What string gauge ?

[Muttley]

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)

[dave_mc]

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.

[syr2012]

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.

[hunter]

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:

[Stevepage]

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?

[Andrew W]

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.

[Philosoful]

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.

[MrBump]

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.