String gauges

[Andrew Paul]

I’ve been playing 9’s for years. I like the sound and feel. Every so often I try 10’s to keep up with the Joneses but I never like the sound and feel. Everyone I know likes their 10, so I just shut my mouth about it and don’t talk about my 9’s.

I came across this Rick Beato video this weekend. Shows an interesting string shoot out.

Rhett Shull Was in the video and also created his own with his own equipment.

Watch both videos in their full before commenting. It may surprise you.

 

[veinbuster]

I use all the gauges, just to make sure I’m not missing out.
9s on a couple of old guitars that I got when they were standard
9.5 on the dragon because why mess with perfection
10s on most things by default
11s on a HB, DGT and a Santana stoptail
12s on the archtop...and most acoustics

 

[RickP]

These videos also popped up on the Fractal Audio Systems forum, and drew quite a few comments. I like the guys who did the videos, but I’m not really buying that bit of snake oil. I can change pick thickness and get more difference in sound than I heard there. More power to Rhett if he decided 9s sound better to him. He’s a good player and I’m sure he’s hearing something he likes.

I know the titles are YouTube click bait, and that’s just how it works. In the end, my guitars sounded great before I watched those and, sure enough, when I played them afterwards the sound was still great. I can see a few thousand sets of strings sold to people chasing a couple of YouTubers’ opinions, so I guess it’s a boon for the music stores!

 

[Andrew Paul]

I use all the gauges, just to make sure I’m not missing out.
9s on a couple of old guitars that I got when they were standard
9.5 on the dragon because why mess with perfection
10s on most things by default
11s on a HB, DGT and a Santana stoptail
12s on the archtop...and most acoustics

I use 9.5 on my Paul’s stoptail. I like them very much.

 

[Andrew Paul]

These videos also popped up on the Fractal Audio Systems forum, and drew quite a few comments. I like the guys who did the videos, but I’m not really buying that bit of snake oil. I can change pick thickness and get more difference in sound than I heard there. More power to Rhett if he decided 9s sound better to him. He’s a good player and I’m sure he’s hearing something he likes.

I know the titles are YouTube click bait, and that’s just how it works. In the end, my guitars sounded great before I watched those and, sure enough, when I played them afterwards the sound was still great. I can see a few thousand sets of strings sold to people chasing a couple of YouTubers’ opinions, so I guess it’s a boon for the music stores!

I know what you mean by picks. I Guitars sounds best when I use Ultex material picks. Jazz III

I still stand by my nines, my personal taste. As far as Clickbait, kind of what I thought but I’m still naïve to the YouTube thing and watch it out of enjoyment. But those people making those vids want likes and subscriptions LOL

 

[RickP]

I know what you mean by picks. I Guitars sounds best when I use Ultex material picks. Jazz III

I still stand by my nines, my personal taste. As far as Clickbait, kind of what I thought but I’m still naïve to the YouTube thing and watch it out of enjoyment. But those people making those vids want likes and subscriptions LOL

Definitely right on that! I used to wonder why the titles and lead pictures were so needlessly controversial or inflammatory until I learned that clicks = cash. Then the light came on...

As I get older (turning 60 in March) I might have to go lighter to be kind to my joints, but otherwise I like the middle ground 10s occupy for me. I pick up my co-guitarist’s axe and play it fine, and he uses 9s, which I also used for a long time. I started playing in the 70s and don’t recall anyone I knew using 8s then, as Beato says. Everyone was using 9s. Maybe a regional thing. Anyway, I have no crusade going for a string gauge or set; everyone should play what they like. I just wasn’t going for “add or deduct .002 from a string and it’ll sit better in a mix!” Hogwash.

 

[GADonis]

I currently use 10s on just about everything but my Strat. And that is really only because I got lazy and never got around to swapping the Strat to 10s. I have a serious death grip on the neck which leads to sore finger tips, fatigue, and quick string wear. I get about 2 gigs out of a set and the wraps are worn through on the bottom side.

I'm thinking that going down to 9s might help me relax my grip a bit. Rhett hit on that during his video too. Probably try it out on my Teles first. I could hear some difference in both videos but I believe any difference could be eq'd out if needed.

 

[Bob Hundemer]

I remember reading way back in the day that Page used 8's super slinky. Not sure he eventually changed or not bu at the time I thought it was interesting.
Personally I use 9's and have for ever.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

9-46 here. Love them after trying heavier strings years ago, I much prefer this set.

 

[Andrew Paul]

I remember reading way back in the day that Page used 8's super slinky. Not sure he eventually changed or not bu at the time I thought it was interesting.
Personally I use 9's and have for ever.

I remember see an interview with Brian May and he uses 8’s

 

[RickP]

Yes, some famous players did say they use 8s, even 7s. I can’t imagine the carnage if I tried 7s. Again, to each, their own!

 

[Andrew Paul]

I currently use 10s on just about everything but my Strat. And that is really only because I got lazy and never got around to swapping the Strat to 10s. I have a serious death grip on the neck which leads to sore finger tips, fatigue, and quick string wear. I get about 2 gigs out of a set and the wraps are worn through on the bottom side.

I'm thinking that going down to 9s might help me relax my grip a bit. Rhett hit on that during his video too. Probably try it out on my Teles first. I could hear some difference in both videos but I believe any difference could be eq'd out if needed.

One thing to keep in mind is scale length. Strats have a long scale length than Les Pauls which makes Strat strings stiffer.

 

[Andrew Paul]

Yes, some famous players did say they use 8s, even 7s. I can’t imagine the carnage if I tried 7s. Again, to each, their own!

Didn’t even know 7’s were an option.

 

[bodia]

Didn’t even know 7’s were an option.

Billy Gibbons plays 7s.

https://www.stringsandbeyond.com/du...o_gJ897bitAzRNpIine8UDG6v_XKm6SBoCPc4QAvD_BwE

 

[elvis]

I remember see an interview with Brian May and he uses 8’s

And he uses a sixpence coin for a pick. So breakage can be an issue for him.

 

[elvis]

Many players from the 70s only had access to 0.007s our 0.008s.

I use 0.010 because my ham fists pull lighter strings out of tune and break them more often. I also like the tone. I just put 0.009s on my main guitar and hated them.

I switched to 0.010 originally to get more lows, I have no doubt that going lighter gives a tighter tone and attack, especially for recording. But it’s not the only way.

I think it’s good to put out vids like this to let people know what knobs they can turn.

 

[bodia]

Interesting videos. Thanks for posting. I'm one of those that started in the 80s, and I used 8s. Somewhere along the line, I was using 10s. About 2 years ago I went back to 9s, just to give my hands/wrist a break. I'm happy there.

 

[Andrew Paul]

Billy Gibbons plays 7s.

https://www.stringsandbeyond.com/du...o_gJ897bitAzRNpIine8UDG6v_XKm6SBoCPc4QAvD_BwE

Wow. Imagine putting that on a short scale Santana. Not worth adjusting trem and truss. May I’ll experiment sometime with my stoptail Santana in the distant future.

 

[Andrew Paul]

Interesting videos. Thanks for posting. I'm one of those that started in the 80s, and I used 8s. Somewhere along the line, I was using 10s. About 2 years ago I went back to 9s, just to give my hands/wrist a break. I'm happy there.

I don’t remember using 8’s for any major length of time but I know I did in the 80’s.

 

[Andrew Paul]

And he uses a sixpence coin for a pick. So breakage can be an issue for him.

That’s right! A older silver sixpence coin.