What string gauge do you play?

Dogman3
Dogman3 Posts: 330
edited November 2008 in Musicians and Gearheads
.10-.46 (GHS Boomers), but I'm considering moving up to .10-.52

As an aside, I had a harder time bending and adjusting at first moving from .9 to .10 a few months ago, but playing only an acoustic while away at college has made bending a complete breeze :)
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • exhausted
    exhausted Posts: 6,638
    11 - 50
    my acoustics are 13 - 56 i think.
  • Piper At The Gates
    Piper At The Gates Posts: 460
    9-48 on my Strats, and 10-52 on my Les Paul.
  • ianvomsaal
    ianvomsaal Suncoast, FL Posts: 1,224
    Since you're talking electric strings, I use .010-.046 (or comparable .045).
    I've been switching between many strings lately, depending on my needs:
    DR Pure Blues, D'Addario EPN110 and EXL110, Cleartone, GHS Nickel
    Rockers R+RL    , and Thomastik-Infeld Power Brights PB110 (reg bottom).
    If you're using a LP with a stop-tail you can string backwards over the stop
    tail, which will help relieve a little tension, and tends to make bending easier.

    If you go with heavier gauge strings you'll have to tweak your guitar (you'll
    probably need to completely set it up again) to compensate for the heavier
    gauge strings - different gauges make a difference when it comes to set-up.

    - Ian
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  • Mike_Muse_Rage
    Mike_Muse_Rage Posts: 677
    D'Addario 10's. Good balance between bendability, durability and toneability. Ahem.
  • lucylespian
    lucylespian Posts: 2,403
    10-46, Gibson Brite Wires on most, Vintage Re-Issues on one LP. D'adarrios (SP?) XL are good strings too, I just like the Gibbo's.
    Your manliness is not measured by your string gauge.
    There have been countless threads on this on TGP. It always comes back to, peeps who spend too much time on really heavy strings always wind up with tendonitis.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • Anon
    Anon Posts: 11,175
    lucylespian wrote:
    10-46, Gibson Brite Wires on most, I just like the Gibbo's.
    ditto...
    lucylespian wrote:
    Your manliness is not measured by your string gauge..
    very pleased to hear that ;)
    lucylespian wrote:
    There have been countless threads on this on TGP. It always comes back to, peeps who spend too much time on really heavy strings always wind up with tendonitis.
    Well i'm sure that's one of the contributing factors. With the great amps and effect units around these days, you don't need heavy guage strings to achieve a good tone anyway.
  • Julien
    Julien Posts: 2,457
    45 - 105
    :d
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  • lucylespian
    lucylespian Posts: 2,403
    Pj_Gurl wrote:



    Well i'm sure that's one of the contributing factors. With the great amps and effect units around these days, you don't need heavy guage strings to achieve a good tone anyway.

    Oh yeah. I fact, I'm sitting here with teh Blue Goddess getting a wild tone fpr Porch from the pushed clean mode in my Rectifier.

    I thinik it comes down to SRV using 13's for a while. We get sucked into the competitive thing with that. Apparently, even though everyone quotes it as his set-up, it was just a phase for him too.
    I've come to realise that it's a LOT harder to get a great clean tone at low volumes that it is an overdriven or distorted tone, so a lot of tone dogma is built around that.
    Single coils + low volume clean + light strings sound like snot, so I understand why people try to improve that formula with heavier strings.
    Me, I use humbuckers though P90's please me too, so getting some fatness to the tone is less of a problem. Add some dirt, and gettng pleasing tones is easy.
    Music is not a competetion.
  • Anon
    Anon Posts: 11,175
    lucylespian wrote:
    Oh yeah. I fact, I'm sitting here with teh Blue Goddess getting a wild tone fpr Porch from the pushed clean mode in my Rectifier.

    I thinik it comes down to SRV using 13's for a while. We get sucked into the competitive thing with that. Apparently, even though everyone quotes it as his set-up, it was just a phase for him too.
    I've come to realise that it's a LOT harder to get a great clean tone at low volumes that it is an overdriven or distorted tone, so a lot of tone dogma is built around that.
    Single coils + low volume clean + light strings sound like snot, so I understand why people try to improve that formula with heavier strings.
    Me, I use humbuckers though P90's please me too, so getting some fatness to the tone is less of a problem. Add some dirt, and gettng pleasing tones is easy.
    snot :D

    the blue goddess *sigh*, she's a beauty.

    Agree with you about SRV. So many people say he mostly used 13's, but that really isn't true. He really used a *custom* set. He varied the high E between 11 to 13 depending on how his fingers were doing. And he used a big low E string. The other strings were more comparable to what you find in an 11 gauge set.

    Bottom line = Don't put heavy strings on just because one of your heroes uses them. Stick to what feels best to you. I've heard so many guys sense of time suffer when they try to up their string gauge. Sure there's an adjustment period, but a lot of guys simply never make it.
  • exhausted
    exhausted Posts: 6,638
    hell, i just thought 11-50 sounded best to me.
  • IGotShit76
    IGotShit76 Posts: 768
    I switched recently from 9-42 to 10-46. I got a much better tone.
    I don't think I'll go for heavier gauge.
  • xtremehardy388
    xtremehardy388 Posts: 2,759
    I'm switching from boomers (.10's) to Nickel Rockers (.10's). Im in the market for a brighter acoustic string. I used to use the Martin SP and Martin Maquise 80/20 bronze but hose lose their bright tone quick and they're too heavy for me
    Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
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  • Django
    Django Posts: 152
    I've played D'addario 10-46 strings for years, probably since I saw Joe Satriani endorsing them in a guitar mag in the early 90's. Their coloured coded string ball is an excellent idea.

    But just recently I bought 10 sets of 10-46's from webstrings http://www.webstrings.com/ For 10 sets including shipping (to ireland) and the dollar to euro exchange rate it came to €30.90

    I've just started using them and they seem fine. If they pass the gig test ie. if I can play a 2 hour set and not break any I'll be switching to webstrings.
  • ianvomsaal
    ianvomsaal Suncoast, FL Posts: 1,224
    xtremehardy388 wrote:
    I'm switching from boomers (.10's) to Nickel Rockers (.10's).
    Yeah, as I said, I like those GHS Nickel Rockers R+RL just fine (when you can find them).
    Same goes for those regular bottom Thomastik-Infeld Power Brights PB110 - both great.
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  • Novawind
    Novawind Posts: 836
    GHS Boomers 10-46 here. Pretty much all I use these days on both my Strats. The acoustic has light Elixirs, not sure what gauge that is.
    If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.

    7/9/06 LA 1
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    10/21/06 Bridge 1
  • Kegzy05
    Kegzy05 Posts: 93
    Ernie Ball 9-42's for me. Although I have never tried any others to be honest. Perhaps i should
    "I dont question, our existence
    I just question, our modern needs"
  • who's_pearljam?
    who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    exhausted wrote:
    hell, i just thought 11-50 sounded best to me.

    :D

    I like 11's on a Strat and I guess I usually use 10's on Humbucker guitars. I guess that's a little backwards, as the shorter scale Gibsons are easier to bend strings on than that same sized string on a longer scale of a Strat, but the 11's make single coils sound good to me.
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  • xtremehardy388
    xtremehardy388 Posts: 2,759
    My dad got me Zakk Wylde Boomers and those were too damn thick for a freakin bass! I used them for about 4 months and then stopped.
    Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
    JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
    "Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
  • savman
    savman Posts: 230
    Dogman3 wrote:
    .10-.46 (GHS Boomers),

    +1

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