What is your preferred string gauge and do you feel gauge impacts tone?

[colinkanders]

IMO String gauge has more impact on feel than tone, so I go for the strings that feel right to me. I tend to play a bit aggressively, so that's typically 11's on electric and 13's on acoustic.

 

[JasonE]

IMHO, there is a piece missing from this conversation.

Do you use a thicker or thinner pick for different string gauges?

I use a Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm pick for pretty much everything. I notice more of a difference in tone by going to a lighter pick than I do from going up or down one gauge of string.

 

[bodia]

Let your ears decide.

 

[László]

Over the years I've developed a theory that the more gain you add, the less difference the gear makes. Gain seems to act like a sliding scale - play clean and the wood, pickups strings all contribute. Dime the amp and, well enjoy the gain

Yes, as tubes or transistors transition from merely breaking up a little to outright distortion, the sine waves become "clipped" at the top and bottom, becoming square waves; this is why it's often said that amps are 'clipping'. This is how a fuzz box works.

As the sine transitions to square, the high frequencies from the instrument are reduced, the bass is increased, and you begin to hear less of the instrument and more the harmonic content generated by the tubes or solid state components (or in the case of modelers, the modeling software).

In any case, heavier distortion is more about what's generated by the amp than the guitar. So your theory is correct!

 

[László]

I have tremendous respect for Rick Beato, and appreciate his musical knowledge. Nonetheless, on string gauge, I don't think he quite got it right.. There was too much emphasis on distortion, which tends to mask differences in tone.

I don't think there's a gauge that's 'better' or 'best'. Everyone's hands and ears are different, and playing styles matter. I have a very light touch and strumming hand, but find that even with light picking, .009s flop around and go out of tune when I hit the strings. For that reason alone I can't use them, so I play .010s. I think .011s or .012s sound better, but I like the feel of .010s. It's something of a compromise.

Here are some interesting listening observations. First, a video by That Pedal Show; the differences between string gauges are clearly audible in this video:

Here's some reading discussing the effects of heavier strings sustaining more, having more harmonics, and more interaction with the guitar's pickups.:

Some rational facts about String Gauges

The following article was first published on Strung Out? Fret Not! and has been reproduced here by kind permission of the original author. Tonal Considerations Subjectively, higher string gauges will result in a “thicker”, “fatter” or “louder” tone, while lighter string gauges will result in a...

solodallas.com

And another video discussing tone differences in string gauges:

 

[matonanjin]

Let your ears decide.

Thanks, bodia. I was going to try and find that video to post here. Very appropriate to this convo.

 

[Black-Viper75]

I use 10-52 because I'm tuned in D standard. I've never felt that guage impacts tone. It does definitely impact feel and playability though. @bodia posted a fantastic video on the subject.

 

[László]

IMHO, there is a piece missing from this conversation.

Do you use a thicker or thinner pick for different string gauges?

I use a Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm pick for pretty much everything. I notice more of a difference in tone by going to a lighter pick than I do from going up or down one gauge of string.

Pick! Another truly personal preference thing!

I use Blue Chip picks - .89mm, 1.0mm and 1.1mm, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. These are used regardless of string gauge (both electric and acoustic). I use the Jazz, slighter larger jazz, and standard shaped picks. In my hands, a pointier pick leads to more precision when playing single notes and arpeggios, where a rounder pick is great for strumming.

On occasion, if I want the mic to pick up a little more pick noise at the beginning of a note (I'll sometimes use the non-word, "clack" to describe the noise), I'll use a medium celluloid pick. Pick material affects tone, too.

And the material used to make the strings matters. On electric, I prefer vintage-style pure nickel-wrapped strings instead of nickel plated steel. On acoustic, 80/10 bronze sounds nicer with my acoustic than phosphor bronze. I use a Bluegrass set, medium bottoms, light tops.

 

[Ovibos]

Pick! Another truly personal preference thing!

I use Blue Chip picks - .89mm, 1.0mm and 1.1mm, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. These are used regardless of string gauge (both electric and acoustic). I use the Jazz, slighter larger jazz, and standard shaped picks. In my hands, a pointier pick leads to more precision when playing single notes and arpeggios, where a rounder pick is great for strumming.

