Dunlop Heavy Core

Mont97

New member
Just wondering what your opinions are on these? been think about trying some....

Currently my guitar is strung up with EB power slinkies but i've found that when I tune down to drop c# (e flat with a d flat) that my low D flat is just too mushy (you know what I mean)

Should I try the 10-48 gauge or the 11-50 set? (do you think it will need adjustments?)

Oh and I should mention that I do play in standard tuning quite a lot, so in terms of what tuning I play in it's all over the place, e, e flat, drop d, drop c#

What im trying to say is, what gauge would be the best for tightness in low tunings and not being ridiculously tight in standard?
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

Nothing will give you everything, apart from several guitars strung with the right gauge for that tuning. The best you'll do is have something in the middle, which means it will be less than ideal for pretty much everything.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

you might want to just get an individual low string in a thicker gauge, maybe something like a 52. i personally use an 11-52 set on my gibson SG and while it's somewhat tight in standard, the strings feel right @ home at anything between Eb standard down to C standard/A# standard.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

I like 'em. They work as advertised. They sound a lot like D'addarios but they're not as stiff. I like the 10-48 set.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

Do you think the 10-48 set would go on without any adjustments? (ie truss rod) and what about the 11-50 gauge?
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

Hard to say without knowing what kinda guitar it is

But its really bad for your neck to constantly change tunings like that....
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

haven't seen you guys in a while, welcome back!!



and yeah 2 you'll need guitars.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

Do you think the 10-48 set would go on without any adjustments? (ie truss rod) and what about the 11-50 gauge?

Changing string gauge is not that big of a deal, you may need a minor adjustment to the intonation or the truss rod if you are going from 9's to 11's but this is something you should pursue to learn to do to your own guitars.

Frankly speaking, playing in drop c# on 9's is an unrealistic expectation. I would vote for 11's. I play 10-48's on all my guitars and I only play in standard tuning and they don't feel tight to me at all, given I have been playing that gauge for years. You can adjust to 11's, it may take some time but you can adjust... and frankly, the tone you are going to get for the kind of music you are more then likely playing in drop c# is going to be more to your liking IMO.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

I use 10-52 on my guitars. It handles drop C very nicely, one day I noodle around and didn't know it's drop C until I hit the tuner. Very tight!
I used to use d'addario 11-49, but it's too tiring when I play solo with a lot of bends on normal tuning. Good for finger strength (and building up massive calluses).
 
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Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

My favorite strings. They're between XL's and Slinky's in sound, not super bright, not overly warm. The feel is quite a bit different, smaller windings, tighter feel on the wound strings. I don't have any experience with the lighter versions, but I use the 12-54 on everything for C# and drop B, before I was using 12-60 XL's.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

Just wondering what your opinions are on these? been think about trying some....

Currently my guitar is strung up with EB power slinkies but i've found that when I tune down to drop c# (e flat with a d flat) that my low D flat is just too mushy (you know what I mean)

Should I try the 10-48 gauge or the 11-50 set? (do you think it will need adjustments?)

Oh and I should mention that I do play in standard tuning quite a lot, so in terms of what tuning I play in it's all over the place, e, e flat, drop d, drop c#

What im trying to say is, what gauge would be the best for tightness in low tunings and not being ridiculously tight in standard?

A set of elevens is in no way ridiculously tight in standard.
13s= extra heavy
12s= heavy
11= medium
10s= light
9s= xtra light
8s =xx light
If you are drop tuning you need heavier strings than 9s or10s. You will sound better once your left hand gets used to playing them and your picking will also become more precise. Spend a week or so with the heavier strings and you wont want to go back to light ones.

if you have been using nines you will need a truss rod and intonation adjustment when you change string guage, but thats pretty straightforward. You can do it yourself in less than an hour.
 
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Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

13s are too tight in standard.

