String Experimenting and random thoughts.......Am I in the minority playing .11's on a PRS?

[Orange Tiger]

As the thread title says really.... I'm currently experimenting a little bit with strings. For a while now i've played .10-.46 on all my electrics (I have a Strat, a 335, a Les Paul and a McCarty 594) Mainly using Ernie Ball strings. Internet rule of thumb (must be true.....) suggests shorter scale length = thicker strings and vice versa. However, I don't subscribe to this.

Currently I'm switching to D'addario and have thrown pure nickel .11s on my Strat which sounds awesome. Having that slightly darker sound suits my strat and the thicker strings play great.

I've also thrown .11s on my Gibsons and due to the success of trialing the pure nickel strings i'm going to try those on the 335 and Les Paul as well- I'm curious to see if they suit humbuckers as well as they do the Strat single coils or if they mellow things out too much.

When it comes to my 594, i've currently put D'addario .10.5-.48 on, but I think i'm going to go up to .11-.49s. I have found the 594 to be quite a dark sounding guitar therefore I think pure nickel strings are going to be too dark on this. As a result i'm tempted to go the other end of the scale and throw some NYXLs on it.

Having read a number of other string related topics on this forum i'm surprised to have concluded that the majority of you guys play .9s or .10s? There hasn't been much mention at all from anyone playing .11s on their PRS's - Is my conclusion wrong? Have I been reading the wrong posts? or is that fellow .11 string players out there don't like talking about it!!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

DGT’s come with elevens and a bunch of owners wind up just rolling with them... there’s also a ton of metal heads, so I’m sure there are others who rock bigger strings..


I don’t because I’m a p@ssy.

 

[Tucson Thump]

The 11s work great on the DGT but I keep the 10s on the 594 because it just seems so perfect for me the way it is. When you went up to 10.5 did you do any nut work?

 

[Orange Tiger]

The 11s work great on the DGT but I keep the 10s on the 594 because it just seems so perfect for me the way it is. When you went up to 10.5 did you do any nut work?

Nope no nut work or truss rod adjustment needed. Going by my own experience, changing between single gauges shouldn't require nut work. Jumping from .10 up to .12 or .13 possibly would but one gauge either way shouldn't make a difference. Others may have differing opinions which might indicate I've just been fortunate in the past?

 

[John Beef]

I've been playing 11s on standard tuned guitars since the early to mid 90s, so anything else feels flimsy and weird.

 

[WeFixFlats]

My experiment was to change to the D'Addario 'Balanced Tension' sets of '10's for my 2016 McCarty, 2012 Santana and 2000 McRosie and '11's' for my 2011 DGT. They feel more comfortable under my fingers and across and up the entire fret board compared to the 'standard' tension sets. YMMV...

http://www.daddario.com/Balanced_Tension.page

 

[veinbuster]

I have 11s on some PRS: DGT, HB piezo and a Santana for sure, maybe something else.

 

[Huggy Love]

I use 11s on my HBs for tone and 10s on my solid bodies for playability.

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Some prefer heavier strings because they maintain heavier pull (less "flapping about") therefore can be picked faster, and return to their original position . Hope I'm explaining that somewhere close to accurately??! You can theoretically also set your action lower with higher gauge strings.

 

[garrett]

I used 11's on my CU24 for a while in the late 90's - early 00's. I was young, played a lot, and played hard, so it worked well. As time went on I went down to 10's. Then in '11, I built a Tele and went with 9-46 so I could easily do those quick full-step country bends at the second fret. I got used to the lighter touch and went to 9-46 on everything.

When I got my 594, I went to 9.5-44 and they feel just right. Curiously enough, I put the same gauge on my CU22 and it feels equally great, despite the longer scale. I'm guessing the give of the trem springs help loosen up the feel a bit.

 

[Kiwi]

I use 11s on my HBs for tone and 10s on my solid bodies for playability.

Yup, me too. 11s on the big belly boyz, 10s on the solids.

PRS Geek stuff:

The most interesting experiment in string gauge was for my PRS ME Quatro. Solid rosewood neck. I tried 10s at first. They were fine, but I wanted to take advantage of the quick attack and long sustain. So I put on 11s - and tuned down a full step, to D standard.

