colinkanders
Compulsive Noodler
IMO String gauge has more impact on feel than tone, so I go for the strings that feel right to me. I tend to play a bit aggressively, so that's typically 11's on electric and 13's on acoustic.
Yes, as tubes or transistors transition from merely breaking up a little to outright distortion, the sine waves become "clipped" at the top and bottom, becoming square waves; this is why it's often said that amps are 'clipping'. This is how a fuzz box works.Over the years I've developed a theory that the more gain you add, the less difference the gear makes. Gain seems to act like a sliding scale - play clean and the wood, pickups strings all contribute. Dime the amp and, well enjoy the gain
Thanks, bodia. I was going to try and find that video to post here. Very appropriate to this convo.Let your ears decide.
Pick! Another truly personal preference thing!IMHO, there is a piece missing from this conversation.
Do you use a thicker or thinner pick for different string gauges?
I use a Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm pick for pretty much everything. I notice more of a difference in tone by going to a lighter pick than I do from going up or down one gauge of string.
My wife bought me a Blue Chip and I left it in an hourly rehearsal space...Pick! Another truly personal preference thing!
I use Blue Chip picks - .89mm, 1.0mm and 1.1mm, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. These are used regardless of string gauge (both electric and acoustic). I use the Jazz, slighter larger jazz, and standard shaped picks. In my hands, a pointier pick leads to more precision when playing single notes and arpeggios, where a rounder pick is great for strumming.
On occasion, if I want the mic to pick up a little more pick noise at the beginning of a note (I'll sometimes use the non-word, "clack" to describe the noise), I'll use a medium celluloid pick. Pick material affects tone, too.
And the material used to make the strings matters. On electric, I prefer vintage-style pure nickel-wrapped strings instead of nickel plated steel. On acoustic, 80/10 bronze sounds nicer with my acoustic than phosphor bronze. I use a Bluegrass set, medium bottoms, light tops.
Let your ears decide.
9.5’s for me as well.. the perfect compromiseNot on the list - 9.5s. Perfect sweet spot between 9 & 10 on a 25" PRS.
I honestly did that for simplicity purposes. I am aware that there are tons of variations on string sets but just wanted a broad responseOP you didn't list ranges only the top string.
On the SE's I stick with PRS 9-42 and all others 9-46. Not much string tone difference to my ears and lets the guitar voice out
I used to play 11-52 And that was a cool gauge but it was hard work. I'd like to try the Rev Willie gauge and feel they would not last long durability-wise.
You are absolutely correct I do believe that picks also play a role but opted to leave them out of this poll so the focus could be on the stringsIMHO, there is a piece missing from this conversation.
Do you use a thicker or thinner pick for different string gauges?
I use a Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm pick for pretty much everything. I notice more of a difference in tone by going to a lighter pick than I do from going up or down one gauge of string.