How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

[korovamilkdud]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

I don't know, I just break them.

[blueman335]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

What makes you think that this poster or indeed a lot of other people can't do lots of big bends using medium gauge 11 strings ?
Like yourself I play a lot of blues (mostly blues) and have no trouble at all with large bends using 11 gauge.
I'm not a particularly big or strong guy with average size hands, just under 6 foot and 14 stone.
I use one finger for bends but if anyone finds that to be heavy going you can always use a couple of fingers to "help" bend the note.
Have you ever tried a set of 11's ?
Why not give them a go for a couple of months, you will then be accustomed to bending on 11's and chances are you'll think nothing of it.

I'm not just pushing the string up, I'm strangling it & throwing it around wildly back & forth. I have trouble bending like this with 10's (I have them on one hollowbody guitar because they do sound better); after I play a while my fingers loosen up, but I still don't have the pitch control like I do with 9's. I don't know about your style, but I'm constantly bending, every few seconds (if not more often), and many bends are the big sustained ones with deep, fast vibrato, like Peter Green & Danny Kirwan (experts at an extreme style that evolved in England during the mid/late 1960's). Very few players over the decades bend like those boys did. Listen to the ending solo on Fleetwood Mac's "Coming your Way." That's bending. Some nice bending on their live album "Shrine '69" too.

When you use "one finger" for bends, is that using the same finger each time? I use all 4 fingers for bending, with the 2nd and 3rd doing the extreme stuff. With deep, fast, sustained vibrato, using more than one finger to bend would get in the way, at least for me.

[B2D]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

Does anyone here prefer half-gauges? .0095-.044 and stuff like that?

I actually used .0095-.044 for a while but went to .010's after about a year because .0095's aren't as readily available as .010's are and thus it's easier to replace single strings in a .010 set.

[Sludgenutz]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

Does anyone here prefer half-gauges? .0095-.044 and stuff like that?

I actually used .0095-.044 for a while but went to .010's after about a year because .0095's aren't as readily available as .010's are and thus it's easier to replace single strings in a .010 set.

I tried a couple sets twenty years ago with 1/2 sizes (Vinci?). I loved them, but the availability factor was the reason why I never persued 1/2 sizes as well.

[Philcguitars]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

When I started playing I used 8's. After years of doing my job I now use 10.5's!

[blueman335]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

When I started playing I used 8's. After years of doing my job I now use 10.5's!

I started with 8's too way back when. Seems like a ridiculously thin gauge now. Like the wire they wind PU's with.

Michael Burks (blues player) uses 10.5's too, and he does some nice bending, but he's got short thick powerful fingers. Mine are long & thin. That's got to be a factor in this.

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

What makes you think that this poster or indeed a lot of other people can't do lots of big bends using medium gauge 11 strings ?
Like yourself I play a lot of blues (mostly blues) and have no trouble at all with large bends using 11 gauge.
I'm not a particularly big or strong guy with average size hands, just under 6 foot and 14 stone.
I use one finger for bends but if anyone finds that to be heavy going you can always use a couple of fingers to "help" bend the note.
I just don't know why you think you can't do deep bends with 11 gauge.
If I use anything as light as 9's, I just push em right off the fretboard,.......Extreme bends anyone ??????
I don't notice using any effort until 12 gauge but I can play all night with em.
Have you ever tried a set of 11's ?
Why not give them a go for a couple of months, you will then be accustomed to bending on 11's and chances are you'll think nothing of it.
11 gauge is not considered heavy by most string manufacturers they are usually listed as medium.
12's and above are most commonly listed as heavy gauge.
Try a set for a few months on a shorter scale guitar such as a 335 and hear how that brings the guitar to life in every way.
Note however, that as a result of using medium gauge strings your evaluation and opinion of various pickups and magnets may well change dramatically as a result.

Dude, which way are you bending the strings?
They shouldn't be coming off the fretboard no matter what you do, unless we are talking about a guitar with a 20 inch fretboard radius and you bend the G string right off the fretboard.
The general rule is, bend G, B and E up, and the lower string bend down.
For vibrato, E and B up, the rest down (the 2 up, 4 down rule), which as I've observed, is what the masters of vibrato generally do.

[wanmei1]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

That's probably because you don't have too much control. J/k.

Shawn Lane used .008's yet could bend 2 steps to pitch without going off the edge.

I use .008's & can bend 1.5 steps to pitch w/vibrato and not go off the edge.

A certain Yngwie Malmsteen who has awesome touch, bending & vibrato can bend to 1.5 steps pitch perfect with wide vibrato as wel so I don't think it's fact that thin strings will go off of the edge.

LOL

You know the only reason pyrotechnic speed players Steve Vai and Yngwiezt Mammothsteinl don't use custom made 5's is because they don't have too much control.
LOL.
Though they might tell you they're just too much like rubberbands, offer little resistance for feel, the tone just ain't there and you gotta be careful not to push em clean off the fretboard.
You and I know better though.....

