String gauge for E flat metal in a Gibson-scale guitar

[Rex_Rocker]

Diatribe:

The "macho" thing is a weird assertion to me. Most of my friends are musicians and I've never met anyone who thinks that way. I don't see anyone here calling you and 80s and the OP a bunch of wimps for preferring thinner low strings. We like what we like.

The most important thing to me is string tension. There's a range I like, which is between about 20-22 lbs on each wound string, between 15-17 lbs on plain strings. I zeroed in on that through years of ordering custom string sets for different tunings. Strings in that range snap back how I expect when I do a lot of tremolo picking, deflect how I expect when I do hard palm mutes, bend how I expect, etc etc. Lighter tension below that range is fine for my fretting hand but actually harder on my picking hand because the strings aren't as physically stable. I like strings on the tighter side of that range on a Gibson scale. That puts me around .068-.070 for a low B. As the scale gets longer, I find I prefer less and less overall tension. It's slight but it keeps the response similar.

I don't have a problem with clarity. I find that Duncans are more prone to muddiness and a lack of string separation on my Gibsons, which is why I like the openness and articulation of BKPs so much. Duncans work better for me on longer scales. I'm also playing through a dry amp that has a lot of dynamics even at high gain, and I play a lot of alternate-picked parts with ringing open strings, so string separation and note definition are really important to me and it's pretty noticeable when they're not good enough.

The point of all of that is to say that there's a pretty wide range of optimal string gauges depending on your gear and how you play. Even if we're just talking about "death metal", which is what I play too.

I don't think (for me) that pickups can offset the tone that I get from heavy strings. I get it that you like what you like. Whatever. It's just that for me, heavier strings sound thuddy and scratchy in the attack rather than crunchy and nice. Each to his own.

I use 12, 16, 24w, 32, 44, 56 (in Drop C), so I'm kind of in the ballpark of the tension that you like. I just feel that for Metal, especially on that low C, if I go too heavy, the tone suffers. It might be alright in the room, but recorded, it really shows, IME.

You said it, though. We like what we like.

[chadd]

46 or 48 on the bottom works just fine for me in Eb. I have some 10-50s that I use on my drop Db guitars because the others are a little too slinky for me for dropping.

[GuitarDoc]

I have a simple system 9-42 if it's a Fender scale, 10-46 if it's Gibson. Everything I play is tuned down a half step for tone & easier string bending..

If 8's are good enough for Iommi & Yngwie, 9's are just fine w/ me. Never been told my tone sucked for anything, so I see no need to struggle w/ heavier gauges. If that make s me a wimp so be it

The Rev (ZZ Top) must then also be a wimp. But HIS tone sure doesn't suck.

[Mincer]

The Rev (ZZ Top) must then also be a wimp. But HIS tone sure doesn't suck.

He does tend to work hard to make sure every guitar he plays sounds the same, though.

[weepingminotaur]

A lot of it is genre-specific, too. If I have a guitar I use mainly for jazz, I'll definitely want heavier-gauge strings. But for metal, rock, pop, and funk, give me lighter strings every time...

[Rex_Rocker]

Yeah, The Rev doesn't really play Death Metal either.