Heavy gauge plain strings

[mediumpimpin]

I have a set of ernie ball 12's (not even slinky) on my agile that have a 24 gauge plain g string (I know let the parodies begin). The g string or rather the f since it's downtuned a step, always sounds dead with no sustain and is hard to play. Bar chords with that string as well as bends, trills, vibrato, tapping and pretty much everything are really difficult to pull off with that string. At first I thought the string was just being pinched at the nut, so I filed it a little, but to no avail. What I was wondering is if any of you guys use that set of strings or have a heavy gauge (around 24) plain string on your guitars. If so, does it give you problems? Would switching that string to something lighter like a 20 gauge help, or do you think this is setup related?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

Plain strings that thick are just kinda silly. A wound 24 will sound better, bend easier, and, frankly, just be better.

 

[Tom M]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

Ernie Ball makes Slinky sets (in the harder to find red and black packages) with wound 20, 22, and 24 G-strings. I play a 10-50 set with a wound 20, and I'll never go back to playing a plain G-string again. Plain ones get too stiff for my liking.

 

[mediumpimpin]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

So it sounds like I need a wound string. That plain one is waaaauy too stiff, it really kills the playability of an otherwise nice guitar. I guess I'll pick up some singles tommorow at the guitar shop.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

I remember when I first tried the Beefy Slinky set (plain 22 g), I was tuning the guitar, and my wife (who does NOT play guitar) heard the g and said, "That one sounds bad."

If you watched all the numetal guitarists who were popular a few years back, you'd notice that they all used really heavy, plain Gs. I think they're to blame for the manufacturers thinking any plain string thicker than an 18* is worth a crap.

*for the record, even a plain 18 is inferior to it's wound counterpart

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

Plain strings that thick are just kinda silly. A wound 24 will sound better, bend easier, and, frankly, just be better.

The sound is subjective but I can tell you this a plain 24 vs a wound 24 is simple...a wound 24 WILL be HARDER to bend that a plain 24...

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

The sound is subjective but I can tell you this a plain 24 vs a wound 24 is simple...a wound 24 WILL be HARDER to bend that a plain 24...

Ummm.... I beg to differ. A plain 24 is a solid piece of metal. A wound 24 is gonna have WAY more elasticity to it. I know that the sound thing is subjective, but I'm willing to say that the vast majority of people will prefer the tone of a wound string in that case than a plain one.

 

[Sludgenutz]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

I have a set of ernie ball 12's (not even slinky) on my agile that have a 24 gauge plain g string (I know let the parodies begin). The g string or rather the f since it's downtuned a step, always sounds dead with no sustain and is hard to play. Bar chords with that string as well as bends, trills, vibrato, tapping and pretty much everything are really difficult to pull off with that string. At first I thought the string was just being pinched at the nut, so I filed it a little, but to no avail. What I was wondering is if any of you guys use that set of strings or have a heavy gauge (around 24) plain string on your guitars. If so, does it give you problems? Would switching that string to something lighter like a 20 gauge help, or do you think this is setup related?

Mediumpimpin, (my) Gibsons/Epi's and perhaps other variants may have a radius mis-match between the curved fret board...and the radius of the tune-o-matic style bridge:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=111821

You need to play your electric guitar acoustically and unplugged, as you would normally. You may hear odd fret buzzing on the G and D string that you never really noticed before. This is not assured however, just a heads up. If you have to raise the G string up (and ALL the other strings, because it is a TOM style bridge)...the saddles of the other strings might need a lowering.

 

[mediumpimpin]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

Mediumpimpin, (my) Gibsons/Epi's and perhaps other variants may have a radius mis-match between the curved fret board...and the radius of the tune-o-matic style bridge:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=111821

You need to play your electric guitar acoustically and unplugged, as you would normally. You may hear odd fret buzzing on the G and D string that you never really noticed before. This is not assured however, just a heads up. If you have to raise the G string up (and ALL the other strings, because it is a TOM style bridge)...the saddles of the other strings might need a lowering.