It's because they don't have too much control.

[wanmei1]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

Dude, which way are you bending the strings?
They shouldn't be coming off the fretboard no matter what you do, unless we are talking about a guitar with a 20 inch fretboard radius and you bend the G string right off the fretboard.
The general rule is, bend G, B and E up, and the lower string bend down.
For vibrato, E and B up, the rest down (the 2 up, 4 down rule), which as I've observed, is what the masters of vibrato generally do.

Dude,

Using 8's... if I want to .... I can push the top E string over the bottom E and off the fetboard cause they're just so light and have so little resistance.

I use medium gauge 11's.

Thanks for the tip about string bending.

[wanmei1]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

I'm not just pushing the string up, I'm strangling it & throwing it around wildly back & forth. I have trouble bending like this with 10's (I have them on one hollowbody guitar because they do sound better); after I play a while my fingers loosen up, but I still don't have the pitch control like I do with 9's. I don't know about your style, but I'm constantly bending, every few seconds (if not more often), and many bends are the big sustained ones with deep, fast vibrato, like Peter Green & Danny Kirwan (experts at an extreme style that evolved in England during the mid/late 1960's). Very few players over the decades bend like those boys did. Listen to the ending solo on Fleetwood Mac's "Coming your Way." That's bending. Some nice bending on their live album "Shrine '69" too.

When you use "one finger" for bends, is that using the same finger each time? I use all 4 fingers for bending, with the 2nd and 3rd doing the extreme stuff. With deep, fast, sustained vibrato, using more than one finger to bend would get in the way, at least for me.

I must admit I'm in danger of playing too predicatably by bending notes whenever they can be bent in a blues piece just for the hell of it and just cause I like it so much.

I am a self confessed bend addict.

Fortunately I'm not as passionate about using vibrato as I am bending cause If I used vibrato with nearly every bend then I really would be the epitome of predictable.
So I only use vibrato occasionally and I'm not addicted.

However, I have a terrible addiction to doing slides, even when they're not called for, so that's just one more demon I've got to wrestle with.

I use different fingers for bends, one finger at a time, and use the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers. I couldn't play fast bending blues licks at all without using three fingers and I seldom use the fourth finger for any playing. But that's just me.

Not being an avid fan of Bill Clintons' favourite band, I haven't heard the Mac track and album your talking about. Nothing against Mac, it's just that I find them a little too polite and "pop" though I would like to check out the bending you mentioned. I'll do a net search.

I guess my strongest roots influence would have to be Hendrix. He opened up my eyes, heart and mind to the whole world of blues, going back to the the traditional blues greats from the late 1920's, through to the technically perfect playing of modern day Clapton.

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

Dude,

Using 8's... if I want to .... I can push the top E string over the bottom E and off the fetboard cause they're just so light and have so little resistance.

I use medium gauge 11's.

Thanks for the tip about string bending.

What guitar are you using?

[wanmei1]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

What guitar are you using?

various 24 3/4 " guitars and a 25 1/2" Strat.

[blueman335]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

The general rule is, bend G, B and E up, and the lower string bend down.
For vibrato, E and B up, the rest down (the 2 up, 4 down rule), which as I've observed, is what the masters of vibrato generally do.

My deepest vibrato bends are on the G string, pulling it down with my second finger. Probably not the way most guys do it, but you get maximum strength & control that way.

[blueman335]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

Not being an avid fan of Bill Clintons' favourite band, I haven't heard the Mac track and album your talking about. Nothing against Mac, it's just that I find them a little too polite and "pop" though I would like to check out the bending you mentioned. I'll do a net search.

I guess my strongest roots influence would have to be Hendrix. He opened up my eyes, heart and mind to the whole world of blues, going back to the the traditional blues greats from the late 1920's, through to the technically perfect playing of modern day Clapton.

The real Fleetwood Mac, was 1967 to 1970, with founder Peter Green & his young protege Danny Kirwan. They were straight blues & with some progressive rock. That band has nothing in common with the wimpy later versions that Clinton's enamoured with (and that halfwit Lindsey Buckingham). They really should have renamed the band.

Clapton rose to fame after he left the Yardbirds, and went to play pure blues with John Mayall's Bluebreakers in the mid 1960's. Probably Clapton's best, most aggressive solos. After one recording (the "Beano" album), Clapton left to form Cream, and Peter Green took his place. He also did an album with Mayall ("Hard Road"). Although the public was skeptical at first, it didn't take long for Peter to prove he was Clapton's equal. Peter left to form Fleetwood Mac in 1967. Mayall replaced him with Mick Taylor, who did a few albums with him, and then he left to join the Stones in 1970. In a matter of 5 years, Mayall had 3 of world's best electric blues guitarists.

[ES350]

Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?

In a matter of 5 years, Mayall had 3 of world's best electric blues guitarists.


This just in: the 'world's greatest electric blues guitarists' were not born in England. And they would be the first to tell you that...