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Post by george on Jul 18, 2021 20:33:10 GMT
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Post by zontar on Jul 19, 2021 7:59:10 GMT
Yeah--use what you like--and he acknowledges that--btu 8s are not for him.
I would agree--btu only using 11s for slide.
Although I learned hammer ons & pull offs with 11s...
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Post by infant on Jul 19, 2021 12:19:24 GMT
I’ve been using D’addario 11s for about 25 years now. My Melody Maker came with 10s and I’ve never changed the gauge on it. Definitely easier to bend than the 11s on my Teles but the slight change in gauge doesn’t really affect the tone in my opinion. Once I use up my stats of 11s, I may just change everything over to 10s as I’m starting to get some arthritis in my hands.
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 19, 2021 12:36:28 GMT
Totally not surprised about this. The heavier the gauge, the more tone and output you will get from the guitar. I've tried 8's in a store and I simply had to stop because I was so frustrated- the tension was too low and the tone too thin.
But that said, people have their reasons for favoring lighter strings. It certainly makes the guitars easier to play.
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Post by johnreardon on Jul 19, 2021 14:36:20 GMT
He went into that already having made his mind up.
Play whatever makes you happy. The sound in your head and the strings on your fingers is what matters
7 or 8s, this sounds fine to me
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 19, 2021 14:52:53 GMT
He went into that already having made his mind up. I noticed that too- it certainly wasn't an unbiased account... |
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Post by zontar on Jul 19, 2021 22:13:16 GMT
He went into that already having made his mind up. I noticed that too- it certainly wasn't an unbiased account... Well nobody is unbiased. We all have shown that in what we're saying--and we all have a bias based on experience & other factors. |
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Post by johnreardon on Jul 20, 2021 7:53:21 GMT
I noticed that too- it certainly wasn't an unbiased account... Well nobody is unbiased. We all have shown that in what we're saying--and we all have a bias based on experience & other factors.Yes, but I know I'm right   |
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Post by allthumbs56 on Jul 20, 2021 13:39:13 GMT
I liked using 9's until I got fed up with breakage. I use 10's on all my electrics and it's a good compromise of tone and bending. Just not much good for slide.
I don't know how Gibbons manages to make his sound so good.
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Post by johnreardon on Jul 20, 2021 15:17:52 GMT
I liked using 9's until I got fed up with breakage. I use 10's on all my electrics and it's a good compromise of tone and bending. Just not much good for slide. I don't know how Gibbons manages to make his sound so good. Attachments:
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 20, 2021 18:31:25 GMT
I liked using 9's until I got fed up with breakage. I use 10's on all my electrics and it's a good compromise of tone and bending. Just not much good for slide. I don't know how Gibbons manages to make his sound so good. Must be the high end cables he uses... |
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Post by zontar on Jul 21, 2021 7:33:29 GMT
You know the string I used to break the most was the D--and mostly on one guitar--so I took a small file & smoothened out the bridge saddle & started putting graphite in the bridge & nut slots on strings changes, and I have barely broken any strings in years.
(So broken from a rough spot on the bridge saddle--and I do bend the D string a lot)
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 21, 2021 11:13:02 GMT
You know the string I sued to break the most was the D--and mostly on one guitar--so I took a small file & smoothened out the bridge saddle & started putting graphite in the bridge & nut slots on strings changes, and I have barely broken any strings in years. (So broken from a rough spot on the bridge saddle--and I do bend the D string a lot) My strings always break around the 7-10th frets because that's where I am mostly playing. After being on the guitar for awhile I will start to see the tape windings worn through where the frets are and the core exposed in multiple places- that means a string change is way overdue... |
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Post by Sgt Rock on Jul 22, 2021 2:55:04 GMT
I use 11s on my old '59 Gretsch Anniversary model. anything lighter and it rattles. on my other electric guitars I use 10s. I can't use lighter strings. to be honest, my hands are too strong. I played acoustic guitar for a long time. so, after bending 12s, my hands got stronger.
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fretzel
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Post by fretzel on Jul 23, 2021 17:31:25 GMT
He should've tried a blue t-shirt with the 8's.