Didn't care for the result - there were some weird overtones. Went back to 10s, but the long sustain still bothered me a bit. (I play fingerstyle a lot, and long sustain on ringing bass notes is not necessarily your friend.)

I went down to 9s - ah! perfect! Juicy chime and a reasonable sustain! I filled it out with a 10 on the top E, and it's wonderfully balanced now.

But going from playing a PRS HB with 11s to the MEQ with skinny little 9s takes a few minutes to adjust.

=K

 

[Huggy Love]

Yup, me too. 11s on the big belly boyz, 10s on the solids.

PRS Geek stuff:

The most interesting experiment in string gauge was for my PRS ME Quatro. Solid rosewood neck. I tried 10s at first. They were fine, but I wanted to take advantage of the quick attack and long sustain. So I put on 11s - and tuned down a full step, to D standard.

Didn't care for the result - there were some weird overtones. Went back to 10s, but the long sustain still bothered me a bit. (I play fingerstyle a lot, and long sustain on ringing bass notes is not necessarily your friend.)

I went down to 9s - ah! perfect! Juicy chime and a reasonable sustain! I filled it out with a 10 on the top E, and it's wonderfully balanced now.

But going from playing a PRS HB with 11s to the MEQ with skinny little 9s takes a few minutes to adjust.

=K

On my solid bodies I use 10-46 but I usually swap out the high E to an 11, gives me more meat on the top string and bendability on the lower ones.

 

[Rider1260]

I am a 10-46 guy these days back in my Strat days played 11s with a wound 3rd, It was hell on the neck of my 70s 3 bolt Strat and playing long country rock songs almost killed me but it sounded good.
Went down to 9s but it tuff for my heavy handed playing so back to 10s it is. I play DR Strings because they feel a bit thicker than most string at a gauge than most

 

[1BlinkGone]

When I was still in circulation, as far as my former PRS guitars, I think I went with whatever the guitar was setup with from the factory. All my PRS guitars, save for my 1st production run SC245, had the 25" scale. Eventually, it was 10's on my last 3 PRS guitars....never tried 11's on any of them. I went through MANY cartons of D'Addarios on my 80's PRS guitars. lol

For my F, G, and TA guitars it was first, 9's on Strats and 10's on Les Pauls...GHS BURNISHED NICKELS. Then I bumped-up to 11's on Les Pauls and 10's on Stratocasters.

Since the difference in the two scale lengths means a difference in tension, i'd use this formula for consistency in feel regarding bending strings.

(EDIT) Looking fwd to trying a DGT with 11's...

 

[Mike Duncan]

11s for me. Being a life-long Fender player, the 25" length STILL feels too short with lighter strings.

 

[merciful-evans]

I admire all you 11s players.
I only use 11s on my hollowbody archtop. They are flatwounds. I used to use 12s on it. It needs a lot of tension to keep the bridge in place

Everything else is 10-46

 

[Ovibos]

I've moved down to 9.5s on my CE24.

 

[CVS]

I use .10's on all my electrics (PRS & others). Have noodled around in the past with .09's and .11's but always seem to end up back using .10's. My fingertips thank me for not playing .11's
On acoustic steel string guitars, I use .11's with a .12 gauge high e string (I find it easier to work with when finger picking.)

 

[90sMcCarty]

I've been playing 11s on standard tuned guitars since the early to mid 90s, so anything else feels flimsy and weird.

Me, too.

I only play on DR Pure Blues 11s (.11-.50), when I have a choice. Same strings, same size, for 20+ years.

9s feel like toys, to me. So awkward, even though I started on 9s forever ago.

 

[andy474x]

10’s for me (or equivalent tension for down tuned guitars). Did 11’s on my strat for a few years, better for smacking them with the SRV licks, but the frets are now quite worn down and 11’s are hard to bend. Probably could on my PRS guitars if I played a lot and built some strength, but I don’t feel a need to do so, tonally. The bigger thing, by far, is determining if pure nickel or nickel/steel is the best fit. I see guys changing pickups, string sizes, when IMO it’s the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way to influence tone.