How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
- Thread starter Top Jimmy
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daemon barbeque
Zuhahahaologist
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
Hahaha.
The trick is ,it's a 8 string guitar.
Tuned (low to high) ADGCFADG. The G is 0.006 and will made by goodman for me.
And yeah ,the lowest A will be 0.068.
The guitar is a hard tail with 28" scale and all scalloped neck.
Hahaha.
The trick is ,it's a 8 string guitar.
Tuned (low to high) ADGCFADG. The G is 0.006 and will made by goodman for me.
And yeah ,the lowest A will be 0.068.
The guitar is a hard tail with 28" scale and all scalloped neck.
wanmei1
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
If you and or anyone else doesn't / can't hear a huge drop in tone using such light gauge then that's that. The difference to me is enormous. - like night and day.
You'd have to be so careful doing bends not to push the top E string right over the bottom E string and off the fretboard.
Use anything as light as 9'S and they bend out of tune so fast.
That's why they are commonly referred to as "Rubber bands."
I find 11's to be just right.
SRV preferred 13's.
If you and or anyone else doesn't / can't hear a huge drop in tone using such light gauge then that's that. The difference to me is enormous. - like night and day.
You'd have to be so careful doing bends not to push the top E string right over the bottom E string and off the fretboard.
Use anything as light as 9'S and they bend out of tune so fast.
That's why they are commonly referred to as "Rubber bands."
I find 11's to be just right.
SRV preferred 13's.
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butnut
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
Played 9s for over 30 years, this year went to 10s with heavy bottom, love it. I recently tried an 11 with the 10 ga set as I hardly bend the high E...for some reason, the 10 felt too light, maybe my fingers are getting stronger? Anyway, it felt good to have that 11 there.
Played 9s for over 30 years, this year went to 10s with heavy bottom, love it. I recently tried an 11 with the 10 ga set as I hardly bend the high E...for some reason, the 10 felt too light, maybe my fingers are getting stronger? Anyway, it felt good to have that 11 there.
Karn Evil 9
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
i was using a custom set consisting of a 12 15 20p 32 46 58 in standard on my hamer for quite a long time and loved the tone; i got used to the gauges after a while and bending and all the usual techniques seemed fine. the improvement in tone was well worth the extra strain. jazz players and acoustic guys use much heavier gauges so i thought i'd try it when playing rock/80s metal stuff....not for everyone but i like it when you have to work a guitar!
i was using a custom set consisting of a 12 15 20p 32 46 58 in standard on my hamer for quite a long time and loved the tone; i got used to the gauges after a while and bending and all the usual techniques seemed fine. the improvement in tone was well worth the extra strain. jazz players and acoustic guys use much heavier gauges so i thought i'd try it when playing rock/80s metal stuff....not for everyone but i like it when you have to work a guitar!
wahwah
GumbyLoveologist
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
I've been using 11-48 in standard tuning for the past 15 years or so, and now if I play a guitar with 10's on it, it feels like a toy. 9's would just get pushed straight off the neck. I can definitely hear more substance from the 11's, but I don't hear the darkness or mudiness that some have referred to. There's just more body which requires more picking hand impact. I find that the 11's allow for a huge dynamic range, but they can still be bent all over the place. But string gauge is a personal issue, and many of my playing heroes got huge sounds with 9's.
Cheers.................................. wahwah
I've been using 11-48 in standard tuning for the past 15 years or so, and now if I play a guitar with 10's on it, it feels like a toy. 9's would just get pushed straight off the neck. I can definitely hear more substance from the 11's, but I don't hear the darkness or mudiness that some have referred to. There's just more body which requires more picking hand impact. I find that the 11's allow for a huge dynamic range, but they can still be bent all over the place. But string gauge is a personal issue, and many of my playing heroes got huge sounds with 9's.
Cheers.................................. wahwah
Perry D
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
9's are too thin. im a fan of thicker gauge strings. my main guitar is set 10-52. i like having the heavier string up top just in case i dropped tune and then i still have the regular feel for the other strings. im just more comfortable with that setup. been using it for past few years now.
9's are too thin. im a fan of thicker gauge strings. my main guitar is set 10-52. i like having the heavier string up top just in case i dropped tune and then i still have the regular feel for the other strings. im just more comfortable with that setup. been using it for past few years now.
jimijames
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
That's funny, my style is heavily bend-oriented (it's what you have to do to play the allman brothers without a slide - or at least I try) and I use .11's on my strat, and I'm thinking about switching to .12s on my lester just to keep the tension feeling right. Although it does make it considerably more difficult to put vibrato on top of a bend note, SRV did it with .13's, so I'm not going to complain any time soon. But as a general rule, I think you're right: benders do usually use lighter gauges.
That's funny, my style is heavily bend-oriented (it's what you have to do to play the allman brothers without a slide - or at least I try) and I use .11's on my strat, and I'm thinking about switching to .12s on my lester just to keep the tension feeling right. Although it does make it considerably more difficult to put vibrato on top of a bend note, SRV did it with .13's, so I'm not going to complain any time soon. But as a general rule, I think you're right: benders do usually use lighter gauges.
Diego
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
Frankly, both my electrics don't sound that different with heavier or thinner strings. A bit brighter and jangly with the lights, a bit meatier with the heavies.
