What are the electrical changes when string gague is increased?

[ToneFiddler]

I'm used to medium strings because I play a lot of acoustic guitar. So .012 - .053 is what I'm used to.

If I go lighter, I guarantee you there's a difference in sound on the acoustic guitar.

There's the same difference in sound on the electric guitar going from a set that starts with a .010 or .011 E string to .009 or .008.

You just don't notice it as much, because you're not hearing the guitar acoustically.

You're hearing it through an amp, usually with an overdriven or distorted tone.

Unplugged the difference is pretty obvious.

i agree. you don't notice it as much as on an acoustic, but you still hear it, even through a heavy distorted amp.

what sounds better is subjective.

i use different tensions on different guitars.
but under 9 on gibson scale is too banjo for me. I can adjust my touch to the tension but the tone is obnoxious to my ears.

and a lot of those guitar greats like page have legendary tone, but not what i would call big.
the madison square garden performance sounds like very light strings for example.

[Mincer]

Ted Nugent asked SRV if he could try out SRV's Strat. Nugent plugged it in and said he couldn't play it at all! Action too high and strings too heavy for him.

But those heavy strings are part of the SRV tone, and one big reason his sound is hard to duplicate.

The other reason is there's only one SRV.

Yeah, that's the deal. There is only one SRV, and a lot of people point to some aspect of his rig holds his mojo. I'm good with there being only 1 SRV- we don't need any more. But his rig does not equal him.

[Lewguitar]

Ted Nugent asked SRV if he could try out SRV's Strat. Nugent plugged it in and said he couldn't play it at all! Action too high and strings too heavy for him.

But those heavy strings are part of the SRV tone, and one big reason his sound is hard to duplicate.

The other reason is there's only one SRV.

[JMP/HBE]

Some of these answers are hilarious.
Seems SD forum has quite a few re-ac curing threads 2 of which are "cheap guitars vs expensive" and "heavy vs lights strings."
All one needs is common sense & a good set of ears.

[Mincer]

I know bigger strings certainly sound better acoustically. But I don't play for people acoustically. So it was never a concern for me. Sometimes a deeply resonant guitar sounds the best plugged in, and I've heard resonant guitars that just sound strange plugged in. Even scientific studies on this don't take personal preference into account. And to me, that is the most important, over anything else. What do you like? Do your strings make you feel like you can play your best? Do they not cause pain? Great! Then you chose wisely.

[Lewguitar]

You don’t need thick strings for a big tone.

No. Not if you're playing electric, which is what this thread is about.

But on acoustic? You definitely need bigger strings.

And most jazz guitarists who play in the style of players like Wes Montgomery or Joe Pass, and play chord melody, use heavier strings with a wound G.

But they are more interested in TONE...not bending strings.

My electric guitars are strung with sets that start with .010 cuz like most of us here, I like to bend strings.

I believe Hendrix used Fender Rock N Roll strings, now labeled 150R (R for regular) which are 10-13-17-26-36-46. These came out around 1966 or 67.

When folks wanted them even lighter Fender started offering 150L (L for light). Those are 09-11-16-24-32-42.

I use the lights sometimes, but usually my electrics are strung with 10-13-17-26-36-46 because they sound better to me.

[DavidRavenMoon]

String choice is a "career decision". Heavier strings can build up your strength, but they also put more wear on your joints.

If I was a professional player, I would seriously consider using 8s to extend my career, even if I didn't think they sounded as good. I would make them work.

Ive had injuries that have changed how I have to play the guitar, I think its important to focus on ergonomics from early on.

When I've gone to 10s, I can get them to work within a few weeks, but using 11s changes my vibrato and bends too much. If I was using 11s, I think my style would evolve differently.

This right here. I’ve been playing guitar for 51 years. I don’t need strong fingers. I already have that.

But I’m also dealing with RSI and focal dystonia in both hands. This is from 51 years of practicing almost every day.

Like BB King said to Billy Gibbons; “why you want to work so hard?”

You see people playing 11s where they have to move their whole arm to bend a string and get vibrato. But they never quite reach the note and the vibrato is stunted. There’s a lack of nuance.

Historically all the virtuoso players used banjo strings (an .008 for the high E) until Ernie Ball came out with Slinkies.


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[Top-L]

Yep, that's exactly what I would like to see. What are the electrical differences? Of course that would be one heck of a difficult experiment to set up if someone hasn't already done this.

Kind of a sidebar, I bumped into heavier strings kind of as an accident. I added my Parker nightfly primarily to replace live acoustics and strung it with 12s to get the sound and feel of the acoustics I was replacing.

One night, I broke a string on my primary electric so I switched out of piezo mode in the Parker and immediately realized that it sounded 'beefier' than my other electric.

