Electric Guitars Strings, Strings, Strings

JPsuff

Blackstar Artist
Didn't read the article (I don't do Facebook) but coincidentally I was thinking about string sizes recently and I've arrived at some interesting conclusions.

Before I started to pig out on new guitars, I generally used 11-gauge strings (on both my Epi LP Custom and my Epi 335) but as I have begun to acquire new and different gear, my opinion of string gauges has changed.

For example, when I ordered my Strat, I ordered it set up with 11's. But after playing it for a while I think that 11's are too stiff. I believe the reason is basically three things:

  1. Neck size (or "beefy-ness").
  2. Scale length.
  3. Neck construction - specifically set neck versus bolt-on.
My Epi LP has a set neck and had a stout and rigid feel and that combined with the shorter scale length makes 11's a natural choice, especially for bending. When I had 10's I often over-bent strings and the 11's have tamed that and the same goes for my Epi 335.
I also employ a "wrap-over" on both tailpieces which, to me, makes the strings a bit "slinkier".

On the other hand, my Strat seems to struggle with 11's. It sounds fine but bends (especially on the lower frets) are sometimes a struggle and I believe that while the scale length adds to that, so too does the thinner neck and its bolt-on configuration in that as I bend, the neck flexes more so than on my Epi's and so it's more of a "push" to get to a full step. So I think I'm going to drop down to 10's and see if that changes.
My Epi Joe Pass came with 10's which were in need of replacement (bought it as a demo) so I restrung it with 11's. But IT'S configuration (trapeze tailpiece and floating bridge) seems to make 11's feel a bit "stiff". I can't identify any obvious reason why this is so, but I think I'll go back to 10's and see what happens.

Conversely, my Fender Meteora came strung with 9's and while I have no problem with tone, the strings are simply too light and I often either over-bend or even lift the string off the fretboard. Of course this guitar has a 9.5-inch radius fretboard while my Strat and both Epi's are 12-inch boards, so that has something to do with it. But another factor is that the Meteora anchors the strings through ferrules in the body and they simply ride over the bridge which in my mind acts in a similar way to the wrap-over I use on my Epi's which makes the strings even slinky-er.
So in the case of the Meteora, I think that going up to 10-gauge strings (or possibly 11's) will help.

Then there's the PRS.
It has a set neck, a 10-inch radius, a 25-inch scale length and a combination bridge/tailpiece and it too was shipped with 9-gauge stings which in this case feel absolutely perfect. Bends are no problem and tone is just fine and even though the specs on this guitar tell me that I could probably go as high as 11's, I really don't feel the need to do so and I think I'll stick with 9's on this one (I suppose this particular guitar is the exception that proves the rule).

So the conclusions I've drawn are that there is no single string gauge that covers all situations and that different guitars respond in different ways to different strings for a variety of reasons and the trick is to identify what each guitar likes and set them up with string gauges that work best for each one.

So it's no more "one-size-fits-all" for me! (y)
 

Gunrunner

Blues and Bird Dogs
Interesting video; I have traditionally used hybrid 9’s (.046-.009) on my Fenders, 10’s on my Gibson’s, and a mixture of both on my PRS’s depending on the particular guitar. Over time I have gone to the hybrid 9’s on many Gibsons as well, but still have a few set up with 10’s. It never occurred to me to try 8’s, and I had no idea that back in the 70’s this was the gauge of choice by many pros. I’m going to try some 8’s just out of curiosity.
 

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
Interesting video; I have traditionally used hybrid 9’s (.046-.009) on my Fenders, 10’s on my Gibson’s, and a mixture of both on my PRS’s depending on the particular guitar. Over time I have gone to the hybrid 9’s on many Gibsons as well, but still have a few set up with 10’s. It never occurred to me to try 8’s, and I had no idea that back in the 70’s this was the gauge of choice by many pros. I’m going to try some 8’s just out of curiosity.

Big fan of hybrid 9s here, too. Generally 11s on my acoustics (including the Acoustasonic).
 

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
I watched the Beato video and went through the samples more than once. I can't hear enough difference to warrant any changes. I buy the lime green Slinkys (10-46) in bulk and put them on everything.

I fooled around with different string sizes several years ago, but mainly with 9-42s and 10-46s. I also tried the Hybrids (plain strings from a 9 set and wound string from a 10 set). With a 25.5 scale, the 9's were OK, but putting them on any Gibson product, my fingers felt like I was roller skating on ice. It felt like I was chasing strings a lot. Funny thing, I noticed much more difference between playing a 24.75 scale v 25.5 with the 9s, where with 10s I don't notice nearly the difference (actually none at all). It all probably comes back to the fact that I'm pretty ham handed to begin with.

The Beato video, I took with a grain of salt, because a). they only used the 24.75 scale of a Les Paul and didn't attempt using a 25.5 scale. b). they only used humbuckers and no single coils. c). they only 'played dirty' and did no comparisons of clean tone.

But as always, that's just my 2 cents and YMMV!
 
Top