x light gauge strings

[gioforce76]

So after watching the "does string size matter "video I tried lowering all my string gauges. I put 8s on my custom 22 and my 513 and 8.5 on the dc-3 . At first you feel like you can play better , because I think its new. You really do need a light touch which apparently I don't have and don't really strive for. Acoustically the custom 22 sounded like crap you could barely hear the strings at all and plugged in sounded okay at best. The tension really messed with my playing , I became more sloppy. The pick didn't bounce off the strings like it used to. My string bending felt way easier and I didn't over bend ,but something was missing . I like the little bit of fight you get from 10s. 8 gauge strings just lacked in many places for me. It was a fun experiment and an inexpensive one. It just wasn't for me. So back to 10s and 11s in Eflat for me and certain guitars get 9s. Its amazing how the custom 22 rings out now , I put a set of PRS signature 10s on it. sounds great and since I can't always plug in , I love how it sounds again. I picked it up last night when it still had 8s on it and was very uninspired to play it. So that was my cabin fever experiment. I really enjoyed the 8s at first but after playing them for over 2 weeks it just wasn't for me.

 

[Huggy Love]

So after watching the "does string size matter "video I tried lowering all my string gauges. I put 8s on my custom 22 and my 513 and 8.5 on the dc-3 . At first you feel like you can play better , because I think its new. You really do need a light touch which apparently I don't have and don't really strive for. Acoustically the custom 22 sounded like crap you could barely hear the strings at all and plugged in sounded okay at best. The tension really messed with my playing , I became more sloppy. The pick didn't bounce off the strings like it used to. My string bending felt way easier and I didn't over bend ,but something was missing . I like the little bit of fight you get from 10s. 8 gauge strings just lacked in many places for me. It was a fun experiment and an inexpensive one. It just wasn't for me. So back to 10s and 11s in Eflat for me and certain guitars get 9s. Its amazing how the custom 22 rings out now , I put a set of PRS signature 10s on it. sounds great and since I can't always plug in , I love how it sounds again. I picked it up last night when it still had 8s on it and was very uninspired to play it. So that was my cabin fever experiment. I really enjoyed the 8s at first but after playing them for over 2 weeks it just wasn't for me.

100% agree, I saw the vid and I love the guy, he's a beast of a player and shares ton of knowledge on his channel, but I think he got it wrong.

9's & 8's are easier to play, bend, etc. but tonewise they lack compared to 10's & 11's, I've even listened to the comparisons and to my ears its pretty clear, even though the folks making the comparisons say the lighter gauges sound just as good or better just to support their claim.

I've considered putting 9's on one of my guitars just to rip around real fast but I'm hesitant because it takes some adjustment in playing technique. That's what you ran into. If you played light gauge only for a while your hands and mind would get used to it. One of the trade offs of the string game, (lighter=easier to play / heavier=better tone), just have to find your happy zone.

 

[gioforce76]

100% agree, I saw the vid and I love the guy, he's a beast of a player and shares ton of knowledge on his channel, but I think he got it wrong.

9's & 8's are easier to play, bend, etc. but tonewise they lack compared to 10's & 11's, I've even listened to the comparisons and to my ears its pretty clear, even though the folks making the comparisons say the lighter gauges sound just as good or better just to support their claim.

I've considered putting 9's on one of my guitars just to rip around real fast but I'm hesitant because it takes some adjustment in playing technique. That's what you ran into. If you played light gauge only for a while your hands and mind would get used to it. One of the trade offs of the string game, (lighter=easier to play / heavier=better tone), just have to find your happy zone.

10s for me seem to be the happy zone. I tried at least to see what it was all about.

 

[CandidPicker]

My feeling is that unless 10s cause pain or are too "stiff" feeling, using 10s will improve your hand strength, rather than if you switch to a lighter gauge string.

And since a lot of us could all use some exercise every so often, IMHO, it makes sense to keep the 10s on my guitars, if they will improve my hand strength. In all reality, 11s or higher gauges may sound 'more phat' tone-wise, but unless you can bend appreciably without pain, it's just not worth it, IMO. And most guitarists do need to bend strings; it's just part of your technique for rock and blues.