Because I liked that sound so much, I started playing the Parker a lot more for electric and acoustic sounds and my fingers got much tougher. Within 6 months or so I was bending the 12s about 90% of where I would bend a 10 and that was more than good enough for me.

One thing that is certain is you don't get the benefits out of 12's until your fingers are strong enough and you've adjusted your right hand to playing much harder.

So it was a bit of a surprise and a challenge when I found one of my strats far prefers nines. It was kind of hard to go back that direction... I was hitting the strings way way too hard.

So now I keep moving between my nine, 10 and 12 guitars so that I can stay up to date on all of them.

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String choice is a "career decision". Heavier strings can build up your strength, but they also put more wear on your joints.

If I was a professional player, I would seriously consider using 8s to extend my career, even if I didn't think they sounded as good. I would make them work.

Ive had injuries that have changed how I have to play the guitar, I think its important to focus on ergonomics from early on.

When I've gone to 10s, I can get them to work within a few weeks, but using 11s changes my vibrato and bends too much. If I was using 11s, I think my style would evolve differently.

[DavidRavenMoon]

EVH used 9s, and he has some of the most vaunted rock tones in history. That should be the end of the argument right there for rock players.

Plus he’s tuned down. Hendrix used 9s turned down a half step. Then we have Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Alan Holdsworth, and Terry Kath, who use/d 8s in standard pitch, and Tony Iommi who uses 8s a half step down or 9s a whole step down.

You don’t need thick strings for a big tone.


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[DavidRavenMoon]

You get more fundamentals, but less harmonics. They start to sound like bass strings. Thicker strings are stiffer, which means the harmonic content tends to be out of tune. The string behaves like a metal rod and not a string.

I use what’s comfortable on my various guitars. I have 8s on my Parker, and 10s on my backup guitar which I also play slide on. They all sound good regardless of string gauges.


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[Lewguitar]

I'm used to medium strings because I play a lot of acoustic guitar. So .012 - .053 is what I'm used to.

If I go lighter, I guarantee you there's a difference in sound on the acoustic guitar.

There's the same difference in sound on the electric guitar going from a set that starts with a .010 or .011 E string to .009 or .008.

You just don't notice it as much, because you're not hearing the guitar acoustically.

You're hearing it through an amp, usually with an overdriven or distorted tone.

Unplugged the difference is pretty obvious.

[zionstrat]

I totally get using bigger strings because you like the way they feel. Nothing wrong with that...that's why I use 9s. But it is a hard argument, especially for my music, that any size sounds uniquely better than what I use.

Yep, always go with what works. In my mind it's just like tubes and modeling or 24 and 3/4 and 25 and a half or split or parallel pups. There are so many variables that everyone has to find what works for them.

BTW, I forgot to mention something that heavy strings aren't good for. They are so stiff that tapping is nearly impossible, at least with my setup, So that's a good excuse to have other guitars :-)

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[Mincer]

I totally get using bigger strings because you like the way they feel. Nothing wrong with that...that's why I use 9s. But it is a hard argument, especially for my music, that any size sounds uniquely better than what I use.

[zionstrat]

I would like to know actual a scientific experiment that compares the tone with larger strings vs smaller strings with a boost pedal. Providing the music being played is your bag (it might not be preferable for certain kinds of music for a 'bigger' tone), I can't imagine there is much difference.

Yep, that's exactly what I would like to see. What are the electrical differences? Of course that would be one heck of a difficult experiment to set up if someone hasn't already done this.

Kind of a sidebar, I bumped into heavier strings kind of as an accident. I added my Parker nightfly primarily to replace live acoustics and strung it with 12s to get the sound and feel of the acoustics I was replacing.

One night, I broke a string on my primary electric so I switched out of piezo mode in the Parker and immediately realized that it sounded 'beefier' than my other electric.

Because I liked that sound so much, I started playing the Parker a lot more for electric and acoustic sounds and my fingers got much tougher. Within 6 months or so I was bending the 12s about 90% of where I would bend a 10 and that was more than good enough for me.

One thing that is certain is you don't get the benefits out of 12's until your fingers are strong enough and you've adjusted your right hand to playing much harder.

So it was a bit of a surprise and a challenge when I found one of my strats far prefers nines. It was kind of hard to go back that direction... I was hitting the strings way way too hard.

So now I keep moving between my nine, 10 and 12 guitars so that I can stay up to date on all of them.

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[Top-L]

When riffing metal, thicker bass strings are tighter and "recover" faster. its just easier to chug faster and tighter with heavy strings. They also have a more positive snap. and because they put more voltage out, you can run with less gain, so the whole thing sounds more open.