The problem with this is that he is not use to playing the 8's so has to tone down the way he plays to compensate. I would be interested to see a comparison after he has played them exclusively for a month.
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 23, 2021 22:39:14 GMT
He should've tried a blue t-shirt with the 8's. The problem with this is that he is not use to playing the 8's so has to tone down the way he plays to compensate. I would be interested to see a comparison after he has played them exclusively for a month. Fair point there. I know personally if I switched from my 13's to 8's I would play them light as heck for fear of snapping them in one strum. And I've have to have the gain turned way up |
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Post by george on Jul 24, 2021 1:58:17 GMT
I mainly play acoustic and I've used 13s on them for more than 50 years - it disturbs me to say that .. lol
Started playing electric again about 4 years ago after a very long lay off and used 11s. Dropped down to 10s about a year or two ago on some guitars but kept 11s on my LP Jrs. Got a Broadcaster last fall and seem to have settled on 9.5s for it.
I tried 9s last year but I knew just by looking a the package that I wouldn't like them.
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 24, 2021 2:10:50 GMT
I mainly play acoustic and I've used 13s on them for more than 50 years - it disturbs me to say that .. lol Started playing electric again about 4 years ago after a very long lay off and used 11s. Dropped down to 10s about a year or two ago on some guitars but kept 11s on my LP Jrs. Got a Broadcaster last fall and seem to have settled on 9.5s for it. I tried 9s last year but I knew just by looking a the package that I wouldn't like them. Just a satisfying bite on your fingers from 13's. However, I play flatwounds on my electrics, which are a lot easier on your fingers- of course not on my acoustics! |
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Post by george on Jul 24, 2021 2:32:01 GMT
Only played flatwounds once and that was on a rented Ovation Breadwinner about 100 years ago. I didn't like that guitar.
Old dude gotta be 80 lives near me and I talk to him when I see him out walking. He worked a day job and played a telecaster 3 nights a week in a country bar band. He was saying I should try flats on my Tele, that you need at least a 50 watt tube amp and always kick er off on the 6th.
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 24, 2021 13:27:23 GMT
Only played flatwounds once and that was on a rented Ovation Breadwinner about 100 years ago. I didn't like that guitar. Old dude gotta be 80 lives near me and I talk to him when I see him out walking. He worked a day job and played a telecaster 3 nights a week in a country bar band. He was saying I should try flats on my Tele, that you need at least a 50 watt tube amp and always kick er off on the 6th. I never tried flats on a Tele, but my Strat and my Jazzmaster have flatwounds, which I very happy with. |
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fretzel
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Post by fretzel on Jul 24, 2021 20:46:11 GMT
I had flat wounds on an Epi Wildkat. While I didn't mind then I am not a fan of a wound g. Have them on both my bass and love them for that.
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Post by zontar on Jul 25, 2021 5:57:15 GMT
I use 11s on my old '59 Gretsch Anniversary model. anything lighter and it rattles. on my other electric guitars I use 10s. I can't use lighter strings. to be honest, my hands are too strong. I played acoustic guitar for a long time. so, after bending 12s, my hands got stronger. As I mentioned I learned hammer ons & pull offs, and to a degree started learning bending on 11s I experienced this when I switched things back to 9s I was hammering on & pulling off without meaning to. |
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Post by zontar on Jul 25, 2021 6:00:05 GMT
He should've tried a blue t-shirt with the 8's. The problem with this is that he is not use to playing the 8's so has to tone down the way he plays to compensate. I would be interested to see a comparison after he has played them exclusively for a month. When I tried 8s, that didn't last long--but I did give them a shot. I use different gauges on different guitars, and also have different types & sizes of frets, etc, and yeah--you need to adapt that way. It also means sometimes one guitar fits a certain song or setting better than another--but it's still good to be adaptable in case you need to be. |
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Post by zontar on Jul 25, 2021 6:01:25 GMT
I had flat wounds on an Epi Wildkat. While I didn't mind then I am not a fan of a wound g. Have them on both my bass and love them for that. I've never been a fan of flats--but I get why some people like them. I prefer a wound G on my archtop--it sounds better on chords--and it is actually easier to bend than a plain string of the same diameter. |
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 25, 2021 14:34:17 GMT
I had flat wounds on an Epi Wildkat. While I didn't mind then I am not a fan of a wound g. Have them on both my bass and love them for that. I've never been a fan of flats--but I get why some people like them. I prefer a wound G on my archtop--it sounds better on chords--and it is actually easier to bend than a plain string of the same diameter. Once you get above a certain gauge, a wound G is pretty much the the norm. I have played unwound G's that were heavier gauge and they can literally cut through your callouses. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2021 5:41:18 GMT
I only tried 11's once, after I accidentally bought a Telecaster online that had medium jumbo frets, and thought I needed heavier strings to be able to stop pushing them sharp out-of-tune. Didn't work....Bad strategy....and I went back to .010's on everything, regardless of the scale length, and have only bought guitars with vintage frets. That's worked out well. I've played a few guitars that had .09's and even a Tele with '08's, but they were difficult to play and didn't sound good.