On occasion, if I want the mic to pick up a little more pick noise at the beginning of a note (I'll sometimes use the non-word, "clack" to describe the noise), I'll use a medium celluloid pick. Pick material affects tone, too.

And the material used to make the strings matters. On electric, I prefer vintage-style pure nickel-wrapped strings instead of nickel plated steel. On acoustic, 80/10 bronze sounds nicer with my acoustic than phosphor bronze. I use a Bluegrass set, medium bottoms, light tops.

My wife bought me a Blue Chip and I left it in an hourly rehearsal space...

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Let your ears decide.

Ouch painful!

 

[Kiwi]

There are other things to consider too, besides gauge: Material and winding.

I went to nickel wound strings years ago, for their slightly more muted tone. I settled on DR Pure Blues as my standard.

I've written here about going to flatwounds when the occasion calls for it, too.

Flat Wound vs Nickel Wound Strings - Experiment Over

About 3 months ago, I put a set of flat wound strings on my PRS HB I guitar that i have owned sinced 2008. I was looking for a darker mellower type of sound that you hear on Jazz recordings. So I decided to take the plunge and see. I put 10 gauge flatwounds on the guitar. All my other electric...

forums.prsguitars.com

Consider flat wounds. No, seriously. Hear me out.

I have an odd gear recommendation. It may be esoteric, but stay with me. It has to do with strings. Thomastik-Infeld flatwounds. Okay, if you're still reading ... :eek: The T-I strings tame the problem children in my guitar collection, then send them off to finishing school, where they then...

forums.prsguitars.com

That said: I switch between 10s and 11s. 11s sound bigger to me; they jiggle the pickup more. But 10s have more juicy chime.

=K

 

[Toolmaster Of Brainerd]

9.5
12
16
28
38
48

Or if I'm tuning to drop C#, then I bump the 48 to a 52.

For plain strings, 9.5 is perfect to me. I can comfortably bend a step and a half; with 10s it's strained. But 9s feel too floppy, especially when tuned a half step down.

For wound strings, I like them a little thicker. They intonation better. Much less warble with power chords.

 

[Rider1260]

Play the string gauge that lets you play the longest , or makes you the most comfortable IMHO
easy enough to adjust the amp to make up for any difference in tone.
for me 10-46s on 25" and shorter scale . 9.5-44 on 25.5 in scale

 

[andy474x]

For me, it’s all about intonation and feel, the former being something that perhaps gets ignored too often. As @LSchefman mentioned, smaller gauge strings don’t play well with certain playing styles.

When it comes to tone, strong gauge isn’t even part of my thought process. Not saying there aren’t differences, but intonation and providing the best ease of play are much bigger factors to the overall musical effort than a small difference in tone. And, like @Kiwi said, when it’s time to think of the tone in the strings, that’s where selecting different materials comes in. Another thing that often gets ignored.

 

[Rod/]

Not on the list - 9.5s. Perfect sweet spot between 9 & 10 on a 25" PRS.

9.5’s for me as well.. the perfect compromise
fwiw, David Grissom is now using 10.5’s

 

[Texas_minor_blues]

OP you didn't list ranges only the top string.

On the SE's I stick with PRS 9-42 and all others 9-46. Not much string tone difference to my ears and lets the guitar voice out

I used to play 11-52 And that was a cool gauge but it was hard work. I'd like to try the Rev Willie gauge and feel they would not last long durability-wise.

I honestly did that for simplicity purposes. I am aware that there are tons of variations on string sets but just wanted a broad response

 

[Texas_minor_blues]

IMHO, there is a piece missing from this conversation.

Do you use a thicker or thinner pick for different string gauges?

I use a Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm pick for pretty much everything. I notice more of a difference in tone by going to a lighter pick than I do from going up or down one gauge of string.

You are absolutely correct I do believe that picks also play a role but opted to leave them out of this poll so the focus could be on the strings

 

[Mystic38]

in some attempt to equalize string tension i have 9.5's on strats and 10's on LP scale lengths

 

[phillybri]

9-42 for me, strictly on how they feel. I don't think string gauge affects tone all that much...

 

[sergiodeblanc]

.10’s and yeah, they sound different. Not better or worse, just different.