skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

[PFDarkside]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

:chairfall

In all honesty, if you are serious about buying a guitar, and it's not a Chinese/far-east cheapie, the shop should set it up with your preferred gauge and rough out the relief/action/intonation for you. As usual, YMMV.

 

[DankStar]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

Perhaps you are super strong?

I dunno but a Gibson should have 10s and be tuned to standard in a shop IMO. Let the consumer put 15s on it and tune down to Z.

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

PFDarkside - I agree to some extent as long as its not a ridiculous change. However, even with skinny strings you can easily get the feel of the guitar

 

[blueman335]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

I think for some people, myself included, it's a matter of liking a bit of fight in our instruments. If you're a hard picker, then you're also going to go out of tune easier on thinner strings.

I don't like strings 'fighting' me at all. I want them to know I'm in charge. But then I'm a light picker and strummer, my fretting hand does most of the work. When my strings go out of tune it's from bending, not banging on the guitar with my right hand.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

On my electrics I use the same set of strings I've been buying for the last thirty years or more. D'Addario .010 - .046. Nickel.

Any lighter weakens the tone and is just not necessary...for me.

I do use .012 - .053 D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Lights on my acoustic guitars.

Any heavier than that leaves grooves in my fingers and tires my hands out after a few hours.

I play as much acoustic guitar as I do electric.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

PFDarkside - I agree to some extent as long as its not a ridiculous change. However, even with skinny strings you can easily get the feel of the guitar

We are on the same page. If you've narrowed it down to a $1500+ Strat or $2500+ LP and it's got older .009's and you're an .011's player, I think a string change and quick truss rod twist is reasonable.

 

[tc]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

I usually just ask for a full setup in the gauge of my choosing. If I'm sinking a good amount of cash into a guitar, I don't see why not. The only time I don't is if I negotiated a good amount of money off, but I try to work that in whenever it's possible. Either way I get a couple packs of strings too.

 

[Mincer]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

I don't like strings 'fighting' me at all. I want them to know I'm in charge. But then I'm a light picker and strummer, my fretting hand does most of the work. When my strings go out of tune it's from bending, not banging on the guitar with my right hand.

I agree. Playing guitar should be effortless. I ain't working that hard...

 

[leevc5]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

I agree. Playing guitar should be effortless. I ain't working that hard...

What about tone? I know I am opening up a can of worms but I think heavier gauge strings sound fuller and richer. If I could I would use 12s.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

What about tone? I know I am opening up a can of worms but I think heavier gauge strings sound fuller and richer. If I could I would use 12s.

I think they sound different. Up to each person to determine what is better. Even on acoustics, 13's seem a little darker than 12's and even 11's to me. I'll say that 11's on electric unplugged sound better than 9's with low action, but to me, once they are plugged in the differences start to even out.

 

[Chad]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

Heavier strings in general are darker and focused more on the fundamental. Lighter strings in general are brighter and highlight harmonics moreso.

But this is a case where the cliche "tone is in the hands" comes into play. I play better and more in tune with light gauge strings because I am more relaxed and can bend to pitch without fighting or causing pain in my fingers. i.e. Any potential tone improvement that might be gained from heavier strings is negated by the negative effect it has on my playing. Also, many iconic players with great tone have used light gauge strings.

 

[Demanic]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

I switch between bass and guitar. I can bend strings on the bass. Anything lighter than 10's on a guitar feels like playing dental floss.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[JOLLY]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

Start playin bass!!

 

[Chad]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

I play bass. Still like light-ish strings on electric guitar.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

9's for my 25.5 scale guitar's (most of them), 10's for the short scale one's. Plus I tune to Eb standard. That way the tension's roughly the same for both & ideal for me..

Don't really care what my new guitar's come strung with because I always change their strings right away :bigthumb:

Same here, cept I don't tune down. But do use .009s on 25.5 and .10s on 24.75s. I figure most factories ship with light (and cheap) strings so the guits are easy to play to lure buyers and also, most stores don't change em due to costs and also to lure buyers. Heck, most local stores I go to, its hard to find a guitar in tune, let alone with decent strings. Ive picked up guits in stores with huge amounts of crust and mung on the strings...

 

[leevc5]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

^ I don't think he existed 20yrs ago.

The fact that he didn't even know the term 'entry level' or what it meant (even though its explanation is in the phrase)

:lol: You certainly do carry around a lot of old baggage. Perhaps you should seek professional help.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

I got used to new guitars having .010s; for a long time that was the standard as well as my personal preference. For me it's as much about tone as about touch. I'm not saying .009s are wrong, you understand, just that they feel and sound a little thin under my own fingertips and through my own rig.

PS: I'd never heard of Gibson shipping Les Pauls from the factory with flatwound 13s and a wound G. Maybe that was a special batch? Or the store restrung the guitar. I bought my first new Gibson around 1971 and I'm pretty sure it came with Gibson .010s and a plain G.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

Regardless of the string gauge on a shop stock guitar, you should be listening to the pitch variations that bending introduces rather than simply pushing them as far as you usually would on your own guitar(s).

 

[DinoTrousers]

Re: skinny strings drive me crazy - walked into my local music shop today

Most of the guitars that come into my shop have 9's from the factory, though some have 10's. We're a small shop, and for new stuff it's Ibanez, Schecter, AXL, and occasionally Washburn for our electrics. But when we have used stuff come in, we put on 9's 90% of the time. I personally prefer 10's, but our customers buy 9 gauge strings more often than any other string, so we string up guitars with the most popular gauge.

That said, our policy is if you have us do the first string change, we'll go through and do a full set-up for free for the strings you like. I'm not going to do a string change and neck-adjust for someone to try out a guitar, but I'm also not dealing in the $1500 Strat $2500 Les Paul range that PFDarkside is talking about.