Of course, they vibrate so much more with the heavies that I'd tend to assume the difference in tone would be huge, but frankly after it's plugged, the difference is slight enough that adjusting the EQ by a notch does much more without giving me CTS.
So I just stick to the feel they give me. Plus I use a lot of vibrato, so they can't be killing me after 20 minutes.
9-46 gauge, tuned to E.
Frankly, both my electrics don't sound that different with heavier or thinner strings. A bit brighter and jangly with the lights, a bit meatier with the heavies.
Of course, they vibrate so much more with the heavies that I'd tend to assume the difference in tone would be huge, but frankly after it's plugged, the difference is slight enough that adjusting the EQ by a notch does much more without giving me CTS.
So I just stick to the feel they give me. Plus I use a lot of vibrato, so they can't be killing me after 20 minutes.
9-46 gauge, tuned to E.
YHWH
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
Heavier gauge strings are more stable when tuned to a given note, hence they will move less frantically. The sound of the fundamental note will be more apparent and there will be less superfluous vibrations... which gives them the illusion of having a heavier tone... *IMO*...
... *IMO*... when they're tuned to the same note as a thicker gauge string... slinky strings actually vibrate more frantically and move in a more "chaotic" fashion than heavier gauge strings. Therefore they have more physical "movement", especially when striking a given chord... resulting in a sort of sonic earthquake. Check out the riffs of Tony Iommi, who uses .008 - .038s, for more details...
Heavier gauge strings are more stable when tuned to a given note, hence they will move less frantically. The sound of the fundamental note will be more apparent and there will be less superfluous vibrations... which gives them the illusion of having a heavier tone... *IMO*...
wanmei1
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
What you call "a bit " I call "a lot"!
I have a friend that says there's only "a bit" of difference between the sound of an ES-335 and a LP.
Depends on how critical you are at percieving and discerning differences.
What you call "a bit " I call "a lot"!
I have a friend that says there's only "a bit" of difference between the sound of an ES-335 and a LP.
Depends on how critical you are at percieving and discerning differences.
Diego
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
I'm not that experienced really, so it's hard to be critical and picky. But frankly, what I get it's good enough for me.
For those of us who aren't chasing any holy grails, lighter strings are good enough.
I'm not that experienced really, so it's hard to be critical and picky. But frankly, what I get it's good enough for me.
For those of us who aren't chasing any holy grails, lighter strings are good enough.
rivera213
Guest
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
Yeah I meant do you tune the High-A down to Ab or something.
Tuning down a full step will definitely help with the tension.
Are you gonna go HARDCORE & get a 9-string, or even the Halo XSI?
http://www.haloguitars.com/tenstringguitar.html
Yeah I meant do you tune the High-A down to Ab or something.
Tuning down a full step will definitely help with the tension.
Are you gonna go HARDCORE & get a 9-string, or even the Halo XSI?
http://www.haloguitars.com/tenstringguitar.html
JohnnyGuitar
New member
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
Played 10's and 11's for ages and I have 10's on my Gibson Nighthawk.
My Strat has 9's and I actually enjoy them a lot.
Played 10's and 11's for ages and I have 10's on my Gibson Nighthawk.
My Strat has 9's and I actually enjoy them a lot.
E
Erlend_G
Guest
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
I use 10's on my strat, 11's on my Cort, standard tuning.
I used 9's for several years, but my style has evolved into needing a thicker string.
I use 10's on my strat, 11's on my Cort, standard tuning.
I used 9's for several years, but my style has evolved into needing a thicker string.
JeffB
Let it B
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
I've had to drop to 9s (in standard E tuning) because of my CTS- while 10s/11s sound bigger, I'm starting to think 9s sound *better*.
For every guy who uses big strings in E flat tuning (SRV for example) there's plenty of monster tone guys who use ridiculously lightly tensioned strings-
Hendrix used 10-38 in E-flat (a gauge I'd like to try, makes sense on a strat headstock)
KK Downing-8s
Billy Gibbons-8s
Iommi- 8s
I've had to drop to 9s (in standard E tuning) because of my CTS- while 10s/11s sound bigger, I'm starting to think 9s sound *better*.
For every guy who uses big strings in E flat tuning (SRV for example) there's plenty of monster tone guys who use ridiculously lightly tensioned strings-
Hendrix used 10-38 in E-flat (a gauge I'd like to try, makes sense on a strat headstock)
KK Downing-8s
Billy Gibbons-8s
Iommi- 8s
J
Jay 77
Guest
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
Well said. It goes to show that strings are only a tiny fraction of the tone equation. Play what feels right to you, and let your playing style & amp do most of the work.
Well said. It goes to show that strings are only a tiny fraction of the tone equation. Play what feels right to you, and let your playing style & amp do most of the work.
blueman335
Mojo's Minions
Re: How do people play with 9 gauge strings?
Once you get a string gauge that is comfortable for your playing style, you adjust your amp & effects to get your desired tone. You can get any strings to sound good. But can you play at your best with thick strings? If the string gauge impedes your playing, loose or tight, what's the point?
Once you get a string gauge that is comfortable for your playing style, you adjust your amp & effects to get your desired tone. You can get any strings to sound good. But can you play at your best with thick strings? If the string gauge impedes your playing, loose or tight, what's the point?
