without a doubt one of the defining metal tones ever recorded.

I believe in using what feels best to the specific player.  I use 11s tuned down 1/2 a step but the other guitar player in my band uses 10s tuned down 1/2 a step and he still gets a brutal tone.

 :twisted:

[PhilKing]

I was more interested in what people are using, especially from a tone point of view.  I love the old Sabbath stuff and I know that he was playing on 8's (first time I saw him the band was called Earth - just to give you a clue to my age!).  

I have been playing a lot of accoustic and I also play bass, so really light guages aren't great for me cause I press too hard :oops:

When I was playing mostly electric I used to use a set of 9, 11, 16, 26, 36,46 on Fenders and 10, 12,16, 28,38,48 on Gibsons.  I also have one tele with a wound G set for rhythm work (the G is an 18 ).  Oh, just remembered, when I first started I used to use the Picato set with a 7 for the top E (the ones in the plastic box, I seem to remember they always gave you a spare E & B).

I started to get beck to pure nickel in the late 80's with Scalar strings on my basses.  Then I spoke to Dean Farley (the owner of Scalar), who may be to strings what Tim is to pickups!  He got me back into pure nickel instead of nickel plated.

Cheers
Phil

[Hayden]

I used to use 10's or 11's depending on what I was up to. Once I started doing the instores and demoing for hours at a time I soon switched to 9's. I definitly don't go with the 'Heavier is best' credo, doesn't EVH only use 9's? He doesn't sound too shabby.

[The amazing Phil]

I use .12-52s, D'addrio halfrounds are what I tried, but they're not too cheap. I don't think they're what "real players use!" etc but when I upped guages each time I *did* notice my sound improving, there was more volume and sustain, and the strings were still bendable but had a decent ammount of "snap". The only string that I didn't like as much was the wound 3rd, that was much harder to bend than what I previously had. I might hunt around for .11 to .52 next time, or maybe just try an unwound 3rd.

Thinner strings feel kinda flimsy to me now, when I play a guitar in a shop it's usually packing .9s and it's almost like they're not there.