Elixir sting gauge

[markIvan]

This has probably been asked as often as how does father Christmas fit down a chimney but i have finally heard of these supposedly better string life and tone strings with ( get this nanno tech .

Because i am going to pay a bit more for to leave no doubt that my strings are not the reason i feel i am out of tune even though my tuner says they are in tune .
I bought a maplin brand set and although sounded ok at first ,they have quickly lost their sound and the high e/b sting sound tails off sounding un tuned .

my question is what is the most common gauge for pickers to use and why .

[Laird_Williams]

Originally Posted by Zelator

This has probably been asked as often as how does father Christmas fit down a chimney but i have finally heard of these supposedly better string life and tone strings with ( get this nanno tech .

Because i am going to pay a bit more for to leave no doubt that my strings are not the reason i feel i am out of tune even though my tuner says they are in tune .
I bought a maplin brand set and although sounded ok at first ,they have quickly lost their sound and the high e/b sting sound tails off sounding un tuned .

my question is what is the most common gauge for pickers to use and why .

Folks are all over the place on this one. Taylors are usually delivered with custom lights, and many of us stick with those. Lights are also very popular. My guess is that those are the two biggies.

The best thing you can do is to put a set on and try them out. Strings can have a profound effect on your tone, even when you use the same guage. You will want to try both the 80/20 and phosphur bronce Elixirs, as these sound markedly-different from each other.

[markIvan]

Originally Posted by Laird_Williams

Folks are all over the place on this one. Taylors are usually delivered with custom lights, and many of us stick with those. Lights are also very popular. My guess is that those are the two biggies.

The best thing you can do is to put a set on and try them out. Strings can have a profound effect on your tone, even when you use the same guage. You will want to try both the 80/20 and phosphur bronce Elixirs, as these sound markedly-different from each other.

Thanks Laird_ williams .

of the two biggies you mention i think i will go with the custom lights first .

I think the fact that Taylors come with them on must stand for something .
I'll go with them first .


Edit ....just out of curiosity when you say 80/20 and phosper bronze sound different what would you say that difference is ( has one a brighter sound or more bass tone etc ) .

I'm asking because i think the most marked difference in me and someone i concider better or more effective than me ,usually come from them having better understandings of setup and tech ,and i am becoming much more concerned with my own setup preferences

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Laird_Williams

Folks are all over the place on this one. Taylors are usually delivered with custom lights, and many of us stick with those. Lights are also very popular. My guess is that those are the two biggies.

Really? That interesting; I had assumed that all makers who put lighter strings on their guitars would choose lights as opposed to custom lights.

[Laird_Williams]

Originally Posted by Zelator

I'm asking because i think the most marked difference in me and someone i concider better or more effective than me ,usually come from them having better understandings of setup and tech ,and i am becoming much more concerned with my own setup preferences

The phosphor bronzes are a bit mellower. Still bright - but with more mids.

I use Phosphor Bronze Custom Lights on my 614ce ltd. I find that the PBs tame the brightness of the maple somewhat. I play ALL fingerstyle tunes in Open-C and closelye-related tunings on this guitar, and this works out great.

On my 814ce-L10 and my Stehr (both Coco/Spruce), I use 80/20s, which I find to be balanced with a hint of brightness and very articulate. Not as "boomy" as others I have tried. Great for fingerstyle work. The Stehr lives in DADAGAD/Open G and is used almost-exculively for fingerstyle work. The 814 lives in std tuning and is used for just about everything, pick/strum/fingerstyle/whatever.

[markIvan]

Thank you Laird i just went and got me a set of custom light 80/20 .

you made a good reply here thanks

[Tod]

Originally Posted by Zelator

Edit ....just out of curiosity when you say 80/20 and phosper bronze sound different what would you say that difference is ( has one a brighter sound or more bass tone etc ) .

It sounds like you've already made your choice, but I have found on my guitars that the PBs are brighter than the 80/20s. (However, none of my guitars are maple.) You will get a lot of differing opinions and ultimately only your ears should be the decider... so you will probably do some string searching for a while until you find what works best for your particular guitar.

Having said that: On my cedar topped guitar I prefer the phospher bronze lights to brighten up the warmer sound of this guitar without overwhelming the tone.

On my baritone guitar, I can only get the "baritone gauge" in the 80/20s unless I drop down to a medium gauge string. With the medium gauges I'd have to tune it up a little more (from B to D).

On my redwood topped guitar, I prefer the phospher bronze with a medium gauge. I use this guitar for a lot of alternate tunings, so I prefer the heavier gauge for doing this.

Happy hunting for strings!

[Laird_Williams]

Originally Posted by Tod

... You will get a lot of differing opinions and ultimately only your ears should be the decider... so you will probably do some string searching for a while until you find what works best for your particular guitar.

I have to agree with this. A one-time purchase of a few different sets of strings will go a long way toward helping you get the sound you want. Each of us wants what we want from the sound - and we are all different. Auditioning strings is a good practice whenever you decide to change strings or get a new guitar. They really do make a LOT of difference...and there are TWO sets of variables - both of which are huge...

1) How the strings interact with your guitar
2) How your fingers interact with the strings

Picking style and technique will have a lot to do with it. You really can't tell how a guitar is going to sound with new strings (or a new pick) until YOU try it out and see what it sounds like with YOU playing it. Don't be too hasty in settling on one thing.

[Americanelson]

oh boy ... one more variable to consider ...

I am willing to try some new brands/types of strings and would appreciate some 'general' ROTs (rule of thumb) - if possible.

My main guitar is an epi rjns 500 (spruce top, rose sides and back) and I was pretty happy with the light nanos for a while. Now, it seems with robust strumming, the sound is too blended - no seperation. Arpeggioing, they still sound good though.

I like brightness but I don't like loosing seperation to robust strumming. Is part of the problem the light gauge? I equate gauge thickness to stiffness - I think I could handle a stiffer gauge, especially if this was a ROT for getting/preserving articulation even with more robust strumming.

Thanks

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by Zelator

This has probably been asked as often as how does father Christmas fit down a chimney but i have finally heard of these supposedly better string life and tone strings with ( get this nanno tech .

Because i am going to pay a bit more for to leave no doubt that my strings are not the reason i feel i am out of tune even though my tuner says they are in tune .
I bought a maplin brand set and although sounded ok at first ,they have quickly lost their sound and the high e/b sting sound tails off sounding un tuned .

my question is what is the most common gauge for pickers to use and why .

Please don't buy Elixirs or any other coated string and expect them to improve the performance of the high e and b strings - those are uncoated!!

Fran