What are the electrical changes when string gague is increased?

chadd said:
Great video comparing string gauge with as few variables as possible.
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Seen that & other vids. Not my experience in 45 years. I used 9's & 9.5's for 30+ years. Last 7 years ive used .011 to .056 and nothing beats it. I even tried a lighter gauge last month thinking i was missing something. NOPE. They sounded like total crap. Never going back to frail strings. All those videos are marketing ploys to sell strings. Piano cable is where its at. And there is little difference in the pull/action for me.
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Lewguitar said:
I think bigger strings have come into vogue because SRV used them. What a lousy tone he got. Yeah...right! lol
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The latter part is a strawman. And SRV was definitely a part of the reason, but the idea has got traction far beyond people who care about white eighties blues, so it is unlikely to be the only explanation.
 
Sirion said:
The latter part is a strawman. And SRV was definitely a part of the reason, but the idea has got traction far beyond people who care about white eighties blues, so it is unlikely to be the only explanation.
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SRV used hybrid gauges as there was limited string availability back then and in his later years actually went to lighter gauges as he was having hand troubles.
 
I would like to know actual a scientific experiment that compares the tone with larger strings vs smaller strings with a boost pedal. Providing the music being played is your bag (it might not be preferable for certain kinds of music for a 'bigger' tone), I can't imagine there is much difference.
 
Thicker gauge strings put more mass at more tension. The electrical part is about the movement of mass over the pickup window, across the field lines. Empirically, thicker strings are louder especially so in the midrange where the wood vibes wake up with more tension and as the pickups' frequency graphs dictate. They do drive the amp harder but modern preamp circuits hardly require this. In ADSR terms, the "rounder" description indicates a longer, bell like decay in the midrange for thick wires vs. lighter gauge that have decidedly shorter decay. There is no one size fit all but I find it smart when people leave nothing to chance in defining their setups. Thicker gauge doesn't give you more bass but rather make it tighter and the low gain high dynamic range amps like a Fender Twin are undoubtedly going to be more sensitive to string gauge than a 5150. You can have a massive low frequency wave happening in a slack low gauge string but excess amplitude becomes hard to control and doubly so if you like low action. Two thumbs up to anyone who has the guitar set up exactly as they want it, whichever feels most comfortable rather than the question of string gauge being some kind of macho pissing contest. I might find elevens perfect for jazz and nines for floyd rose but ymmv
 
vinta9e said:
Thicker gauge strings put more mass at more tension. The electrical part is about the movement of mass over the pickup window, across the field lines. Empirically, thicker strings are louder especially so in the midrange where the wood vibes wake up with more tension and as the pickups' frequency graphs dictate. They do drive the amp harder but modern preamp circuits hardly require this. In ADSR terms, the "rounder" description indicates a longer, bell like decay in the midrange for thick wires vs. lighter gauge that have decidedly shorter decay. There is no one size fit all but I find it smart when people leave nothing to chance in defining their setups. Thicker gauge doesn't give you more bass but rather make it tighter and the low gain high dynamic range amps like a Fender Twin are undoubtedly going to be more sensitive to string gauge than a 5150. You can have a massive low frequency wave happening in a slack low gauge string but excess amplitude becomes hard to control and doubly so if you like low action. Two thumbs up to anyone who has the guitar set up exactly as they want it, whichever feels most comfortable rather than the question of string gauge being some kind of macho pissing contest. I might find elevens perfect for jazz and nines for floyd rose but ymmv
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I have 2 Floyd trems & Strat Trem with .011 to .056 as well as 2 Les Pauls and not a problem at all. One Floyd has 4 springs and the other Floyd & Fender have 5 springs. Again not a problem. Can do everything i need.
 
When riffing metal, thicker bass strings are tighter and "recover" faster. its just easier to chug faster and tighter with heavy strings. They also have a more positive snap. and because they put more voltage out, you can run with less gain, so the whole thing sounds more open.
 
