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  #31  
Old 02-27-2017, 10:22 AM
Craviola Craviola is offline
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Been playing 10's on electric for 30+ years.
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  #32  
Old 02-27-2017, 11:52 AM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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i use 10s on all of my electrics except for a 58 es125 full body that i use 11s with a wound 3rd.

play music!
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  #33  
Old 02-27-2017, 08:18 PM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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12s. D'Addario EJ21. Tried others and can't use anything else and get a good set up and intonation for my robot grip.
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  #34  
Old 02-27-2017, 09:08 PM
donh donh is offline
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.11s

Can still get a 1.5-note bend (barely), and the tone is acceptable.
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  #35  
Old 02-28-2017, 04:16 AM
LSemmens LSemmens is offline
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I use the lightest gauge I can get. Now to qualify that statement: I play rhythm and have NEVER bent strings, so cannot comment on bends, though I am aware it can be done. It is just not my style.
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  #36  
Old 02-28-2017, 06:37 AM
bobwl bobwl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Livingston View Post
I remember reading somewhere that Stevie Ray Vaughn used very heavy strings on his strat. In my (failing) memory, I thought he used a .014 or heavier as his E string.
SRV used to tinker with strings all the time, rumor is he went as high as .017, however I believe he usually used .013. Also important to remember he was usually in Eb standard as well, so half a step down.

I remember something from his tech saying he used .013 – .015 – .019p – .028 – .038 – .058, and would switch to .012 if he was tired.

That being said...
Strat: .009 or .010 depending on my mood
Rickenbacker 360: .012
PRS and Les Paul: .010

Previously I've used:
T3 and T5: .011
Tele: .010 or .011

If you've never tried the Billy Gibbons Dunlop Reverent Willy Signature Extra Light .007-.038, I suggest you at least try them once. They are really interesting, almost feel like your not playing anything at all. Personally not my thing, I like to feel my string, but it is an interesting thing to try.
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  #37  
Old 02-28-2017, 06:50 AM
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10s. I can do everything I need to do with that gauge, no need to change.
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  #38  
Old 02-28-2017, 06:52 AM
Mark 63 Mark 63 is offline
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EXL115W Nickel Wound, Medium/Blues-Jazz Rock, Wound 3rd, 11-49.
But big bends don't interest me as much as sound and tuning stability.
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  #39  
Old 02-28-2017, 07:03 AM
Fret-O'File Fret-O'File is offline
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I just got back into electric after acoustic only for eight years.
I have 11-49 on my strat and les paul. I can get 2 whole step bends on high e and B & G strings but it's a bit hard to get any more than that.
I'd switch to 10s but I find tuning and intonation better with heavier strings and I like the feel of heavier strings. If I want to play something and the bends are just too tough with 11s, I can always tune down a half step but there are not many times you need more than 2 whole step bends.

Last edited by Fret-O'File; 02-28-2017 at 07:33 AM.
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  #40  
Old 02-28-2017, 07:12 AM
Paleolith54 Paleolith54 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bobwl View Post
SRV used to tinker with strings all the time, rumor is he went as high as .017, however I believe he usually used .013. Also important to remember he was usually in Eb standard as well, so half a step down.

I remember something from his tech saying he used .013 – .015 – .019p – .028 – .038 – .058, and would switch to .012 if he was tired.
Some info from an interview with Rene Martinez, Stevie' s tech:

" One day I decided to get some GHS Strings and we tried them and he liked them and he became an endorsee as time went on. Then they became his set which was 11, 15, 19, 28, 38, 58 and they were the Nickel Rockers.
And the reason I came up with that gauge is because he started to tear his fingers up quite a bit using heavier gauge strings, and I said to him, Stevie, you're just gonna have to use a different set to keep your hands. So we finally settled on 11, 15, 19, 28, 38, 58. And that became the standard when his sets came out. His custom sets.

Guitar.com: 11 to what? 58?
Martinez: 11 through 58. 11, 15, 19 plain, 28, 38, 58.
Guitar.com: So what was it like the last two years or so that he dropped back from the 13s to the 11s.

Martinez: Well, it was probably the last couple of years, maybe year and a half to two years, where he finally stuck with the 11, 15, 19s because he was literally tearing his skin apart. He liked a lot of the things that I said and believed in some of the things that I said, and he finally said to himself, I'd better stick with these.Im not hurtin them as much. And the tone was still there. He just liked the tone of the big fat strings, thats all."

https://www.guitar.com/articles/rene...ns-guitar-tech
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  #41  
Old 02-28-2017, 09:09 AM
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Other than my Parker Fly deluxe, which has a proprietary flat spring that is balanced for 9s, all my electrics are 10s, 11s, or 12s, including some 12s with 25.5 scale lengths. I have since acquired a size 10 spring for the fly while they are still available, but have no current plans to install it.

I personally believe that regularly playing different string, and scale sizes is a good thing after you have reached an intermediate level in your playing. If you can play 9s and 12s, you're never hampered when you pick up a strange guitar. I honestly don't even register the difference between 9s and 10s. My favorite setup is 11s on a 25.5 hardtail.

There are lots of interesting videos on Youtube (from folks who are worth listening too on most topics) who have taken the "Billy Gibbons" challenge and gone to 7s for an extended periods. They are worth a look to break down preconceptions and prejudices. I'm not interested in trying it personally, but I definitely changed some long held beliefs.
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  #42  
Old 02-28-2017, 09:13 AM
s2y s2y is offline
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I use 10s on most of my electrics.
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  #43  
Old 02-28-2017, 07:31 PM
jp2558 jp2558 is offline
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I used 9's for decades until I started playing more acoustic guitar about six years ago. So now I use 9's on my Fenders, 10's on my Gibson's. I have 12's on my acoustics, so my thinking was to go up a gauge on my electrics, just to help build hand strength for acoustic playing. Lately it's been all acoustic so I could probabaly put 10's on the Fenders too, but I'm too lazy to take the time to do it.

And FWIW, supossedly Santana, Jimmy Page, and Rev Billy all use 8's or even 7's!
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  #44  
Old 02-28-2017, 11:01 PM
Davis Webb Davis Webb is offline
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You don't really develop hand strength by going to heavy. You just put more wear and tear on your small finger ligaments, cartilage, tendons. I cannot see the need for anything thicker than a 9. I have tried 10s and up, of course and they just hurt. But I bend all the time. With strumming, pretty good to go. I can see that.

Then my friend lost the ability to play at all by taking up the Chapman stick and tapping for a couple years. He got it back when he sold the stick. Now grant it, tapping isn't strumming, but still, the point is tons of guitarists do get hurt each year with some kind of bad ergonomics. So its not to be taken lightly. (pun..insert grin here)



A half step down, well that's Hendrix territory....
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  #45  
Old 03-01-2017, 08:33 AM
blue blue is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Davis Webb View Post
I cannot see the need for anything thicker than a 9. I have tried 10s and up, of course and they just hurt. But I bend all the time. With strumming, pretty good to go. I can see that.
I use 11s for Surf (aggressive "tremolo picking"), and Blues with a high-ish action (often tuning down to G and hard slide work on all the strings, not single note electric leads). On my national reso-tone and resolectric I use 12s because they are basically acoustics at heart.

The reason to go over 9s is if you have a reason to go over 9s that is more than emulating a hero or ego
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