Rick Beato: You're probably using the wrong strings.

[blue]

Interesting video. When I was playing in the seventies Super Slinkys were the go to strings. I don't know when that changed. I guess it's easy to blame
SRV. Then I got into Surf, and and 11s on strat, and 12s on my jazzmaster were the thing for me. For my "rock guitars" I was playing 10s.

Watching this video I was struck when he talked about reducing bottom end. I have 9s now on my #1 G&L ASAT Bluesboy, and it's very interesting. I'm been in a classic rock groove the last couple months and I'm really digging the bottom end I'm getting.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by blue

Interesting video. When I was playing in the seventies Super Slinkys were the go to strings. I don't know when that changed. I guess it's easy to blame
SRV. Then I got into Surf, and and 11s on strat, and 12s on my jazzmaster were the thing for me. For my "rock guitars" I was playing 10s.

Watching this video I was struck when he talked about reducing bottom end. I have 9s now on my #1 G&L ASAT Bluesboy, and it's very interesting. I'm been in a classic rock groove the last couple months and I'm really digging the bottom end I'm getting.

Yeah, it's interesting how people keep perpetuating conventional wisdom on strings, when so much of it disappears if you actually try different ones. There are so many variables, and people get such great tone with all kinds of gear and strings, that IMO it honestly comes down to what feels best in your hands. Everything else can be handled with gear.

People keep trotting SRV out and making wild claims about his piano-wire strings, but in his own words (I'm paraphrasing) as soon as he got sober he went to a .011 set tuned down a half-step, but his tone didn't change. Same with Billy Gibbons; he's told so many stories about his gear that you have to be nuts to base your string selection on what he says he plays.

I've settled on a .095 set at concert pitch on a 24.75" scale after trying everything from .009 to .011 because they work best in my hands with my gear for the stuff I play.

[M Sarad]

I put .038-.008 on my Tele and LP Special. They were terrible on the Tele and barely acceptable on the LP.

I took them off the Tele and put on the .095 set.
Doing the same with the LP.
I have .011 on the Brondel Strat and .010 on the PRS.

[Ray175]

Not really surprising that for the heavily distorted sounds on Rick Beato’s video there is little difference in the sounds coming from different gauge strings. If you conduct the same exercise with a clean jazz sound the differences will be very clear - even more so for an acoustic sound.......

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Ray175

Not really surprising that for the heavily distorted sounds on Rick Beato’s video there is little difference in the sounds coming from different gauge strings. If you conduct the same exercise with a clean jazz sound the differences will be very clear - even more so for an acoustic sound.......

I agree with that, good point.

[FrankHudson]

The guy who's the guitar equipment/gear expert who appears on this and other Beato videos is too young to remember the early 70s I think. A very common Rock and country set in those days was the Fender 150 Light (Gibson had a similar set with their branded strings too). Besides pure nickel wrap being common in those days, this set was from a different scheme that modern string sets use.

I used them for most of my electric guitars in the 20th century, but they became harder and harder to get.

This set was gauged .010, .013, .015, .026, .032, .038

You can still get something like them, nickel instead of nickel plated wraps on the wound strings and all as the "Hendrix Voodoo Child" set.

Fender 010 to 038 nickel wrap set at Sweetwater

Check that against the common sets available today.

Here's the Purple "Super Slinky" set from Ernie Ball.

009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042

And most brands if they offer a variation from this scheme it's a "heavy bottom" set, where the low E is .048 with a .009 top.

I happen to still think that this .010 to .038 set works great on Fender scale single coil instruments, particularly on Strats and Teles for most purposes. But most players haven't even tried it. It's totally foreign to their thinking. Not even on the map.

Now I happen to be a odd player. On electric I play a lot of "Lead Guitar" with a flat pick but I will use the low strings, sometime playing lines that are in the range of baritone guitar or "tic tac bass". Teles, with their tight bass register are great for this kind of playing. Beato's video is based on more modern heavy guitar styles, which also use the low strings in the power chord style. This set might suit that too, but it's not on the map. Indeed, a lot of players in this style go for the heavy bottom sets.

Steve DeRosa may chime in on another tradition, predating the Fender 150 Light set, but also worth exploring: flatwound strings with a wound G. Another sound to try on electric guitar.