Mincer said:
I would like to know actual a scientific experiment that compares the tone with larger strings vs smaller strings with a boost pedal. Providing the music being played is your bag (it might not be preferable for certain kinds of music for a 'bigger' tone), I can't imagine there is much difference.
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Yep, that's exactly what I would like to see. What are the electrical differences? Of course that would be one heck of a difficult experiment to set up if someone hasn't already done this.

Kind of a sidebar, I bumped into heavier strings kind of as an accident. I added my Parker nightfly primarily to replace live acoustics and strung it with 12s to get the sound and feel of the acoustics I was replacing.

One night, I broke a string on my primary electric so I switched out of piezo mode in the Parker and immediately realized that it sounded 'beefier' than my other electric.

Because I liked that sound so much, I started playing the Parker a lot more for electric and acoustic sounds and my fingers got much tougher. Within 6 months or so I was bending the 12s about 90% of where I would bend a 10 and that was more than good enough for me.

One thing that is certain is you don't get the benefits out of 12's until your fingers are strong enough and you've adjusted your right hand to playing much harder.

So it was a bit of a surprise and a challenge when I found one of my strats far prefers nines. It was kind of hard to go back that direction... I was hitting the strings way way too hard.

So now I keep moving between my nine, 10 and 12 guitars so that I can stay up to date on all of them.

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I totally get using bigger strings because you like the way they feel. Nothing wrong with that...that's why I use 9s. But it is a hard argument, especially for my music, that any size sounds uniquely better than what I use.
 
Mincer said:
I totally get using bigger strings because you like the way they feel. Nothing wrong with that...that's why I use 9s. But it is a hard argument, especially for my music, that any size sounds uniquely better than what I use.
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Yep, always go with what works. In my mind it's just like tubes and modeling or 24 and 3/4 and 25 and a half or split or parallel pups. There are so many variables that everyone has to find what works for them.

BTW, I forgot to mention something that heavy strings aren't good for. They are so stiff that tapping is nearly impossible, at least with my setup, So that's a good excuse to have other guitars :-)

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I'm used to medium strings because I play a lot of acoustic guitar. So .012 - .053 is what I'm used to.

If I go lighter, I guarantee you there's a difference in sound on the acoustic guitar.

There's the same difference in sound on the electric guitar going from a set that starts with a .010 or .011 E string to .009 or .008.

You just don't notice it as much, because you're not hearing the guitar acoustically.

You're hearing it through an amp, usually with an overdriven or distorted tone.

Unplugged the difference is pretty obvious.
 
You get more fundamentals, but less harmonics. They start to sound like bass strings. Thicker strings are stiffer, which means the harmonic content tends to be out of tune. The string behaves like a metal rod and not a string.

I use what’s comfortable on my various guitars. I have 8s on my Parker, and 10s on my backup guitar which I also play slide on. They all sound good regardless of string gauges.


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Top-L said:
EVH used 9s, and he has some of the most vaunted rock tones in history. That should be the end of the argument right there for rock players.
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Plus he’s tuned down. Hendrix used 9s turned down a half step. Then we have Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Alan Holdsworth, and Terry Kath, who use/d 8s in standard pitch, and Tony Iommi who uses 8s a half step down or 9s a whole step down.

You don’t need thick strings for a big tone.


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zionstrat said:
Yep, that's exactly what I would like to see. What are the electrical differences? Of course that would be one heck of a difficult experiment to set up if someone hasn't already done this.

Kind of a sidebar, I bumped into heavier strings kind of as an accident. I added my Parker nightfly primarily to replace live acoustics and strung it with 12s to get the sound and feel of the acoustics I was replacing.

One night, I broke a string on my primary electric so I switched out of piezo mode in the Parker and immediately realized that it sounded 'beefier' than my other electric.

Because I liked that sound so much, I started playing the Parker a lot more for electric and acoustic sounds and my fingers got much tougher. Within 6 months or so I was bending the 12s about 90% of where I would bend a 10 and that was more than good enough for me.

One thing that is certain is you don't get the benefits out of 12's until your fingers are strong enough and you've adjusted your right hand to playing much harder.

