From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

[revolution]

Hello all. I got an old Korean Washburn Mercury II with gigantic frets and a Wilkinson VS-100. The action was super tight to the frets and just shredded. I went down to .09 and tuned 1/2 down and the whole thing seems off. Action a little higher...not the shredder it was. When you go down a gauge like that, does the truss rod neeed to be adjusted along with the intonation and bridge/action? Thanks

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

One would think that lighter gauge strings would have less tension on the neck
And result in lower action

Your Korean may have graphite rods that hold it true

But I cannot explain higher action

 

[evan47]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

To keep intonation your playing will need a lighter touch.
I had 09s on a 2002 lp std and things were so light it was easy to sound off intonation wise.
When a set of 10s were fitted things were perfect.....and it still felt as lightly strung as a guitar with 09s.
A friend had a Washburn pointy headstock strat-a-like with factory 09s years ago that sounded off when fretted firmly, when strung with 10s all was good.
By tuning 1/2 a step down and holding down a string firmly you will end up raising its pitch, fretting lightly will make it sound true. all due to low string tension and the jumbo frets which wont help either.
Retuning to standard pitch will help.

 

[Adieu]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

Hello all. I got an old Korean Washburn Mercury II with gigantic frets and a Wilkinson VS-100. The action was super tight to the frets and just shredded. I went down to .09 and tuned 1/2 down and the whole thing seems off. Action a little higher...not the shredder it was. When you go down a gauge like that, does the truss rod neeed to be adjusted along with the intonation and bridge/action? Thanks

Super tight action is usually achieved with 11s... its physics, the thicker string has higher tension and less wobble = you can set it lower without fret noise


If you tune down, you need bigger gauge still. Also, the lower string gauge matters too...

AND whenever you change string gauge or brand, you already need to adjust stuff (truss, trem/saddles, etc)

 

[revolution]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

Ok...thanks y'all!!

 

[GilmourD]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

Hello all. I got an old Korean Washburn Mercury II with gigantic frets and a Wilkinson VS-100. The action was super tight to the frets and just shredded. I went down to .09 and tuned 1/2 down and the whole thing seems off. Action a little higher...not the shredder it was. When you go down a gauge like that, does the truss rod neeed to be adjusted along with the intonation and bridge/action? Thanks

With you tuning half a step down and putting lighter strings on the guitar I would've expected the neck to bow back AND the trem (since this seems to be a guitar with a floating Floyd Rose from what I've found) to drop into the body.

Did you adjust anything beyond string gauge and tuning?

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

Oh a floyd
Well there it is

Of course
As Gilmore said
The the floyd would drop first before the neck bowed back

Then half step down would drop even deeper

That explains it

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

Wilkinson VS-100

Not a Floyd.

 

[JMP/HBE]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

I play .011 to .056 D'Addario's @ Eb [1/2 down]. Try heavier strings.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

I play .011 to .056 D'Addario's @ Eb [1/2 down]. Try heavier strings.

Ahh, the voice of reason (just kidding... people who use light strings, please don't take offense or explain to me that Billy Gibbons uses .000000000001s so anybody using thicker than that is a fool)

Plenty of the 80's guys made super light strings, Eb, and low action work together. Within some amount of reason, you can setup pretty much anything to do pretty much anything. As stated above, your left and right hands better not be very aggressive with what you're asking.

 

[revolution]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

Ahh, the voice of reason (just kidding... people who use light strings, please don't take offense or explain to me that Billy Gibbons uses .000000000001s so anybody using thicker than that is a fool)

Plenty of the 80's guys made super light strings, Eb, and low action work together. Within some amount of reason, you can setup pretty much anything to do pretty much anything. As stated above, your left and right hands better not be very aggressive with what you're asking.

haha Right!! My Strat is tuned at 440 with 10s and I love it. I really like this Washburn with .10s at 440. I just wanted to try the Eb/9s for that super shred action. And to answer the question above, I dont think the guy did anything beyond the bridge. The main job was to route cavities slightly to fit aftermarket HBs and mounting rings.

 

[Adieu]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

haha Right!! My Strat is tuned at 440 with 10s and I love it. I really like this Washburn with .10s at 440. I just wanted to try the Eb/9s for that super shred action. And to answer the question above, I dont think the guy did anything beyond the bridge. The main job was to route cavities slightly to fit aftermarket HBs and mounting rings.

I think youre acting on a misconception you picked up somewhere along the way, namely "thin strings = low action"


...its generally, though not always, the exact opposite.


Although a lot of guys will remember the first time they touched a well-setup shredder in their beginner days, usually someone else's, and walked away with the feeling "whoa the strings feel so LIGHT" (easy to fret), especially if their fingers werent well-developed yet and their own instrument was a run of the mill POS with no setup whatsoever



...well, that wasnt actually light strings, that was just the super low action and the good even fretwork of a good instrument kept in good shape

 

[revolution]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

Thank you!!

 

[Lux84]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

10s on a guitar with tremolo for e flat for me.. i tried 9s they're too light, i pressed ang going out of tune constantly.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

...well, that wasnt actually light strings, that was just the super low action and the good even fretwork of a good instrument kept in good shape

I played one of the local blues guys guitars recently. ‘62 Strat, huge frets, medium high but buttery smooth action. Turned out it was strung 12-56 in Eb, felt a little tighter than 10s in Standard. It’s definitely all in the setup.

Lots of shredders do use 9s with low action. Check out Rusty Cooley. He’s about as shreddy as it gets, 9s laying on the frets. He also uses super hot pickups, tons of gain, and is not exactly known as a tone monster.

 

[revolution]

Re: From .10 / 440 to .09 / Half step down...

thanks for all the tips!