Lighter string gauge for a hardtail vs trem...anyone?

[Russ73]

Right now after all the experimenting Ive settled on 9.5s for all my USA PRS, my SE I kept the 9s on there as they came with....My Standard 22 Trems feel great with the 9.5s but the S2 Mira is really stiff. is it the fact that its a hardtail? do any of you guys simply use lighter strings with a hardtail to compensate for having zero up pull?? just curious...

 

[jxe]

a real bridge doesn’t care what guage you use, that’s the trem strings ‘fugginwitchoo’.

Right now after all the experimenting Ive settled on 9.5s for all my USA PRS, my SE I kept the 9s on there as they came with....My Standard 22 Trems feel great with the 9.5s but the S2 Mira is really stiff. is it the fact that its a hardtail? do any of you guys simply use lighter strings with a hardtail to compensate for having zero up pull?? just curious...

 

[garrett]

I do think a floating trem has a softer feel than a hard tail. I like 9.5 on my 594, but I also like the feel of 9.5 on my CU22 with trem, despite the longer scale.

I tend to like 9-46 on a 25" scale hard tail.

 

[Andrew Paul]

I use 9’s on both trems and my two tune o matic bridge/tail piece set up 25” scale. I no longer have PRS Guitars with wrap around stoptail bridges but when I did I used 9’s for 25” scale. I used 9.5’s for 24.5” scale length, Core Santana.

 

[Callan]

I have 10-46 on my prs trem guitars, and 10-52 on the hard tails (+LP), which goes opposite to your question
Do whatever works for you, there is no right or wrong.

Changing string gauge can alter the height of the strings, the angle of the neck (tension), how the strings move through the nut etc etc.

And yes, trem can move - when you bend a string, you'll also be able to move the trem (and put every string out of tune momentarily)

 

[Steven Lafferty]

I have used 9s for a long time on everything I have. Currently I have a Fender Nashville Tele, an older Fender Strat, an Ovation, and now a new PRS SE Custom 24 Zebrawood. I use to use 10s but my attack is not really aggressive and I found the 9s were much more enjoyable and comfortable to me. I always figured that is why they put nobs on amps and pedals. Adjust them to the way you play to get what you want. But, that is just me.

 

[11top]

For me, it’s more about scale length than bridge type.

 

[CyFan4036]

If a guitar feels stiff with what you know are good strings, you’ve got a setup issue.