String gauge question: electric vs acoustic

[perttime]

10 to 46 on Gibson-length electric - the lightest I can get on my jumbo size acoustic.

[ras1500]

I've been using flatwound 11's on my electrics and 12's on my acoustics. I'm still experimenting with the acoustics, trying flat tops and/or round core strings.

[Paully]

11's on electric
13's on acoustic

[Steel and wood]

I've got 9's on my Stratocaster and 10's on my Telecaster. (Heavier strings work better with the Bigsby I was told).

[jonfields45]

Since I replaced my acoustic (and electric) with a T5z and a Bose Soundlink Mini, all I use are 10-46 Ernie Ball Slinkys (using this brand instead of my long time D'Addario habit because the packaging and individual string envelopes make a fast broken string change at a gig easier).

[saxonblue]

I use 12s on 2 of my acoustics but 13s on the D-28.

On my strat I use 9s or 10s (mostly 10s) & 10s to 11s on my tele.

So yeah, a bit all over the shop.

[Random1643]

+1 it's about scale for me more than some match up between acoustic & electric instruments.

I've got a parlor with 24.5" scale that I keep in open D or G. That gets strung with mediums, .011-.049. All other acoustics get light gauge strings, except the cavaquinho which gets, um, cavaquinho strings. I've got a Gretsch Electromatic on layaway, also a short-scale @ 24.5" which will be set up for medium action with medium strings.

[Dadzmad]

this is really an each to his own topic so all I can relate is what is working for me. At this point I plug in all three of my guitars most of the time. The Guild to a Trace Elliot TA30 the rest to an Excelsior Pro.

these are the strings that work for me, all 12's:
Godin Kingpin with single P90 - pure nickel round wound 12's Curt M
Standard Strat 5 springs / floating - flat wound Monel 12's Rotosound
Guild S4-CE (late Songbird) dual source - 80/20 Bronze 12's Curt M

I play the same music on all but each Guitar has a voice and style of it's own.

I want to try some of the Monel Retro's on the Guild but I think I know ahead of time that I will go back to the Bronze

[jwp2]

I use .11s on acoustics, and .10s on electric. I have been doing that for years and have gotten comfortable using these gauges.

[s2y]

I use 10s for most stuff. I still have a Steinberger with 9s so I can tune it up to F# or G and a Kramer shred guitar that simply plays outstanding and still sounds good with 9s.

[Mickey_C]

There are 9.5 gauge strings now (.0095) and they work well with a 3 spring trem setup strat. I'd never go lighter than .010s on a Les Paul and .012 on an acoustic. But I like my guitars setup really well... I read about people having barre issues, and on my guitars I like them so I could barre and just play like it's a open position, do any chord basing there, fancy pulls offs and all, so maybe I am just super picky on setups. Any guitar that wouldn't let me do jazz progressions up to at least the 7th position I would seriously question the setup on.

For drop tuning guitars, I string them for what they are doing. Like I use 13s for dadgad acoustics, 11 electrics. I used to be really insane about strings and what not for detuned guitars, believing I could hear different pickup response for different tunings, etc, but I think it was the "residue" of the 80s in my brain still. Now I am ez going, but I am just playing for fun.

I think that ideally you're always using the lightest strings that get the job done - that's what requires the least energy to get the desired tone, allowing the greatest degree of control. On an electric that's going to be less string than on an acoustic as you don't have to get the top resonating, or certainly not much. On detuned guitars that could call for a lot of string, depending how detuned. For electrics the tremolos or top-wrapped tail pieces need to be taken into the equation too.

Anyway, that's my philosophy (though not really mine, just how I learned it). YMMV.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by draelyc

How important is it to y'all -- if at all -- to keep your electric gauges and acoustic gauges fairly close together, assuming you play both?

I've read that Joe Bonamassa uses 11-52s on all his guits, electric and acoustic.

On the other hand, I've known cats who use 9s on electric and 13s on acoustic.

What are y'all's thoughts on the matter?

Chris

Hi Chris…

My acoustics are strung with .011 or .012, and my electrics with .011.

That way I don't tend to over-fret the electrics and it more closely matches the feel of my acoustic.

I've been doing this for years and it works out better than slinkys on the electrics for me. I also like the tone better with the slightly heavier electric strings.

[Gutch]

I've found my happy place with 10s on the short scale electrics (24.75"), and 9s on my Thinline Tele. On my Strats, I've experimented with everything from 9s up to 11s -- the 11s seem to give me more meat tonewise, but the 9's seem a bit easier to bend and play. The archtop has been loaded with a few different gauged flatwounds, but it seems to have found its happy place with 11 gauge roundwounds - I like the little bit of treble bite I get with roundwounds and the tone control rolled back - Flatwound tone is just a bit too thick for my ear. the T5 feels and plays right with 11s.

Acoustics get 12s for smaller bodies (GA, GC) and 13s for the larger body (GS, Jumbo).

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Chris…

My acoustics are strung with .011 or .012, and my electrics with .011.

That way I don't tend to over-fret the electrics and it more closely matches the feel of my acoustic.

I've been doing this for years and it works out better than slinkys on the electrics for me. I also like the tone better with the slightly heavier electric strings.

Larry, I wonder if you have tuned down (on the acoustic) a half-step from A440 at any point with the .011 set, and if so how that worked out?

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Paleolith54

Larry, I wonder if you have tuned down (on the acoustic) a half-step from A440 at any point with the .011 set, and if so how that worked out?

Hi P-54…

I play it in DADGAD, and open G (DGDGBD), and my other standard tuning is Dropped D and it does fine with all these..

I always have it setup with .011s on it, and intonated with the 6th string tuned to D (as opposed to E). I also string the 1st string on all my acoustics up one thousandth, so my .011 sets get a .012 string, and my .012 sets a .013 string.

I don't do that with the electric.