Does anyone play mediums?

  • Thread starter Thread starter 357mag
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think i read it in guitar world or something....idk he was kinda the first to even have "that" tone so maybe he only thought they were great in the beginning...he also did alot of bending...
 
I don't get this thicker strings=better tone nonsense. Plenty of musicians get great tone from both.

I play .09s, and I appreciate being able to bend the D through High E strings up to a major third, if not more. I also use a really thin pic, which keeps me from snapping the shit out of them.

Most of my punkish friends use really thick strings with thick pics. they jump around like crazy and really beat the shit out of the guitar, so they like to be able to bang away.

but to think that there's a major difference in tone seems a bit overboard for me. you're talking about one very small piece in a very complicated system. sure, pics and strings have some effect on tone—won't disagree—but the comfort of playing an instrument that suits your hands and style will have more of an effect on your tone than your strings ever will. that SRV used heavies or Hendrix used thins don't really matter to you, now does it?

They were playing with their hands, and you're playing with your hands. I tried ordering one of hendrix's hands at zzounds.com, but i'm afraid they're on backorder.
 
I generally use 11s on my electrics when I need cleaner solo tones. I like 12s even more but have a harder time with bends and vibrato. 11's are a good compromise for multi-skill work. To my ears, the sound of 11s is definitely more solid than when I string with 9s or 10s, which can sound a bit thin to my ears when playing clean.

That said, I often enjoy stringing with 9s or 10s for overdriven solos since I can bend notes to kingdom come and the processing can beef up the tone.
 
about 10 years ago I would string my strat with .09's and my les paul with .08's! i dunno why, but it just felt right.

i have since realized that i get better tone with .10's. I also haven't played in many years due to wrist pain (undiagnosed/untreated, just took a break).

I got back into electric playing about 2 years ago and about a year ago switched to .11's - simply because there was a deal from D'Addario where you got a free Planet Waves Strobe tuner with purchase of 5 sets and only .11's were left. I hesitated, asked around online and jumped. Never looked back, gave away my .10's and thoroughly enjoying it!

Note: I don't own any strats now - a les paul (copy) and a hollowbody (also gibson-style).

I still use D'Addarios - they also last longer than .10's of the same brand (?)

They are a little harder to bend, but overall I don't feel any strain. But if you do, there's always the mixed sets - "heavy bottoms, light tops" - where you get the trebles from a .10 gauge set and basses from .11 or even .12 set. I tried those, but prefer straight .11's.
 
starbuck26 said:
I tried ordering one of hendrix's hands at zzounds.com, but i'm afraid they're on backorder.
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I think that hendrix's dad who manages his estate put a stop to these just like he tried to do with distributing his music... go figure
 
Going to a heavier string has several benefits. Intonation is improved. Sustain is also improved since you have to have mass to have sustain. Heavier strings will also help achieve better tone if you are playing in a lower tuning. The energy of a heavier string brings out the resonations of the body more. You get better highs and better lows with a heavier string.

I'm certainly not trying to sound like Stevie Ray. Personally I thought his tone sucked. Not trying to sound like Hendrix either. I have my own sound and tone.

It's to your advantage to try to play with the heaviest strings your fingers will allow you to.
 
I started out on 9's and now I'm stuck on them (Ernie Ball Super Slinkys) - I lose my mojo completely when I try anything heavier. Then again I play a lot of lead and need fast action and easy bending during brisk parts. I had heavier guage on my 7 string for a while and although it sounded heavier/boomier to my ears the tone was a bit muddier (less sparkle and harmonic overtones)... hard to explain, probably just personal preference but things went back to normal for me when I switched back to a light guage set. In theory it makes sense to use the heavier sets but if tone is in the fingers and the fingers prefer light guage then so be it!
 
starbuck26 said:
I don't get this thicker strings=better tone nonsense. Plenty of musicians get great tone from both.
[...]
but to think that there's a major difference in tone seems a bit overboard for me. you're talking about one very small piece in a very complicated system. sure, pics and strings have some effect on tone—won't disagree—but the comfort of playing an instrument that suits your hands and style will have more of an effect on your tone than your strings ever will. that SRV used heavies or Hendrix used thins don't really matter to you, now does it?
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that anything is universally better, but when I changed from 10s to 11s, keeping everything else the same, there was indeed a major difference in the tone of my Strat, and I liked it. YMMV.
 
D'Adarrio 11-49.
Both the Sparrow and my Tele have 'em. If I pick up any guitar with anything lighter I tend to over-bend notes or pull chords sharp.

