String Thickness

[OldDog]

I've been using super slinkys for so long I don't think I would be able to play anything else on an electric. Having said that, the one guy who I know who can actually, really play like a solid gold blues rocker plays with 10s on his electric but that's it. For the acoustic I use 10 bronse wounds and usually like the sound I get from them.

I went through a period where I kept using heavier and heavier strings. They do sustain better, but then a Les Paul sustains better then a Tele, but there is a reason to use both depending on the song. One thing about using 11's or 12's, when you do go back to slinkys or super slinkys it is easy to bend the shit out of them :-).

[Guitarded88]

Really!? No benefit?!

I don't want to argue, but I'm just going to put this out there.

I've used both and certainly prefer heavier strings (maybe not mega heavy but definitely on the heavier side). I find that it just gives me the control I need while playing, and call me crazy, but I seem to prefer the sound.

While I'm sure that small strings don't go out of tune for everyone, with the way I play they definitely seem to do something weird (my buddy uses super thin strings, and can play crazy fast but it always sounds thin and warbly).

I'm just saying, don't completely ignore heavy gauges... find out what works best with your fingers!

[drgamble]

You hit it right on the head. Big strings are for lower tunings. I used to play in a band and we tuned to B. It's basically a 7 string without the high E. You need 13s for tunings like that. I don't know why anyone would want to put 13s on a regular guitar unless it's an acoustic. When it comes to acoustic guitars, the strings do matter a lot more.

That floating tremolo thing is a little bit tricky. If you change tunings and strings you have to set the whole guitar up for that tuning. On a fixed bridge you can get away with changing tunings on the fly, but not with a floating tremolo. You have to look at how the tremolo bridge sits now. It should be set at about 1/2 way. When you restring with new strings tune the guitar to the pitch you want. Check the pitch of the Low D string (how far out of tune has it gone?) Then you need to adjust the tremolo bridge. For example,
If you tune everything up and recheck the low D, is it sharp or flat? There's a big square cover on the backside of the guitar. If you remove that it will reveal some strings and some screws. This is how you adjust the tremolo. Now if the low D is sharp you need to tighten the screws. This will also pull(raise pitch) the tremolo bridge. You should starts with small adjustments. Try 1 turn on both screws and then recheck the D. You want to adjust until the Low D is slightly sharp. Retune the entire guitar. You may need to retune several times. Check how the tremolo sits now and make sure you did not over adjust.

That's the way I do it. I would also recheck intonation and neck bow. Also check for buzzes and what not. I do not recommend trying to adjust the truss rod yourself. Maybe someone could show you how to do it (be careful), but don't recommend you trying until you learn more about setting up guitars. Intonation is easy to check just check all strings play a 12th fret harmonic and tune to pitch and then check the fretted 12th fret note. If there is any difference you need to intonate. Some guitars will not intonate perfectly. The closer you are though, the better the guitar will sound.

Originally Posted by dmmi

You HAVE TO use heavier strings with lower tunings.....

As for that I don't see any other reason for them....(ok maybe 9's to 10's visa versa for comfort)

You can find average string tension charts online to help decide if you need them.

I tune down to C standard on one of my guitars with a Floyd.....and use Earnie Ball "Not even Slinky" 12-56. I might be able to get away with the "beefy slinky's" at 11-54......but the point is the string tension.

I don't think there would be a truss rod in the world that could hold up to 12's or even 13's in E standard tuning

[Xplora]

I've been using 10-52s and a 70 on the Low B. Yes they are a bit on the muscular side of things, but I'm a guy that will push as much gain through the signal chain (without hearing fuzz) as physically possible. I used to use 9s. I HATE 9s. they rust quicker, break sooner, and they don't resist the pick as much.

Some of us use thick picks and play fast. You need the guitar to fight back a bit. You need the guitar to carry the sustain as much as possible. Plus, I'm just not going to play enough to maintain the touch required for 9s. I like bending 2-2.5 steps.

[brandondrury]

Some of us use thick picks and play fast. You need the guitar to fight back a bit.

This is probably the only reason the thicker strings have an advantage. It comes down to a very personal way in which a person holds the pick and how that pick attacks the string, but certain fast techniques benefit from a string that isn't flopping around all over the place.

I'm a guy that will push as much gain through the signal chain (without hearing fuzz) as physically possible.

So are you saying that you can get more gain without fizz using bigger strings? My shootouts have never confirmed this, but maybe I should try them again.

[Xplora]

It stands to reason that the more mids and lows you can feed the signal, the less nasty harmonics are going to be heard. That's one reason I like my current guitar sound - very strong tight midrange and bass, balancing out the chitter chatter crunchy highs.

All things being equal, you should get more lows from thicker gauges. Arguably, your pick is going to interact with fat strings differently as well.

Don't get me wrong, I use 10-52s. Most of my comments are applicable to the low strings, and I compress a lot even after my .70 Low B hits the distortion channel LOL

(Edit: just reread your post, and No. I don't think you get more "gain" per se, but the character of the distortion is much more bold with bigger strings. You don't need a loud signal, you need a bold signal that says "hey I'm huge, check me out". This is a physical property of the basic sound, that gain can't account for - same way an alder guitar can't sound the same as a mahogany guitar)

[Odla]

Originally Posted by dmmi

I don't think there would be a truss rod in the world that could hold up to 12's or even 13's in E standard tuning

I use 013 flatwounds on two guitars in standard E tuning; no problem whatsoever! However; there are large differences, both in feel and stringtension, between different brands. I use Thomastik Infeld strings (013) but they feel like 011 D’addario Chromes! And the string tension is also a lot less. With the Chromes I started getting troubles (because of the extra pull) on my (delicate) Höfner Jazzica, no problem with the Thomastiks (great strings for jazz by the way).
For jazzy stuff you really need those thicker strings; I tried it with 010’s and it just doesn’t work...

Aldo

Seven Day Hunt
Seven Day Hunt - a continuation of EGDON HEATH. Sort of, but not really!

[TD5_23]

When I started playing guitar I learned on 10s. Early on I had a tendency to strike the strings waaay to hard, so my instructor switched me over to 13s, just so I could keep from breaking strings so often. Well, it was very difficult to bend and tougher to fret, but as a beginner you don't know any better, so I got used to them. By the time I wanted to be able to bend more, I figured I was a little lighter on my strings so I tried out some 9s just for the heck of it.

Now, I'm not trying to start an argument, and I'm not trying to make a claim for one camp being better than the other, but 9s certainly sound different than 13s. You can't get that thin, twangy, jangley sound out of 13s like you can 9s and you can't get that big fat bluesy, jazz sound out of 9s like you can 13s. It's not just due of the size of the string, it's also due to the way you have to play them. You have to pick lightly on 9s and it's easy to get a classical vibrato because the strings are so light. When playing on 13s you need to have more pick attack and your vibrato needs to be more aggressive. As a result of the bending difficulty it may even come out sounding a little messy, but that's a very desirable quality at times as well.

After a while I settled on 11s and that's what I've been playing exclusively on my electrics for probably the last 5 years. I agree with the argument that differences between heavy strings and light are probably overrated, and playing heavy strings are certainly not the only key to an SRV tone, but I feel to completely overlook it as a factor is a bit shortsighted.