Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

[papersoul]

Anyione think the whole heavy string thing is a little out of hand? I started going heavier and heavier over time but realized I could accomplish the same thing by adjusting other aspects of my guitar and amp without resorting to Zakk Wyle gauges. Curious if you all find this to be true. I personally do like the feel of heavier strings but not Zakk heavy....then again, some guys tune a lot lower than my drop C#. I hear lots of pros who run lighter strings than Zakk but have ass much body and low end in their tone if not more. Just curious and not trying to start an argument.

Later!

 

[Tom M]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

I think it's a matter of feel. I started life as a bassist, so I like thicker strings. Right now 10-52 is as low as I'll go.

 

[nuntius]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

yeah feel for me also depending on the tuning. i like the feel of 10s

 

[3 cent hero]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

i use huge strings cause i strangle the neck when i play. sounds like i'm out of tune when i use anything lower than 11's :laugh2:

 

[some_dude]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

I think experiementing with heavy guages is good, but I also think it's good to go back the other way once and awhile too, just to see if you like your heavys as much as you really thought you did.

I started playing on 10s. When I went to 9s I loved them. I switched back to 10s for a week, then put 9s back on. It was then I realized I didn't like 9s as much as I thought I did.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

i like to bend, but 9's are too soft for me

 

[Pandemonium]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

Whatever works for you is the way to go.

 

[beandip]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

I usually play 14-62, in standard. It's just whether you like the feel or not. I went back to 10's awhile ago and sorta liked 'em, but I wound up breaking 5-6 strings a day. I would just bend and bend and they would break. I, like Will, like to just grab ahold of the neck and go to town. Like I said, it's a matter of what you like, although I feel that I get closer to the tone that I want while using 14's instead of 10's

 

[nuntius]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

5 to 6 strings a day... i've never managed to break a string by overbending it, what strings were you using?

 

[Dills]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

I had 11s strung on my prs, they were thick and i like thick strings on certain gats like with fixed bridges, but on this tremelo model the 11s put the strings out of tune pretty fast and for some reason the strings actually decreased the sustain of the neck, even though the gat was properly set up. Another thing tho is that I was using dadaario's no offense which i think are CRAP, toneless and dont stay in tune on any of my guitars. So I switched to a pair of Ernie Ball Regular slinkys 10s and now the guitar has improved so much, all of the problems mentioned above are gone and there is added sustain!! Also i like the feel of 10s after using 11s.

 

[Blue Calx]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

I usually play 14-62, in standard.

I'd hate to be your truss rod.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

I use 11's. There's something tight and focused about heavier strings that I like. 10's are ok, but they sound a little sloppier to me. They are more comfortable to play and bend, but 11's have a more purposeful and blunt sound that is more of what I call rock and roll. It's like the difference between a .223 bullet and a .308. The 223 is cool and does it's job well enough, but it won't quite cut the mustard like a .308 will.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

FWIW, Billy Gibbons plays 8s.

 

[presa_tito]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

5 to 6 strings a day... i've never managed to break a string by overbending it, what strings were you using?

That's what I was thinking. Bean must have been going savage on the bending.

 

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

i dont like heavy strings very much but i dont like super light strings. the heaviest i've went so far have been 11's and i still ahve them on my les paul. i use the les paul for drop tunings like drop D or D standard. and i use ernie ball 9-46's on all my other guitars. the 9's are great and the thicker bottom end is great for chording. i use to use 8's for a while, 8-38 actually! they were nice when i went through my shred faze but they were just too thin for me. it'd still be cool to have a shred guitar and have light strings on it just for fun though. but other than that, 9-46 are perfect for me.

 

[beandip]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

Well, c'mon guys. When you play the string guages I play, then switch down to 10's, when you think it's enough, it's too much. LOL. I think my truss rod it fine, since you would think that it's alot of tension, but it's really not. I've never had a problem with bowing or warping, which can show up with guages as low as 10's. I reckon I just know how to set 'em up.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

9s for me. I play very lightly, and a guitar synth seems to track better with 9s anyway. I don't want to work to hard, and don't need to.

 

[AcidBurn]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

I use 11-48s(power slinky) on the fender and 11-54s(beefy slinky) on the V and strat copy for a little extra oomph When your hands get strong enough you can bend 11s as far as 9s or 10s and you can shred just as easily. 11s seem to give a nice warm tone to the guitar too. I'm thinking of putting the not even slinky's on my V as I tune that down to drop C#.

 

[Nate]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

I used to use GHS boomers 11-50's on all of my tremolo guitars and 11-53 low tuners on my les paul religiously. Before switching, I got to the point where I was doing Zakk-esque vibrato on my strings, which I didn't like at the time. I bumped up a gauge, and that proved to suit my style better. Through the years, I built up enough finger strength to start busting out the Zakk-esque vibrato, even on the 11's!!! I felt rather proud of myself.

Somehow, I started slipping up and going back to my rhythm roots. My lead technique was extremely lacking, and I couldn't do what I was able to do before. I wanted to go down a gauge and build myself back up again, but I didn't want to lose the low end that I have now. Naturally I would have gone with the TNT boomers, but I didn't like how the A string was actually bigger than the low tuners, so I went with the Ernie Ball LTHM's. Best strings EVAR!!! Maybe one of these days I'll bump back up to 11's. For now, I'm sticking with these.

Oh, and the 62 gauge as the low B on my 7 strings stays no matter what.

 

[beandip]

Re: Carried away with heavy gauge strings?

Looks like I got everyone beat not that inviting CTS is what I wanna do, but I could crush you with my bare hands ! (not really, I just felt like saying that) Later guys!