adjustment for heavy gauge strings

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KingstonRock

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My friend brought his guitar over the other day, a musicman silhoutte with a tremolo (but he took of the "whammy bar"). Usually he uses .009 or .010 gauge string sets, but the last time he changed his strings he decided to put on .012 gauge strings. I guess the thicker gauge requires more tension to bring the strings up to the proper pitch, but the extra tension is pulling the bridge out of its way out of its normal place. Is there any adjustment you can make so that the bridge sits normally with the largeer gauge strings?

Eric
 
You have to tighten the trem springs, behind the cover on the back of the guitar.Probably need to adjust the truss rod and reset intonation too.
 
If he's not using the whammy bar, tell him to block the bridge. You place a physical block in the back so that it can't move, and thus won't be affected by changes in tuning or guage. The only downside is that you can't use the bar.

And yes, truss rod and intonation probably have to be reset as well.
 
"Why would anyone want such heavy strings?"

tone.

i used to use 11's............but they seem to be pretty popular or un-popular i'm not sure which.......none of the music stores ever seem to have any in stock.
 
Kelly5150 said:
Why would anyone want such heavy strings?

:confused:
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Good question :D

If it's an as big adjustment as adjusting the truss rod and intonation, I'll just tell him to go back to the .010s. I think he just wanted to try them and see how they sound. They're kind of annoying to play after being used to lighter strings.

Eric
 
I'd forget the piano strings, your amp gives you more of your tone than the string guage... Pickups too...

I couldn't imagine playing that heavy of strings, just going from 9's to 10's was a bit uncomfortable..

I guess it depends on the style of guitar you play, I do alot of bending and 12's would be shit to play IMO....

To each his own I guess....

:confused:
 
After years of using 9's I got an acoustic and had to change the electric to 10's out of frustration with the light gauges, recently I started doing a lot more bass, now the 10's feel so light it's unreal.
It doesn't take long to get used to.
 
I agree... I'm using 10's on both my axes, and I can't stand using 9's. I'm even looking at going up on one of them. It's part tone, part feel. To some extent it affects your phrasing, vibrato, bending, and overall play of your instrument, that some of us like. Others prefer 8's or 9's... to each your own.

That said, 12's are really freakin heavy. But if he like's 'em...*shrugs*
 
setting up your guitar for heavier gauge strings isn't a big adjustment......and chances are if he's had the guitar for a while, he'll need the intonation set again anyway..............it should only be like 30 or 35 bucks to get it set up for the heavy gauge strings.

and also.......i agree with clive and acid......i started playing 11's soon after i got an electric guitar, so it wasn't a big deal to play them........but whenever i would play one of my friends guitars that used like 8's or 9's, i would feel like i was playing on rubber bands........they bend whether you want them to or not....it sucks........and it took a while to get used to playing tens because they were so light.

and also...i dissagree with kelly...the better tone and sustain you get with heavier strings is very noticeable........same with new strings......well especially with new strings.
 
Kelly5150 said:
I'd forget the piano strings, your amp gives you more of your tone than the string guage... Pickups too...

I couldn't imagine playing that heavy of strings, just going from 9's to 10's was a bit uncomfortable..

I guess it depends on the style of guitar you play, I do alot of bending and 12's would be shit to play IMO....

To each his own I guess....

:confused:
Click to expand...

I do a lot of bending too. On a good night, I can bend the B string up a Major 3rd (that's 5 frets) and I'd never think of using anything lighter than 11s. You try bending a set of 8s or 9s that much and they break.
 
fist the question
I wouldn't block it up, just add a couple more springs to the trem.

There's nothing wrong with 12s. I had my old 57 strat strung with them for a while, and if you think that's just a fender thing, I had a buddy playing a LP with 12s and the sound was killer.

I don't think the tone is neccessarily better just different, it really depends what kind of music you play. I use 11s on my strat and sometimes my tips can get a bit sore if I overdo it seeing how my playing habits are irregular. 12s are nice but I'd have to be playing regularely to stay under them. I prefer 10s for more metal type playing.

Heavy strings can help a soso neck produce better tones.
 
64Firebird said:
I do a lot of bending too. On a good night, I can bend the B string up a Major 3rd (that's 5 frets) and I'd never think of using anything lighter than 11s. You try bending a set of 8s or 9s that much and they break.
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Ok, I thought I'd try what you just said, I have to change my strings anyway...

On the 12th fret of my ESP M-II Deluxe with 9's, I played the B string, then played the note 5 frets up to hear the note/sound, then I bent the string up 5 frets to get the exact note on the 17th fret.... No problem, string didn't break.

I don't really see the benefits of doing it musicwise, other than saying you can do it, it sounds kinda cool I guess....

:)
 
Kelly5150 said:

I guess it depends on the style of guitar you play, I do alot of bending and 12's would be shit to play IMO....
Click to expand...


Yeah, `cause Stevie Ray Vaughn never bent any strings when he was using .013"s. :rolleyes::rolleyes: Be a Man, god damn it.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Kelly5150 said:
Ok, I thought I'd try what you just said, I have to change my strings anyway...

On the 12th fret of my ESP M-II Deluxe with 9's, I played the B string, then played the note 5 frets up to hear the note/sound, then I bent the string up 5 frets to get the exact note on the 17th fret.... No problem, string didn't break.

I don't really see the benefits of doing it musicwise, other than saying you can do it, it sounds kinda cool I guess....

:)
Click to expand...

The benefits are that you can play a melody on one fret. Albert King used it a lot and so does Buddy Guy. Man, Buddy will bend the little E up until it kisses the big E (but he uses lighter strings). It sounds different than playing the same note a few frets higher, more urgent.
 
I play so much acoustic now, I had to string my telecaster and ric with 12's so I wouldn't go out of tune just playing them. The difference is amazing.
 
a lot of new insight here

When you say intonation reset, what exactly do you mean? I always thought it meant moving the frets around, but I know you can't get that for $35

Eric
 
KingstonRock said:
a lot of new insight here

When you say intonation reset, what exactly do you mean? I always thought it meant moving the frets around, but I know you can't get that for $35

Eric
Click to expand...

He's talking about moving the bridge saddles. You can't really do it on an acoustic, but I've never seen an electric that didn't have some way of doing it.
 
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