Open mindedness leads to innovation.
I’m in my mid 50s, so that might sound contradictory for a boomer, but I’ve always subscribed to it. With strings, in the late 70s everything was 9s. I didn’t consider options because no one talked about it. Played those almost exclusively for nearly 20 years. Even my first PRS came with 9s. Some 10s now and then but experimented more with all nickel vs nickel steel. Then came the DGT and its 11s. The pendulum swung the other way and I started playing 11s across the board and loved it. But here’s the catch: what you need when you’re playing guitar by yourself in your living room or studio is completely different than what you might need in a band setting. You’re fighting for every frequency you can claim, and when your guitar is emphasizing something that’s also stepping on the bass guitar or drum, someone loses. And it’s a waste of amp watts to reproduce it. So, in my latest quandary - DGT is magnificent with a pair of rigs that are universally perfect for all of my guitars but is flubby on rhythms - this topic reminded me of how to shave off those conflicting frequencies without changing anything else. So today, on my day off, I’m doing the unthinkable and putting 9s on my DGT. The next practice will tell me if I’m tumbling down the wrong rabbit hole. Oh, and will feel like Superman on the fretboard, too.
I’m in my mid 50s, so that might sound contradictory for a boomer, but I’ve always subscribed to it. With strings, in the late 70s everything was 9s. I didn’t consider options because no one talked about it. Played those almost exclusively for nearly 20 years. Even my first PRS came with 9s. Some 10s now and then but experimented more with all nickel vs nickel steel. Then came the DGT and its 11s. The pendulum swung the other way and I started playing 11s across the board and loved it. But here’s the catch: what you need when you’re playing guitar by yourself in your living room or studio is completely different than what you might need in a band setting. You’re fighting for every frequency you can claim, and when your guitar is emphasizing something that’s also stepping on the bass guitar or drum, someone loses. And it’s a waste of amp watts to reproduce it. So, in my latest quandary - DGT is magnificent with a pair of rigs that are universally perfect for all of my guitars but is flubby on rhythms - this topic reminded me of how to shave off those conflicting frequencies without changing anything else. So today, on my day off, I’m doing the unthinkable and putting 9s on my DGT. The next practice will tell me if I’m tumbling down the wrong rabbit hole. Oh, and will feel like Superman on the fretboard, too.