Time to change strings on my fender strat.....

[Kbrad72]

I got a new Fender strat on Ebay awhile back. The Little "E" string is noticeably less bendy than all of the other strings. Im thinking I should be able to change out all of the strings, and as long as they are all from the same lot, that should fix my situation right up!...If not Ill be at a loss....Anyways, first things first..Strings! Its been awhile since Ive owned an electric, so I figured Id check with some of you who are more up to date than me! What do you all use in your strats? Any Good recomendations?

[Rumblefish]

Ernie Ball Regular Slinky's, the green pack, when I'm going for "bang for the buck" approach. On "treat yo'self" day I buy Curt Mangan's.

[panrzem]

I use D'Addario XL 110. Love them. They are on my strat and my tele.

[Steel and wood]

I change up the strings on my acoustic way more times than on my electrics. (Love playing with new strings on my acoustic but I prefer playing with older strings on my electrics).

D'addario 9's or 10's when I do.

[1neeto]

Slinky 9-42 (pink pack) for my strats. If your high e is not as "bendy" as the rest of the strings, then maybe you have the wrong string there.

[Fairlight]

Elixir Nanoweb 10's

[Steve DeRosa]

Flatwound 12's, five springs in the trem, and an "unfloated" bridge - exactly the way Leo shipped them in '54...

[YamahaGuy]

D'Addario EJ21 12-52 wound G. I don't do a whole lot of string bending. I'm mostly a chorder. And my electrics are all set up like my acoustics.

When I did use smaller strings, I liked EXL110, or the Ernie Ball skinny top heavy bottoms for those chunky power chords.

[MikeBmusic]

Fender Bullets (9's)

[JeffreyAK]

GHS Boomers, TNT gauge (10-52). Been using these for lots of years.

[ras1500]

Flatwound 11's, five springs in the trem, and a floated bridge. I've found Pyramid Gold strings to be ideal for me. They are a bit pricey, but they last a very long time.

[redir]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

Fender Bullets (9's)

+1, I like 10's though. But the Bullets are the best for Strat bridges imho.

[maxtheaxe]

My own preference is GHS Boomers 10-46...they seem to have a bit more grit to them for rock & blues.

As to the bridge, your perceived lack of bend-ability could just be that the bridge is adjusted to float too much/too easily.

I set mine up so that the bridge plate is parallel to the top of the guitar without it being pulled right down on the top, and so that it doesn't smack into the top when I release the bar. I typically use 3 springs, 2 long ones and 1 short one (try it different ways to see what works best for you) and then fine-adjust the screws in the claw to get it just right.

That gives me a mostly dive-only trem without pulling too hard on the bridge, but hard enough to be able to bend notes with my fingers...it's a fine balancing act.

[FrankHudson]

These days mostly the pink pack Ernie Ball Slinkys (.009 top E).

I used to love the pure nickel wrap Fender 150 set with .038 to .010 gauges on single coil Fender scale instruments. It's the set Jimi Hendrix used, but I don't think they make them anymore. I keep my Hendrix style reverse Strat strung with some NOS packs I squirreled away.

[Mr. Scott]

I use D'Addarios on all my Fenders, 10-52 classed as "light top, heavy bottom". They suit the Fender single coils very well in my opinion.
I suppose you know this, but to keep things easy when changing, especially if you have the bridge set "floating", change one string at a time and tune to pitch before doing the next.