String gauge discussion - E standard metal

[weepingminotaur]

You have a Fender-scale guitar in E standard. You will mostly play two types of music on it: 1. Thrash and classic metal (Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, Testament, Judas Priest) 2. '80s hard / moderate rock (mostly Def Leppard with some Bryan Adams)

What string gauge are you comfortable with? Right now, I'm using 9-42 (D'Addario XL) but I am considering bumping up to 9-46 or 10-46 for a little more chunk.

I'm mainly curious to know what folks play and prefer.

 

[Mincer]

9-42 is good, but I think it is just what feels right. Some people play lightly, some don't. Some don't want to work very hard, some people need some resistance.

 

[Sam SG]

I used to use 9-46 on a strat for metal.

 

[ehdwuld]

I use the 9-42 D'Addario myself

Your string gauge makes absolutely no difference in your tone. That grinding ZZ Top sound comes from 8s

Use what makes you comfortable

I use 9-42 on everything the Gibson scale the Fender scale. All of them

I do use the half round 9-42 D'Addario on the 24.75 Gibson scale to be honest

 

[chadd]

I'm king heavy with my right hand so I've tended to go with 9-46 if I use 9s. It also holds up a little better if you drop D at all.

 

[weepingminotaur]

Yeah, I'm just wondering if the extra tension from 9-46 wouldn't give me a little more attack for palm-muted riffs. But I'm definitely not a "work harder" type.

 

[weepingminotaur]

I'm king heavy with my right hand so I've tended to go with 9-46 if I use 9s. It also holds up a little better if you drop D at all.

Yeah, drop D was another consideration. I don't drop D much, but for the odd tune where I do, 9-46 feels like it would work better.

 

[Coma]

IME, it mostly comes down to how hard you hit the strings and how you need them to response. I use GHS 10-46 in E standard on 25.5 scale guitars. If I go down to C, 11 - 52 (I think). Really the issue is, if I have to play fast tremolo picking with a lot of gain, are the strings going to flub out or keep tension enough for the pick to bounce back?

 

[uOpt]

009-046, but with a 012 B string

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Yeah, I'm just wondering if the extra tension from 9-46 wouldn't give me a little more attack for palm-muted riffs. But I'm definitely not a "work harder" type.

You don't really get more attack from heavier strings. You get a different voicing to the attack, but I don't feel like you get more/less of it. Just a different kind. It's thuddier in the lows the heavier you go, crunchier in the mids the lighter you go, I find. But it's not about quantity so much as it is voicing/quality. I prefer the sound of lighter strings, but I also want to be able to like play them, LOL.

I personally like a middle ground between good tension and good sound. I personally don't find heavier strings to make you word harder. At least not for most Metal rhythm playing. Honestly, the only things that are harder with heavier strings are bending and vibrato. So if your playing style has a lot of that... OK, I get it. But fast palm-muted riffs are much more comfy with strings that don't flap around as much, and you can even sometimes get away with lower action with heavier strings exactly because of the same reason.

I just strung up my Modern Lite with standard 10's and brought it up to E to play some Sylosis, and while I can manage, I wished there was hybrid a set that was like 10's on the high strings and 11's on the lower 3 strings.

Then again, everyone has a different taste, a different idea of what good tone is, and a different preference for what feels comfortable. Everyone will tell you something different. I suggest you get yourself a set of regular 10's or 9-46's, pick either, and evaluate. It's not an expensive experiment to make. You may even decide to go back to 9's, but at least, it's now a more empyrically informed deicision.

 

[Agramal]

I use 11s but I'm going down to 10s.

 

[weepingminotaur]

You don't really get more attack from heavier strings. You get a different voicing to the attack, but I don't feel like you get more/less of it. Just a different kind. It's thuddier in the lows the heavier you go, crunchier in the mids the lighter you go, I find. But it's not about quantity so much as it is voicing/quality. I prefer the sound of lighter strings, but I also want to be able to like play them, LOL.