Other genres such as traditional jazz may not require bending, so higher gauges are entirely possible here.

 

[gioforce76]

My feeling is that unless 10s cause pain or are too "stiff" feeling, using 10s will improve your hand strength, rather than if you switch to a lighter gauge string.

And since a lot of us could all use some exercise every so often, IMHO, it makes sense to keep the 10s on my guitars, if they will improve my hand strength. In all reality, 11s or higher gauges may sound 'more phat' tone-wise, but unless you can bend appreciably without pain, it's just not worth it, IMO. And most guitarists do need to bend strings; it's just part of your technique for rock and blues.

Other genres such as traditional jazz may not require bending, so higher gauges are entirely possible here.

My normal everyday finger exercises I was doing sounded terrible on 8 gauge strings , I was way worse after the newness of the 8s wore off.

 

[gioforce76]

Also if you havent tried the PRS signature strings you should ,they sound and feel really nice

 

[RickP]

I thought that video was another one of those controversy-for-controversy’s-sake videos. I like Rick and Rhett, but that video did nothing for me. It did spur a lot of conversations and likely sold a lot of strings, but I doubt did anyone any playing favors.

Still Elixir 10s for me, but I’m going to try the PRS set for fun at some point. I got a set with the Signature Club that I haven’t used yet.

 

[gioforce76]

I thought that video was another one of those controversy-for-controversy’s-sake videos. I like Rick and Rhett, but that video did nothing for me. It did spur a lot of conversations and likely sold a lot of strings, but I doubt did anyone any playing favors.

Still Elixir 10s for me, but I’m going to try the PRS set for fun at some point. I got a set with the Signature Club that I haven’t used yet.

The prs signature are pretty good , I’ve tried elixirs and I’m not sure how I feel about them. The ones I tried just felt too slick .
In really like the Nyxl and the xt from D’Addario.

The only thing that I don’t like about D’Addario and prs stings is the fact they wrap two together . It’s a pain at a gig when you break a string and you just want the one. I like the individual envelopes.

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Well I'm a nickel 10's guy, on everything, except those that come stock with 11's. Brands all are similar enough for me.

I think Billy Gibbons and EVH have played with 008's, and some say they have pretty good tone , but 008's just feel weird to me, too.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

The prs signature are pretty good , I’ve tried elixirs and I’m not sure how I feel about them. The ones I tried just felt too slick .
In really like the Nyxl and the xt from D’Addario.

The only thing that I don’t like about D’Addario and prs stings is the fact they wrap two together . It’s a pain at a gig when you break a string and you just want the one. I like the individual envelopes.

I think you need another guitar!!

For gig emergencies, just saying!!

 

[Alan Manning]

I really like their vids but if you've been playing as long as they have and had a guitar for eon's you really should have worked out what doe's and does'nt work for you by now on that particular Instrument.

 

[11top]

I have (a number of) new unopened 9s I’d trade For 10s if anyone’s interested. PM me.

 

[Prs Mods too]

Yup, Billy Gibbons uses 7s actually. Same as me since a wrist injury. I actually tune down a half step too.

To me they sound as good as 10s...once playing technique is properly adjusted.

 

[Eddie kim]

Been using hybrid 9-46 on my strat and Les Paul type guitar. On my PRS I use the regular 9.

 

[Casi1]

I tried 8s a while back and didn’t care for the tension. I played 9s on everything for the first year or so but eventually discovered that I preferred the way 10s felt. I couldn’t hear a significant difference in tone between any of the strings as long as the metal composition was the same between the string sets.

I still liked the 9s on my strat in standard tuning but found everything to be too ‘weird’ when tuned down. And now since all of my strats stay tuned down, I’m back to 10s on everything except the LP (which has a mixed set of 10s and 11s).

The oddest thing to me is still the Hendrix 10-38 set. I really like that set but I don’t know why.