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Post by infant on Jul 26, 2021 12:12:07 GMT
I normally use 11s on most of my guitars but I’ve got 10s on my Melody Maker. When I went to jam with my buddies the other day, I tried one of my Fenders the night before and then I took the MM as it was easier on the fingers. When I bought my first fender in ‘75, I was using 8s or 9s and I kept breaking them. Once I went to 10s the breakage stopped and have never broken a string since. Then about 25 yrs ago, I started with 11s and learned to bend them using 2 fingers…totally changed my style. I’m finding that arthritis is starting to make iit a little harder to play so I may change everything over to 10s one of these days
I tried flatwounds on my Howard Roberts shortly after buying it in ‘97 as I wanted to use it as a jazz type guitar. But t started using it to gig with my band and switched to wounds shortly thereafter. When I bought my ES137, I put flats on it when I was playing with a dinner music jazz trio. After that ended, I tried the flats but replaced the wound G with a plain G to allow me to bend the top 3 strings but I didn’t really like the dead sounding bottom strings for playing blues or rock and switched back to roundwounds again. I’d like to try half rounds some day but they are hard to find.
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Post by Die Bullen on Jul 26, 2021 14:08:47 GMT
I normally use 11s on most of my guitars but I’ve got 10s on my Melody Maker. When I went to jam with my buddies the other day, I tried one of my Fenders the night before and then I took the MM as it was easier on the fingers. When I bought my first fender in ‘75, I was using 8s or 9s and I kept breaking them. Once I went to 10s the breakage stopped and have never broken a string since. Then about 25 yrs ago, I started with 11s and learned to bend them using 2 fingers…totally changed my style. I’m finding that arthritis is starting to make iit a little harder to play so I may change everything over to 10s one of these days I tried flatwounds on my Howard Roberts shortly after buying it in ‘97 as I wanted to use it as a jazz type guitar. But t started using it to gig with my band and switched to wounds shortly thereafter. When I bought my ES137, I put flats on it when I was playing with a dinner music jazz trio. After that ended, I tried the flats but replaced the wound G with a plain G to allow me to bend the top 3 strings but I didn’t really like the dead sounding bottom strings for playing blues or rock and switched back to roundwounds again. I’d like to try half rounds some day but they are hard to find. I've never even seen half rounds but have heard of them. I wonder if they give you the best of both worlds or the worst of both worlds? |
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fretzel
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Post by fretzel on Jul 27, 2021 1:19:19 GMT
I am always surprised when I hear of people having issues with strings breaking. Taking issues with the guitar out of the equation, I don't know why it would happen.
I wonder how much an individuals acidity cam play a role in it. I am lucky, as I can leave string on for a long time. I have a strong vibrato and bend/over-bend often. Also like to dig the pick in when required. Thankfully I don't break many strings.
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Post by george on Jul 27, 2021 1:52:44 GMT
I don’t remember the last time I broke a string while playing - gotta be more than 40 years ago probably when I was drunk or something and thinking I was Pete Townshend.
Broke a 10 about year or so ago when I was stretching it too hard with my hands right after I’d installed a new set on one of my electrics. I’m so used to 13s on acoustics that I didn’t think about and reefed on it too hard.
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