I know because everytime I break an e string .10 or .11, I always end up putting a .13 from another set in as a temporary fix. I can only bend a half step up.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

Thanks for the info guys :)

Alot of you are talking about 9's... I thought power slinkies were 11's (thats what im using at the moment anyway, 11-48) so my mistake....

I was just wondering about adjustments coz when I didn't know how to change strings (a while ago, don't worry, I change strings myself now haha) I had a set of 9-46 on and the guy in the store showed me how to change strings, and he put 11's on without making any adjustments.... so would a set of the 11-50 dunlop heavy core (increased tension over standerd 11-50 gauge sets) require truss rod and intonation work?
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

I love my heavy cores. The 12-54 set is good for anything. I've played them in standard all the way to drop B even D standard dropped to A and they always feel good still. They get a warm clean sound, and a thick, fat sound in any tuning.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

I'm digging up this thread, cause I'm quite interested by the heavy cores 10-48 dunlop strings for standard tuning on Gibson.

I like to take advantage of the shorter scale for the high strings for bends with 10-46, but consider the low strings to be a bit too loose.

I want to go up to 28-38-48 but stay on 10-13-17.

So that leads me obviously to this string gauge.

However, it seems to be marketed for metal and specially for drop tuning, they won't go lower than Eb with me.

I've read they have some extra tension. Is it slightly more tension or are they actually feeling like you have a 11-50 or like your short scale is longer ?
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

I use 10-52's on one guitar which goes between standard, eb, drop d, drop c# and drop c. It just about handles the lower drop tunings, but I wouldn't go lower than that. A 50 low string should get you through C# though personally I'd use a 54 (only cos I hit hard). In an ideal world I'd like to have a guitar dedicated to each tuning, but I don't have the money or space to house them!
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

Just wondering what your opinions are on these? been think about trying some....

Currently my guitar is strung up with EB power slinkies but i've found that when I tune down to drop c# (e flat with a d flat) that my low D flat is just too mushy (you know what I mean)

Should I try the 10-48 gauge or the 11-50 set? (do you think it will need adjustments?)

Oh and I should mention that I do play in standard tuning quite a lot, so in terms of what tuning I play in it's all over the place, e, e flat, drop d, drop c#

What im trying to say is, what gauge would be the best for tightness in low tunings and not being ridiculously tight in standard?

I use the 11-50 set for Standard through Drop C#. They're perfect.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

I'm digging up this thread, cause I'm quite interested by the heavy cores 10-48 dunlop strings for standard tuning on Gibson.

I like to take advantage of the shorter scale for the high strings for bends with 10-46, but consider the low strings to be a bit too loose.

I want to go up to 28-38-48 but stay on 10-13-17.

So that leads me obviously to this string gauge.

However, it seems to be marketed for metal and specially for drop tuning, they won't go lower than Eb with me.

I've read they have some extra tension. Is it slightly more tension or are they actually feeling like you have a 11-50 or like your short scale is longer ?

As I said before, I use the HC 10-48 sets for tuning to Eb on some guitars.

I typically use D'addario but I like these because they feel like they have LESS tension, and virtually no break-in period.

Though I do believe Dunlop did say the 10-48 set was for Eb and that each half-step lower you go, the optimal string set is 1 gauge higher. i.e. if you want D standard use their 11's and so on.
 
Re: Dunlop Heavy Core

As I said before, I use the HC 10-48 sets for tuning to Eb on some guitars.

I typically use D'addario but I like these because they feel like they have LESS tension, and virtually no break-in period.

Though I do believe Dunlop did say the 10-48 set was for Eb and that each half-step lower you go, the optimal string set is 1 gauge higher. i.e. if you want D standard use their 11's and so on.

I'm looking for standard tuning and Eb sometimes.
I'm pretty sure 10-48 is ideal for a gibson scale.

I just wanted to check if those strings didn't feature too much added tension to it, cause I 'd like the high to remain a bit loose for easy bends like with standard 10 and 13.
 
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