Strings, what next ito gauge

strataxe

Ok, I realised lately that I've been tooo long, or since the start of playing guitar , on low gauge strings. These are quite 'soft', and my fingers doesn't feel them anymore.
So, what gauge, stiffness next? Don't wanna cut my fingers up with the next set of strings.

Bob-Dubery

So go one gauge heavier. If you're playing with 10s then go to 11s.

But having done that think about the pros and cons. There's nothing "wrong" with light gauge strings. It depends on what you want to do, how you want to sound, and, as with many things, there's a trade off.

Heavier strings will often give you a meatier tone, but they'll make bending harder.

Look on youtube (or search the forum) for a famous clip of Jerry Donohue showing off some of his amazing string bending. Now I don't know for sure, but I'd be surprised if he's doing all that with 11s on this tele.

A change of gauge may necessitate some tweaking of the setup as well. If you go for a heavier string then you're increasing the loading on the guitar.

If you're an acoustic player you can experiment with different compounds. The most common are 80:20 bronze (a brassy yellow colour for the wound strings) and phosphor bronze (a little redder in colour). They do sound different and they feel different because the phosphor bronze is a heavier material.

In general another thing to experiment with is different brands. Even at the same gauge you may find that different brands feel and/or sound different. Some may last longer for you than others. More trade offs to weigh ?

Jack-Flash-Jr

What are you using at the moment?

singemonkey

Scale-length is also a factor. The .10s on my Pacifica feel half way between the .10s on my Tokai and the .11s on my Gibson. So .10s on a Strat scale length are quite taut, but they feel very light on a Gibson scale-length.

strataxe

Jack Flash Jr wrote What are you using at the moment?

sorry for omitting that important detail, Squire Strat Std.

Bob-Dubery

strataxe wrote
Jack Flash Jr wrote What are you using at the moment?
sorry for omitting that important detail, Squire Strat Std.

What STRINGS? What gauge?

AlanRatcliffe

?

I likes my heavy gauges - 11s on a Strat at standard pitch. Bending no problem (tone and a half with a single finger bend). Basically, I think you get used to and can use anything with a bit of practice

Bob-Dubery

Alan Ratcliffe wrote ?

I likes my heavy gauges - 11s on a Strat at standard pitch. Bending no problem (tone and a half with a single finger bend). Basically, I think you get used to and can use anything with a bit of practice

Yeah. I got 11s on the mongrelcaster. Sound good, and I'm so used to playing acoustics with 13s that the 11s feel pretty light to me.

chris77

Yup. There is no right or wrong answer here. Your own style and preference will dictate what suits you best. So try a few gauges and see what works for you.
I gradually worked my way up to heavier guages and was using Dunlop 10-52's on all my electrics. No problem playing them and they sounded great imo.
Then I got a Tele with the factory fitted 9-42's on, and man, she played like a dream! So now I am back to 9-42's on all my strat and tele type guitars. Still prefer the Dunlops on my HB guitars though.
So try experiment a bit. You have to buy strings anyway, so why not?

strataxe

X-rated Bob wrote
strataxe wrote
Jack Flash Jr wrote What are you using at the moment?
sorry for omitting that important detail, Squire Strat Std.
What STRINGS? What gauge?

D'addario Light gauge Nickel Wound. Not sure which ones exactly... I'll have to check it(if I kept the box)...

Gearhead

I would advise to never go up in gauge too quickly. After being happy with .011s on my Strat I went for .012 on my LP :-[ Can't handle them, will take off asap.
Something about those wound G's that's hurting the skin on the tip of my left ring finger...

Bob-Dubery

Gearhead wrote I would advise to never go up in gauge too quickly. After being happy with .011s on my Strat I went for .012 on my LP :-[ Can't handle them, will take off asap.
Something about those wound G's that's hurting the skin on the tip of my left ring finger...

There's a flip side to this coin, which is that you can't know how the heavier strings will feel and sound and whether it's a good trade off for you unless you go ahead and fit a set.

I used to have 12s on the Morgan. I have 13s now, but that's only because I put a set of 13s on and soon after found myself thinking "wow! NOW this sounds good."

Gearhead

I betcha you don't do a two stop bend on the 13 B-string (is that a 17 or 18?), let alone further down. Since Keira taught me not to bend what I can't, I don't even try to bend those thick acoustic strings.

Bob-Dubery

Gearhead wrote I betcha you don't do a two stop bend on the 13 B-string (is that a 17 or 18?), let alone further down. Since Keira taught me not to bend what I can't, I don't even try to bend those thick acoustic strings.

I don't. The guy I used to go to for lessons, John van Nierop, does whole tone bends on my guitars no problem.

BUT strings are a tradeoff. A heavier set must feel heavier, but may bring other benefits. A lighter set may be easier on your fingers but sound weedy. You've got to figure out where the trade-off is for you, and you can't do that without experimenting.

There's more to life than bending strings.

evolucian

But there is also another trade off... a heavier guage does give you a meatier tone as Bob mentioned... however...

Do you want to fight the guitar... or play it naturally? Those country 3 string bends from chord to chord aren't done on heavy strings, the are mostly done on 9's ... and the tone of them suggests why as well...

But if you not doing country... go on to 11's .. they were what i first started on and the tone was awesome... either a .49 or a 50 or .52 in the bass will give you such an awesome bottom end.

Only reason I moved off 11's is cos they ate into my vintage saddles and screwed it all up... so i've used tens ever since and not complaining much... bends are easier, as are 2 and 2 1/2 step on G .. but thats just me.. my balls arent as big as Stevie's were... i also dont have to pull that ugly face he did when bending

Bob-Dubery

Stevie detuned his guitar as well. One effect of that would be to take some of the tension out of those heavy strings.

evolucian

yeah but still... there was a reason to that ugly face... and it wasnt his moms fault... hehehe

And the drop was only to Eb... not much tension lifted although significant compared to standard E... it still wasnt his mom's fault... lol