So it was a bit of a surprise and a challenge when I found one of my strats far prefers nines. It was kind of hard to go back that direction... I was hitting the strings way way too hard.

So now I keep moving between my nine, 10 and 12 guitars so that I can stay up to date on all of them.

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
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String choice is a "career decision". Heavier strings can build up your strength, but they also put more wear on your joints.

If I was a professional player, I would seriously consider using 8s to extend my career, even if I didn't think they sounded as good. I would make them work.

Ive had injuries that have changed how I have to play the guitar, I think its important to focus on ergonomics from early on.

When I've gone to 10s, I can get them to work within a few weeks, but using 11s changes my vibrato and bends too much. If I was using 11s, I think my style would evolve differently.
 
Top-L said:
String choice is a "career decision". Heavier strings can build up your strength, but they also put more wear on your joints.

If I was a professional player, I would seriously consider using 8s to extend my career, even if I didn't think they sounded as good. I would make them work.

Ive had injuries that have changed how I have to play the guitar, I think its important to focus on ergonomics from early on.

When I've gone to 10s, I can get them to work within a few weeks, but using 11s changes my vibrato and bends too much. If I was using 11s, I think my style would evolve differently.
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This right here. I’ve been playing guitar for 51 years. I don’t need strong fingers. I already have that.

But I’m also dealing with RSI and focal dystonia in both hands. This is from 51 years of practicing almost every day.

Like BB King said to Billy Gibbons; “why you want to work so hard?”

You see people playing 11s where they have to move their whole arm to bend a string and get vibrato. But they never quite reach the note and the vibrato is stunted. There’s a lack of nuance.

Historically all the virtuoso players used banjo strings (an .008 for the high E) until Ernie Ball came out with Slinkies.


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DavidRavenMoon said:
You don’t need thick strings for a big tone.
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No. Not if you're playing electric, which is what this thread is about.

But on acoustic? You definitely need bigger strings.

And most jazz guitarists who play in the style of players like Wes Montgomery or Joe Pass, and play chord melody, use heavier strings with a wound G.

But they are more interested in TONE...not bending strings.

My electric guitars are strung with sets that start with .010 cuz like most of us here, I like to bend strings.

I believe Hendrix used Fender Rock N Roll strings, now labeled 150R (R for regular) which are 10-13-17-26-36-46. These came out around 1966 or 67.

When folks wanted them even lighter Fender started offering 150L (L for light). Those are 09-11-16-24-32-42.

I use the lights sometimes, but usually my electrics are strung with 10-13-17-26-36-46 because they sound better to me.
 
I know bigger strings certainly sound better acoustically. But I don't play for people acoustically. So it was never a concern for me. Sometimes a deeply resonant guitar sounds the best plugged in, and I've heard resonant guitars that just sound strange plugged in. Even scientific studies on this don't take personal preference into account. And to me, that is the most important, over anything else. What do you like? Do your strings make you feel like you can play your best? Do they not cause pain? Great! Then you chose wisely.
 
Some of these answers are hilarious.
Seems SD forum has quite a few re-ac curing threads 2 of which are "cheap guitars vs expensive" and "heavy vs lights strings."
All one needs is common sense & a good set of ears.
 
Ted Nugent asked SRV if he could try out SRV's Strat. Nugent plugged it in and said he couldn't play it at all! Action too high and strings too heavy for him.

But those heavy strings are part of the SRV tone, and one big reason his sound is hard to duplicate.

The other reason is there's only one SRV.
 
Lewguitar said:
Ted Nugent asked SRV if he could try out SRV's Strat. Nugent plugged it in and said he couldn't play it at all! Action too high and strings too heavy for him.

But those heavy strings are part of the SRV tone, and one big reason his sound is hard to duplicate.

The other reason is there's only one SRV.
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Yeah, that's the deal. There is only one SRV, and a lot of people point to some aspect of his rig holds his mojo. I'm good with there being only 1 SRV- we don't need any more. But his rig does not equal him.
 
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