....I need a Bigsby too.....:D
 
Corndog said:
D'Adarrio 11-49.
Both the Sparrow and my Tele have 'em. If I pick up any guitar with anything lighter I tend to over-bend notes or pull chords sharp.
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Oh yeah, there's that, too. On my LP with jumbo frets and 10's, it's hard for me to play a first position D chord in tune. With 11's, no prob.
 
ggunn said:
Oh yeah, there's that, too. On my LP with jumbo frets and 10's, it's hard for me to play a first position D chord in tune. With 11's, no prob.
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I'm such a ham-fisted twit I think I'm goin' to 12's....:D
 
I used to play a nickel plated steel D'Addario set that started with an .0105 that I liked quite a bit. More responsive than 11s though not quite as sloppy feeling as 10s

EDIT: They're EXL110+
 
I say give the GHS BOOMERS LOW .11-.53 a try. I used to be in a metal band (very fast picking) and we were tuned to C. They lasted a long time and held good tension on my old explorer and V. Then i ended up using elixer nano web .10's for my other band. We are a half step down, and they feel great. A little heavier than normal 10's in my opinion.
 
I play everything from .09's to .11's...

depending on what the manufacturer recommends for a particular guitar... for example, Strats=.09's, Gibson LP=.10's, Gibson ES-135=.11's
 
I used to play Mediums.

But they would not keep still- all they wanted to do was get back to their damned crystal balls, bones, tea leaves or whatever and start telling the future again. I finally gave up and went back to playing the guitar.

But before they all left, one of them did tell me they were in contact with Jimmi's hands, if anyone is interested...
 
357mag said:
Going to a heavier string has several benefits. Intonation is improved. Sustain is also improved since you have to have mass to have sustain. Heavier strings will also help achieve better tone if you are playing in a lower tuning. The energy of a heavier string brings out the resonations of the body more. You get better highs and better lows with a heavier string.

I'm certainly not trying to sound like Stevie Ray. Personally I thought his tone sucked. Not trying to sound like Hendrix either. I have my own sound and tone.

It's to your advantage to try to play with the heaviest strings your fingers will allow you to.
Click to expand...


You're right in a couple points, but a lot of this is pseudo-scientific BS.

I've never heard any convincing argument that intonation gets better with heavier strings. Certainly, a guitar that's been intonated for heavy strings, and then has light strings put on it, will be less well intonated than one that has been intonated for heavy strings and strung up with heavy strings... But the same is true of a guitar that has been intonated for light strings and then strung up with heavies.

Sustain is improved, true. It's partly just due to the larger vibrating mass, but it's partly also that, indirectly due to that mass and higher resistance to movement, you're not going to get as snappy an initial attack, so there's less percieved decay after the pick hits the strings.

Heavier strings won't help you achieve a better tone in a lower tuning - rather, they intonate better in a lower tuning simply because they're not flopping loosely.

About "bringing out the resonance of the body," 50-50 but I'll give it to you - the heavier the string and the more mass it has, the greater the potential for absolute output - a heavier string with more mass can be a bit louder than a lighter string. Can this make the body resonate more? Well, yes and no - yes, it will, but it'll still be resonating at about the same ratio as the guitar, so the relationship between the two and the way they interact is going to be about the same.

Better highs and lows? Couple issues there. For one, "better" is subjective. Additionally, if I assume by "better" you mean "more," in the case of the high end it simply isn't true. Lighter strings are a bit brighter and have a more pronounced attack, whereas heavier strings tend to sound darker. This is actually why a lot of the low-tuned crowd swears by light strings -you have to be careful with your intonation since there's so little tension on the strings it's easy to accidently bend them out of tune, but if you're playing downtuned metal through a high gain amp, the brighter tone and much more prominent attack of a set of light strings can actually work in your favor. Dino Cazeras swears by this - he uses something absurd like a .52 for a low A.


For some things, heavier strings will sound better than light strings, I admit. However, for some things, light strings sound better than heavier ones. Blindly subscribing to the "heavy strings = tone" ideology is just limiting, IMO.

Confession - I DO play heavy strings, 10-68 on my seven strings, and 11-49 on my 6. I just also understand why some people prefer the tone of lights.
 
For me...simple fact of the matter is I gotta feel comfortable.
The average bozo in a club couldn't give a rats ass about your "tone" when the P.A.'s feeding back, the bass player is drunk[again] they're drunk and throwing beer on you and the only objective is to shag the chick in the short skirt.
No one's thinking "Hmmm, I wonder what gauge he's using" at 2 A.M. with a gut full of cheap draft...'cept other musos.:D
 
Having said that I have to admit that I'm in a "slopabilly" band and we play mainly punk/rockabilly/roots venues.
I ain't no "high class" players like y'all!!!!!:D
 
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