heavy strings

[OneLouder]

Six, im not exactly a guitar expert but the floyd rose system on my bc rich kicks the ass of the trem on my Yamaha Pacifica and doesnt kill any of the sound at all. Or at least its got heaps of sustain and a real nice tone so im presuming it isnt having a negative effect. I ended up screwing down the bridge of the Yamaha cos I dont have the chops to use a trem properly and i was having some tuning problems with the guitar.

 

[Krystof01]

As a side note, the best way to move up guages is progressivley; of course. If you have two electrics for instance have 10's on one an move the other up to 11's. You'll not like playing the one with 11's on much to begin with as it's hard but you will be getting stronger (you know what I mean). Then either move the one with 10's up to 11's to match the other one or 12's if you are in a rush to get 'up the guages'.

Make sure your watching the neck though, especially if you move from say 10's to 12's in one go-get that truss rod adjusted.

 

[badgas]

I dropped from 12s to 10 a few months ago.
Old age creeping in on me.
I'm afraid my neck is gonna do a back bend now.

 

[Slackmaster2K]

I've never seen a set of 12's. All I've been able to find are 11's and 13's...with 13's usually being labeled "jazz" strings. Of course that's just the local shop, but they've got the typical huge wall of strings. What brands manufacture 12's?

Slackmaster 2000

 

[gibs]

.012's here.............................gibs

http://www.gibson.com/products/strings/strings/electric.shtml

 

[badgas]

ahh huh, ahh huh!!!
Dat be dem Gibs.
Gittin' arthritis in my left hand and had to step down a couple gauges.
I hope I don't get so feeble I have to revert to superhybridslinkys.

 

[six]

hey, I have a new theory why light strings could sound better:

if you play heavier strings - like me (011) - but don't hit the strings very hard (like me until today ) chances are that the whole thing just sounds a bit dull.
so when you pick up a shop-guitar (stock-strings normally are 008 or 009, right?) and pick with the same strenght, the tone gets brighter because relatively you hit the strings harder.

but of course, hitting the 011 as hard as they have to get hit will sound better.

what do you guys think of that theory?

 

[badgas]

That sound reasonable, Six.
But if you hit the heavy strings with the same hard force that you hit the lighter strings, wouldn't the heavier strings sound just that much better?
That sounds reasonable too.
Next time I restring, I'll try it. Same amp settings, same recording settings. I'll try to hit the strings with the same amount of force.
That'd be a big variable though.
Next time I restring, I'll just restring.
That's reasonable too.

 

[Chris Shaeffer]

Six,

I like your theory. I started playing guitar as a metal head and, though I have long since recovered, I still hit the strings pretty darn hard.

On the Les Paul I have 11's or 12's- the 12's seem a little too much for it in the low strings, but I still like them. The 11's are pretty comfy. I have a hard time playing with anything smaller because I just whack the chord or note right out of tune. I also feel like I don't get enough resistance on the pick with lighter strings, too.

The accoustic typically wears a set of 13's. Nice, full bodied sound. Way fun to wail away on.

Even so, for me its a matter of how the strings feel and react to being played and not so much the sound. But then I'm a pretty kinesthetic player.

Take care,
Chris

 

[Krystof01]

Slackmaster2K; for my 12's I either use the Dean Markely 'Jazz' set (as you said they are labelled jazz) or the DR 12's:

(Jazz JZ- 12 15 24 32 42 52
Jazz JZ-12/PL 12 15 24 plain 32 42 52)

which I favour now (though they are more expensive). I have to order them in boxes-thet're not in any shops I've been into. Buying in bulk saves money of course which is an advantage.

 

[Scott Tansley]

Something that few people realize is that the length of the string from nut to bridge is about half inch more on a strat or a teli. As compared to all gibsons. Thats almost a whole fret more (at the head end) and quite a bit of tension difference too. Thats why I use 10's on les pauls and 9's on fenders. tension wise its about the same.
Fender found the perfect string length for there SINGLE COIL pickups, cant argue that. Gibson found the perfect string length for there humbucking pickups too.
The tone of the longer strat string is twang-ier
The tone of the shorter gibs string is fatter and warmer

Want more evidence...

Nearly every other single coil copy or other has the same string length as a strat. And other humbucker brands of guitar (like my ibanez iceman) has the same string length as a gibson.

I can see youall reachn for your tape measures.......

 

[Scott Tansley]

Ever wondered why playing scales at the wide fret end of the neck on a gibson seems easier. Thats because it about 4 mm shorter from nut to 5th fret.

 

[Daddy-O]

Ok, I read a lot of stuff here on string gauges, nut every one has left out a REALLY important issue----Frets and fingers. Yeah big strings sound great, better tone, more volume and everthing. But take a look at you frets after using big strings for a few months. Hard nickel plated steel strings rubbing across soft nickel plated brass frets. The strings win. It's important to find some middle ground so you don't end up spending $300 every couple of years to keep you guitar neck in good playable condition.

 

[six]

300$ ???

sh******t! but only if you have a 2000 + $ guitar, right?
I think on my 700$ strat I could replace the whole neck for 300 bucks.
is it really that expensive?