Some guitars just play and sound best with heavier gauge strings?

[boardn10]

Do you guys find that some guitars just lend themselves better to heavy or light gauge strings?
For example, I have been playing this new single cut for a little while now and it just feels like it works better with 11 gauge strings then 10 gauge strings. I have another single cut that works really well with 10 gauge. The 11 gauge just bring out something in the tone of the one single cut. It was just something I went with by feel but it worked.

My one SC plays so well but it is brighter than my others and I want to warm it up. I may try pure nickel and 11s.

 

[László]

Do you guys find that some guitars just lend themselves better to heavy or light gauge strings?
For example, I have been playing this new single cut for a little while now and it just feels like it works better with 11 gauge strings then 10 gauge strings. I have another single cut that works really well with 10 gauge. The 11 gauge just bring out something in the tone of the one single cut. It was just something I went with by feel but it worked.

I'd have to agree; I also find that some guitars work better for me with pure nickel wraps, as opposed to nickel plated steel.

 

[JasonE]

Yes! One thing I always say is that each guitar has it's own soul. Some like heavier strings. Some like higher action. Some like lighter strings and/or lower action. When I do a setup on a guitar I start with things at measurements that I know will get me in the ballpark and then tweak from there to find where the guitar wants to be. One thing that I can really feel a difference in when you find the right setting is how easy the strings bend.

 

[ViperDoc]

I absolutely love .011s on shorter scale guitars, especially hollow bodies. Even .0105 gives it a little something. Stringjoy offers custom sets.

 

[boardn10]

I'd have to agree; I also find that some guitars work better for me with pure nickel wraps, as opposed to nickel plated steel.

Interesting on the nickel. I tempted to try pure nickel on my one Singlecut.

 

[boardn10]

I absolutely love .011s on shorter scale guitars, especially hollow bodies. Even .0105 gives it a little something. Stringjoy offers custom sets.

Me too but I am talking about guitars of the same scale, like two 25" scale PRS guitars.

I feel my SC wants a gauge heavier than my SC250. Odd, I know.

 

[ViperDoc]

Me too but I am talking about guitars of the same scale, like two 25" scale PRS guitars.

I feel my SC wants a gauge heavier than my SC250. Odd, I know.

I've got .011s on my DGT, they feel at home on a 25-inch scale axe also, especially with the trem bridge in my experience. Enjoy!

 

[boardn10]

I've got .011s on my DGT, they feel at home on a 25-inch scale axe also, especially with the trem bridge in my experience. Enjoy!

My SC250 has the adjustable bridge.
My CE22 has a trem and my 01 SC is light weight and has the hardtail wraparound but is not adjustable. Maybe they give a brighter tone than the adjustable bridges.
Plus it feels more slinky than my SC250.

What do you guys think would change if I got an adjustable bridge for it?

This guitar is use 10-52 or 11-54 on the fixed wraparound hardtail.

 

[Rod/]

Interesting on the nickel. I tempted to try pure nickel on my one Singlecut.

That will definitely warm up the highs. Pyramid and Curt Mangan make great round core all nickel strings

 

[boardn10]

That will definitely warm up the highs. Pyramid and Curt Mangan make great round core all nickel strings

They work well for hard rock?

So I ended up bumping the strings up a gauge or two and I can't believe the difference. Everything feels and sounds better. I'm getting deeper and louder resonance from the guitar, acoustically. I tend to really like heavy gauges. The strings don't have as much play in them, so for me, a lot of my playing is cleaner and more precise and I don't find bending strings any harder.

 

[boardn10]

Yes! One thing I always say is that each guitar has it's own soul. Some like heavier strings. Some like higher action. Some like lighter strings and/or lower action. When I do a setup on a guitar I start with things at measurements that I know will get me in the ballpark and then tweak from there to find where the guitar wants to be. One thing that I can really feel a difference in when you find the right setting is how easy the strings bend.

I'm glad you posted this. It makes a lot of sense. This singlecut had my standard set of 10-52, and I wasn't quite feeling it. I changed them to 11-54 and I'm loving it. It made that big a difference.

 

[Rod/]

They work well for hard rock?

So I ended up bumping the strings up a gauge or two and I can't believe the difference. Everything feels and sounds better. I'm getting deeper and louder resonance from the guitar, acoustically. I tend to really like heavy gauges. The strings don't have as much play in them, so for me, a lot of my playing is cleaner and more precise and I don't find bending strings any harder.

IMHO, no…. Your best bet for hard rock would be hex core GHS Boomers… or Curt Mangans…. You pick the gauge that suits that guitar best.. only you can figure that out. if there’s to much high end, turn the volume pot on the guitar to 9 and adjust your tone pot to say 5…..had to do this with my DGT. Now it sounds well balanced

 

[goat-n-gitter]

Maybe I'm just lazy, but my 10-46 GHS Boomers work fine for me on pretty much all my electrics. The only exception is my Strat that I string with 9-46 Boomers to make bending easier on the 25.5" scale.

 

[boardn10]

IMHO, no…. Your best bet for hard rock would be hex core GHS Boomers… or Curt Mangans…. You pick the gauge that suits that guitar best.. only you can figure that out. if there’s to much high end, turn the volume pot on the guitar to 9 and adjust your tone pot to say 5…..had to do this with my DGT. Now it sounds well balanced

I hate turning the volume pot down on my guitar when playing with gain because when I switch back to my clean channel, the volume drops.

I'm using String Joy Signatures and man they rock! Love them. I stopped using D'Addario, Ernie Ball and GHS when I made the switch. I was going to try their pure nickel, but instead I bumped up to thr Signature hex core custom 11-54 set and I'm loving it.

On my PRS CE22 tuned half step down, I'm using 12-56. Amazing.
I wondered why I always played so much faster and cleaner on acoustic guitars, but struggled now and then on electrics. It was due to the light gauge strings. Now that I bumped my electrics up, I'm so much faster and cleaner, and it didn't take long to get used to bending the heavier gauges. I'm loving it. Plus the Singlecuts sound so much richer. I'm in love. I hated how on fast runs with light strings, they always felt floppy. Now I can play a fast run, just like on my acoustics and the strings don't flex or move around. Lovin' it.