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Poll

Which gauge strings do you use

1) 9's
21 (26.3%)
2) 10's
36 (45%)
3) 11's
20 (25%)
4) 12's
3 (3.8%)

Total Members Voted: 65

Voting closed: December 14, 2006, 10:56:25 AM

Author Topic: Which gauge strings do you use.....and why  (Read 28237 times)

Sifu Ben

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #30 on: December 15, 2006, 09:09:36 AM »
Quote from: Joe@fortyseconds
I play 10-52's, Skinny top heavy bottom ernie balls coz  i like em :)

However, as bending goes, i played my makes baritone B-B acoustic the other day and i could bend 16-70s fine :), good fingers i guess

Nice

 It's a baritone, so the string tension is less  :roll:
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gingataff

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #31 on: December 15, 2006, 11:58:59 AM »
I rarely use the same brand twice in a row, its a nightmare for my intonation and truss rod 8)

But I've recently tried Curt Mangan (good feel and sound, cheap, last a reasonable time), DR (good but not worth the hype IMO), SIT (ok but again nothing special), R Cocco (seemed to get corroded really quickly but definately had an air of quality) and I'm now using Elixir nanoweb which sound good, feel better than the polyweb versions and seem very resistant to corrosion (its quite humid here even though its starting to get cold).

In the past I have used most popular brands; Ernie Balls turn to rust, Dean Markley are too stiff but I do really like the Blue Steel range and D'Addario are fine, standard strings that just work.

As for gauge I use 9-42/44 on 25.5 " scales and 9.5/10-44/46 on 24.75" sclae, depending on which are available.
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carlaz

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #32 on: December 15, 2006, 12:53:39 PM »
I play the GHS 10-52s.  I used to use thinner strings in a vain effort to compensate for my appallingly slow finger speed, but eventually gave up and moved back to somewhat thicker strings for the better tone.  I often think I might as well give up on even these "skinny top, fat bottoms" and just go for "fat everywhere!" :)

I settled on GHS originally for no better reason than they were endorsed by Martin Barre :) but haven't ever felt any reason to change!
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Fourth Feline

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #33 on: December 15, 2006, 05:28:44 PM »
10 - 46s on Fender guitars and 10 - 52 for Gibson.

The 26, 36, 36 bottom end seems to sound clearer and less 'boomy' on a Fender, whereas the 30, 42, 52 bottom end sound more detailed on a Gibson. The difference in lower string choice between the two  also seems to equal out the string tension across the neck on these two different scale lengths.

Usually D'addario, as they seem to have more 'bite' on the plain strings and therefore sound more detailed for clean playing and fingerpicking.

 For easier bends and a warmer sound, Ernie Ball in the same gauges.

9's sound too thin for clean playing to me, and 11's (whilst lovely and bold) - sound too dark and therefore have a less singing/vocal quality on bends and vibrato etc.

Just my perception anyway ...   :D

MDV

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #34 on: December 15, 2006, 05:50:39 PM »
I currently have:

DR 10-56 in D
GHS 11-60 one 2 guitars for C#/drop B and B/ drop A (either guitar)
A mix of GHS and D'Addario for 13-70 and B/drop A
The 10s that came with some BKs for E (framus, I think) for E, but I normally use 10-52 for that.

stuckin93

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #35 on: December 16, 2006, 08:50:04 PM »
Always Rotosound Red's (11's) must have hundreds of those extra e strings cos mine never break!

Personally I think they stay in tune & keep their tone longer and there made in England!

 :guitar4:

I play 11's cos I kinda bash my guitar about when I play
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Canadian Steve

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #36 on: December 16, 2006, 10:54:21 PM »
Quote from: sgmypod
Canadian steve...nice guitar....(S 100) just missed out on one of them a while ago...now have a blusbird(with BKP's of course)


Thanks!  Only got my Rebel Yells and RS Guitarworks wiring installed a week ago and I can't put the guitar down!  I really want a Bluesbird as well - what kind of BKP's do you have in them?
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andymac

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #37 on: December 16, 2006, 10:58:25 PM »
Daddario 10 - 52.  Only takes a couple of weeks to get used to them over 10 - 46 and they sound better.

Andy
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JJretroTONEGOD

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #38 on: December 18, 2006, 12:09:22 AM »
I used to use 8s! for about 2 years, and then I moved onto 11s which were 'stupidly hard to bend' and now I use 9's. I've had periods of using 12s and 10s so basically, try everything!

I find 9s are perfect for me because you can bend them and also play chords on them, and its easy to do some wacky vibrato stuff too!

I use Blue Steel strings, by Dean Markley cos they last longer and they sound more assertive than the standard nickel, they are far more fatter in tone, nickels loose thier beef factor after 1 week or so, Blue steels last a month!

check em
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Mr Ed

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #39 on: December 18, 2006, 01:13:38 PM »
Personally, I use a combination - on my main guitar (Fernandes Ravelle Deluxe) I use .11's as they really help fatten up the already mighty tone and then I use .10's on my Tokai SG and Strat because I just prefer the slightly thinner tone to match the slightly thinner pickups.

PhilKing

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #40 on: December 22, 2006, 11:40:06 PM »
10-46 on fender scale length, 11-50 on Gibson scle length, 10-48 on PRS.  I have a ton of different makes of strings, but all are pure nickel.

I also like to use a 16 G on Fender scale, and 17 on the Gibson and PRS scales.

The main strings I used to use were Scalar, which is Dean Farley's (snake oil), original make.  I got them directly from him in the individual gauges.  I also use DR, D'Addario and John Pearse.  

I was never able to get on with Ernie Ball's or with Rotosound, but I do still have some Fender strings around.

I have tried nickel plated and steel but always found them too brittle sounding for me.
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sgmypod

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #41 on: December 23, 2006, 12:10:19 PM »
Quote
Thanks! Only got my Rebel Yells and RS Guitarworks wiring installed a week ago and I can't put the guitar down! I really want a Bluesbird as well - what kind of BKP's do you have in them?


Have a set of emeralds in the bluesbird...originally had a set of sd 59's

Just seen a dearmond(by guild) similar to the bluesbird for sale...at £375, bluesbirds if you can find them are still over a grand
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Texasouthpaw

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #42 on: December 29, 2006, 05:38:10 PM »
On my strat I use 11's..I didn't think it was that weird but eveyone seems to only use 10's and below on strats...I don't find it that hard to do bends. When I play a LP at guitar center which i'm sure has 10's, I can bend the shite out of it. I guess i use heavier guage because it makes my cleans seem fatter to me. I know John Mayer use 12.'s and Stevie used a lot thicker than that.

cjpmmd

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #43 on: January 03, 2007, 10:33:19 PM »
Melody Maker = .009 to .042
Les Paul = .009 to .046
HRF III = .010 to .046
Strat = .010 to .052

No huge preference re: brand, but years ago I used to use Picato strings quite often (not sure they are even still made).

cjpm

Philly Q

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Which gauge strings do you use.....and why
« Reply #44 on: January 03, 2007, 10:48:45 PM »
Quote from: cjpmmd
No huge preference re: brand, but years ago I used to use Picato strings quite often (not sure they are even still made).

Looks like they're still around:

http://www.picato.co.uk/

When I was a kid I always wanted Picatos because Blackmore played them, but you rarely saw them in shops.  Now I use D'Addarios because I like the coloured ball-ends! And they never seem to break.
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