How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

Z

zionstrat

Well-known member
Have exclusively played 12s and 11s (at pitch) and medium actions for the last 10 years but have recently rediscovered the fun of lighter gagues (9s) with moderately low actions and for the first time in my life, have a significant number of medium and light strung electrics.

Of course the feel varies guitar to guitar, but one of the things that never works for me is 'slinkyness' and I don't even know how to define it...

Never a problem with 10s and above... I can hit string hard or soft and it's always where my right hand expects the string to be.

On the other hand slinky strings seem to slither...ie feel like they are in the wrong place but I have no idea what makes me sense one string as slinky and another isn't.

Of course I have to play much softer with light strings, but that's not the issue I'm describing.

For now, I'm just trying out lots of different strings and sticking with 9s as I try to figure out which of my guitars like mediums or lites better... So far it's been very individual per guitar and string brands seem totally unpredictable.

So not sure if this makes sense or if others have noticed whatever I am feeling, but interested in your experience!

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Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

A lot of things that affect break angle can affect that slinky feel; tuner post height, distance to tuner behind nut and trees etc.

Also things like tremolo picking feel easier to me on thicker strings; more positive "hit" and less dynamic variance.
 
Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

Silence Kid said:
A lot of things that affect break angle can affect that slinky feel; tuner post height, distance to tuner behind nut and trees etc.

Also things like tremolo picking feel easier to me on thicker strings; more positive "hit" and less dynamic variance.
Click to expand...

Yes, you nailed it- "hit" might be the best word to describe what I'm looking for. Thanks for making the quest a little less nebulous.

In my case, break angle, etc are going to be different across the board- I tend to have different guitars from different family's-

So strings are one of the few variables that I'm probably going to mess with- ironically 'Super Slinky' 9s turned out to be the best anti-slinky string on my Zion Strat (gradated posts) so it's hard to understand what the manufactures are thinking with naming.
 
Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

I would add in action - with heavier strings/medium action, you have resistance when you apply pressure to the string. With the same action and lighter strings, you don’t have so much resistance, so the string feels like it’s less “there”.

Interestingly, I’ve been moving up in action from my 20-yr standard 11-49s, for the opposite reasons - less desire to go easy, more desire to feel some resistance!


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Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

VinceT said:
I would add in action - with heavier strings/medium action, you have resistance when you apply pressure to the string. With the same action and lighter strings, you don’t have so much resistance, so the string feels like it’s less “there”.

Interestingly, I’ve been moving up in action from my 20-yr standard 11-49s, for the opposite reasons - less desire to go easy, more desire to feel some resistance!


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Click to expand...
Yeah, action makes sense... I have a lot of variety.

Glad to hear you are trying heavier strings, it's nice to have variety... My primary performance hss has medium high action with 12s. It can really take a beating, so it has the most dynamic range and best for tremello... The tone is really gutsy strong and I bend more with heavier strings because they don't slip out of my fingers.

Having fun with 9s and light gauge because of all the pull offs and sloppy playing tends to be more forgiving. Definitely less thick tone and less dynamic range but doing a lot of comping bass stuff...

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Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

Avoiding floppy strings is easy. Stop buying 9s.

Seriously, if you’re using light strings, you can do all the adjustments you want, they’re gonna feel like rubber bands compared you the mediums or heavies you’re used to. I tried going back to 10s for awhile, but I genuinely dislike how they feel. 11-52 on electric, 13-56 on acoustic, and 11.5-41 on mandolin does it for me. Anything lighter is fun for a few days, then I remember why I use the thicker ones.
 
Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

All my guitars have nines; depending on a lot of factors, some guitars still feel and play stiffer than others. There's still room for adjustment to make a guitar with "looser" feeling strings stiffen up without a gauge change.
 
Last edited:
Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

I also change up what picks I use to balance the strike/feel with lighter strings.
 
Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

beaubrummels said:
I also change up what picks I use to balance the strike/feel with lighter strings.
Click to expand...
I'm weird with picks and play exrta heavy most of the time as a result of a Steve Howe interview when I was a kid. He glued credit cards together to get a really hard pick on the premise that he could losen grip for a thin pick sound, but it doesn't work the other way.

My only challenge with this approach is that the pick tends to rotate with loose grip... However, this is no longer a problem with picks that have a hole drilled through the middle.

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Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

I use .10g on my Gibson scale and .09 on my fender scale guitars.
I have been thinking about moving to .10 on all my guitars though.
 
Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

I've got you all beat. I play a Bass VI and tune it up an octave.
 
Last edited:
Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

I alternate between using 9s with a high action and 10s with medium action, never liked low action as I pick as if my life depends on it,
Action is between 2.5-3 mm
Gauges vary depending on the brand are:
9-46 or 10-46 in E (either elixir or daddario)
10-52 for Drop D and D (either elixir or daddario)
11-56 for Drop C and C (either elixir or daddario)
11-60 for Drop B (daddario)
12-60 for B (daddario)
12-68 for Drop B, B and Drop A (elixirs)
12-68 for Drop A (daddario)
Pick thickness may affect the impact force on the string but I use a variety of thicknesses from 0.88 mm to 3mm depending on what I want to do
The gauges change frequently but that’s the ball park.
I get little to no fret buzz or “slinkiness” the trem picking is a lot easier to the consistency of how the string bounces back towards my pick and the tone is full, however it does mean you need to put extra effort into lead playing (which I suck at anyways)
 
Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

6stringerguy said:
I alternate between using 9s with a high action and 10s with medium action, never liked low action as I pick as if my life depends on it,
Action is between 2.5-3 mm
Gauges vary depending on the brand are:
9-46 or 10-46 in E (either elixir or daddario)
10-52 for Drop D and D (either elixir or daddario)
11-56 for Drop C and C (either elixir or daddario)
11-60 for Drop B (daddario)
12-60 for B (daddario)
12-68 for Drop B, B and Drop A (elixirs)
12-68 for Drop A (daddario)
Pick thickness may affect the impact force on the string but I use a variety of thicknesses from 0.88 mm to 3mm depending on what I want to do
The gauges change frequently but that’s the ball park.
I get little to no fret buzz or “slinkiness” the trem picking is a lot easier to the consistency of how the string bounces back towards my pick and the tone is full, however it does mean you need to put extra effort into lead playing (which I suck at anyways)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the string input and am messing around with action.



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Re: How to avoid 'slinky' strings?

I tried the 9-46 mixed gauge set by Ernie Ball and really liked it. E-A-D from a regular 10s set for a bit more resistance on the lower strings I am liking it for beefier power chords, G-B-E from a regular 9s set for easier soloing and rhythm.
 
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