I personally like a middle ground between good tension and good sound. I personally don't find heavier strings to make you word harder. At least not for most Metal rhythm playing. Honestly, the only things that are harder with heavier strings are bending and vibrato. So if your playing style has a lot of that... OK, I get it. But fast palm-muted riffs are much more comfy with strings that don't flap around as much, and you can even sometimes get away with lower action with heavier strings exactly because of the same reason.

I think I worded my initial post badly. I'm aware that tone isn't really the issue here; it's more about comfort and avoiding strings flubbing or flapping when doing fast palm-muted riffs on the bottom two strings. The bending and vibrato part doesn't bother me on 10s since I'm really only doing that stuff on the top three strings.

I just strung up my Modern Lite with standard 10's and brought it up to E to play some Sylosis, and while I can manage, I wished there was hybrid a set that was like 10's on the high strings and 11's on the lower 3 strings.

Have you tried the 10-52 skinny top / heavy bottom set from D'Addario? I know Eric Peterson from Testament uses them in Eb so something comparable might be worth trying. (Skolnick prefers 11-49, I think?)

Then again, everyone has a different taste, a different idea of what good tone is, and a different preference for what feels comfortable. Everyone will tell you something different. I suggest you get yourself a set of regular 10's or 9-46's, pick either, and evaluate. It's not an expensive experiment to make. You may even decide to go back to 9's, but at least, it's now a more empyrically informed deicision.

Yeah, I've got tons of regular 10s lying around, and I've just ordered a set of 9-46 to try on my Charvel. I'm rarely satisfied with strings -- always trying something different!

 

[Sam SG]

Personally I find 9-46 seemed to add a hair of weight to the lowend and just not be so floppy on my Gibsons.
On Fenders its not much different than 9-42. Imo
Tried 10-46 and I just dont like the stiffness on the high strings. But I liked the lowend a hair more. So that was when I went 50/50 9-46

 

[jeremy]

my metal days are past, but ive played 11s since i was in high school on basically everything. loved gnr when appetite came out, didnt have a guitar yet, but i was already in love with it so id get guitar magazines. read an interview with slash where he said he used power slinkys, which are 11s. when i finally got a guitar, it was a squier ii strat and very shortly after that, i got a set of power slinkys. at the time i was just learning how to play so didnt know any better. neither did i know that tuning down a half step lowered tension or that a les pauls shorter scale length also has less tension than a strat... 11s just seem natural for me.

i think a little heavier on the bottom strings can be a good thing for riffing. i think the most important thing is to find what works best for you. if you play 9-42 better than you play 10-46, then play the lighter set. so 9-46 might be a good thing to try

 

[Sam SG]

11s my god! You must have hulk hands.

 

[weepingminotaur]

I use 11s but I'm going down to 10s.

I've played 11s in E standard, and it's nice in some ways, but definitely a bit more stiffness than I want in most non-jazz situations.

 

[jeremy]

i am not a jazz guy again, its what im used to. ill do step and a half over bends or whole step bends with vibrato without thinking about it

 

[Phantasmagoria]

I tune down half a step & use super heavy picks (Dunlop 3mm Stubby's) instead of using heavier string gauges. Always 9-42 for Fender scale guitars. 10-46 for Gibson scale. that's what gives me the tension I like for playing just about anything.... plus added chunk.

 

[Bill Dennis]

You have a Fender-scale guitar in E standard. You will mostly play two types of music on it: 1. Thrash and classic metal (Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, Testament, Judas Priest) 2. '80s hard / moderate rock (mostly Def Leppard with some Bryan Adams)

What string gauge are you comfortable with? Right now, I'm using 9-42 (D'Addario XL) but I am considering bumping up to 9-46 or 10-46 for a little more chunk.

I'm mainly curious to know what folks play and prefer.

I prefer 10-46. The higher tension compared to 9-42 allows a lower action without buzz and rattle. On Gibson / PRS scales I will often use 10-48 to get a little more tension on the wound strings