Thanks for the heads up. My guitars have fairly high action right now b/c I've been too lazy to do a new set up. When I finally do a new setup, I'll definitely remember that.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

The sound is subjective but I can tell you this a plain 24 vs a wound 24 is simple...a wound 24 WILL be HARDER to bend that a plain 24...

yup bending a wound string is gonna be harder. dont know why but try it. put a plain 20 then a wound 20 and getting that wound string up to pitch takes more work

 

[blueslegend8]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

The sound is subjective but I can tell you this a plain 24 vs a wound 24 is simple...a wound 24 WILL be HARDER to bend that a plain 24...

+1 christian

Ummm.... I beg to differ. A plain 24 is a solid piece of metal. A wound 24 is gonna have WAY more elasticity to it. I know that the sound thing is subjective, but I'm willing to say that the vast majority of people will prefer the tone of a wound string in that case than a plain one.

wrong, wound strings are waaaay harder to bend. True, they sound a hundred times better than a plain string but your fingers have to work alot harder to get that sound. trust me I play 13s with a wound 26 and they are a B****. I've played plain Gs in the past but I prefer the tone of the wound.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

wrong, wound strings are waaaay harder to bend. True, they sound a hundred times better than a plain string but your fingers have to work alot harder to get that sound. trust me I play 13s with a wound 26 and they are a B****. I've played plain Gs in the past but I prefer the tone of the wound.

Put on a plain 26 for that G string and tell me it's easier to bend.

Trust me, I used that 11-54 set with the plain 22 G for quite awhile, and it always got easier to play when I swapped in a wound 22 or 24.

Of course, as with all things, this is subjective, and I've always found the wound much easier to manage than it's plain counterpart. BTW, if you check out the sets that have a plain and a wound 3rd (SIT 11's come with both, as do Dean Markleys, I believe), the plain is an 18, and the wound is a 20, and they end up feeling similar.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

When I was using 12's and 13's I used a plain G because wound G's sound terrible to me plus for me a plain G was BY FAR easier to bend...

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

What guage was it? I've found anything that's plain and thicker than an 18 is not to my liking.

Before i get flamed, I'm aware that on paper and real life are two different things, but check this out.... According to D'addario's string tension guide (http://www.daddariostrings.com/Resources/JDCDAD/images/tension_chart.pdf), a plain 18 has 18.6 lbs of tension when tuned to G. A wound 18 has 16.1 lbs.

 

[blueslegend8]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

What guage was it? I've found anything that's plain and thicker than an 18 is not to my liking.

Before i get flamed, I'm aware that on paper and real life are two different things, but check this out.... According to D'addario's string tension guide (http://www.daddariostrings.com/Resources/JDCDAD/images/tension_chart.pdf), a plain 18 has 18.6 lbs of tension when tuned to G. A wound 18 has 16.1 lbs.

Touche my friend, touche.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

Touche my friend, touche.

:laugh2:

I'm not for a second saying that numbers on paper proves anything definitely. Some people find it easier to play fast on thin strings, some heavy, it's all subjective :beerchug:

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

Im not trying to disagree just to disagree...this is an all "in my experience" type thing and for me plain is easier AND it sounded better...now all that said if you;re gonna use heavy strings AND tune down and tune down more than one full step I prefer the tone of a wound 3rd...as well as the feel

 

[blueslegend8]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

:beerchug:
Im not sure why those numbers work, but whatever. I use a wound G and it seems harder to bend than the plain counter part but in reality its all about preference. I prefer the tonal quality of the wound G.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

I use a wound G and it seems harder to bend than the plain counter part....

You said you use a wound 26, right? Have you ever even seen a plain 26? Get ahold of one and try it sometime.

 

[mediumpimpin]

Re: Heavy gauge plain strings

I just put a wound 24 on my agile to replace the old plain 24 and the difference is incredible. The guitar plays sooo much better now. I was on the verge of selling the thing until now, it's a keeper for sho'. As far as the bending goes, it's a little harder I guess, but not enough to make a difference imo. I will never put a plain gauge string that heavy on an ax ever again. What is the thinnest wound string commonly made? I'm debating replacing the b string with a wound too, its kinda stiff.