The Gauges Of Strings

[Lux84]

I will go to the local service man for guitars over one week or two.. i will change pickups one those two guitars:

1. ) Vintage VS6 SG ( all mahogany ) and

2. ) Ibanez RGA 32 Mol .

The thing is... i have used 10 - 46 gauge of strings for standard e tuning.
I need some suggestions about those two guitars, which will have lower tunings... The first guitar ( Vintage VS6 SG ) string gauge for Standard E, Drop D, and D# Standard. And the second guitar ( Ibanez RGA 32 Mol ) string gauge for Standard D, Drop C and C# Standard.

I haven't decided yet, but i have already done some research and find those two kinds of different gauges:

1. ) 10 - 46 for Standard E, Drop D and D# Standard ? or 10 - 48 ?

2. ) 11 - 48 for Standard D, Drop C and C# Standard ? or 11 - 52 ?

So that's it... please help with some suggestions... and i use Ernie Balls.

 

[alteredbeast]

Re: The Gauges Of Strings

i usually would use daddario 10-46 for standard e, for drop d, i nix the 46 and add a 52.
this can be a pain in the ass at times, finding a 52 when i buy strings, (online its easier of course) i use dunlop Kerry kings for drop d, they are a 10-46 set, plus a bonus 52 for drop tunings, 5 clams at MF.

maybe EB skinny top heavy bottoms for d standard? the top 3 might be jangly a tad tho.
also DR makes an 11-50 set that id imagine would work well for d std as well. for c# std maybe try EB beefy's? i tried these for c std and they seemed a tad jangly for my tastes.

 

[Bfeeney]

Re: The Gauges Of Strings

I tried the EB light top heavy bottom for dropped stuff and they worked great. I even got it to do a drop C for Static-X stuff without them getting sloppy. I'd recommend them.

 

[Zhaggy]

Re: The Gauges Of Strings

I'd use 10-52 for both since the SG has shorter scale it isn't as stiff with those tuning. And I think it should work perfectly for all those three tunings.

As the Ibanez has longer scale the tension is higher but since you tune it lower it should balance it out so it should feel somewhat same as the SG.

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: The Gauges Of Strings

EB 11-54 will be perfect for you. You can even you them for standard since some people say the difference between .010s and .011s isn't too huge.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: The Gauges Of Strings

I've always used common gauges for all kinds of tunings.

.10 or .11

.11s are nice.

it's in the setup.. if your action is low strings will buzz as soon as you drop D.

 

[Lux84]

Re: The Gauges Of Strings

Ok, i think i'll go with 10-46 for SG ( Standard E tuning )
and 11 - 48 for Ibanez ( Standard D ) .

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: The Gauges Of Strings

C# should be 12 gauge... I've been at dropped B for the last 17 years, I wouldn't strat you wrong, especially at 24.75 scale length.

In 25.5 scale length, you would probably be fine with 11 gauge if you used stiff strings and or didn't pick to hard... whacking those 11 gauge open strings at C# could get them to warble out of tune and then back in tune as the note decays FYI.

Truth be told, I buy a 13 gauge and a 12 gauge set and use the low E and A from the 13 set on my dropped B guitars.