Forums > Gear talk > STRINGS! OH NO! heavy or light guage
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Original message:150 days 2 hours 58 minutes ago
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Member: Leif
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Just curious. I think heavy guage strings give you more control and more body. Who agrees? I use dean Markley blue Steels 13 guage. I cannot even play a guitar that has a.09 guage on it. It's like there is nothing there. I also heard heavier guages lasts longer but its hard to know for sure because there are 2 arguents. light guage is thinner but has less tension where heavier is thicker but has more tension. I have always used 13's. I also like those handade DR strings which have a nice sound but they broke on me which was odd. I have never broken a dean markley blue steel in my life and have been using them for years. i change it when it looses its tone and even that seems to hold for 2-3 months and i play all the time..Just curious if anyone has any reccomendations on a decent heavy guage string other than what i use. I've played dadria, deans, dr, those SITS, Fender (they suck), gibson and others and i can't find anything better. I think dr really sound nice but they don't last as long as blue steels. I use alixer on my acoustic (i think they are great for acoustics) but they feel strange on my electrics and i think the tone is odd...I never tried the ghs boomers, if anyone uses them i'd like to hear what they use and your guage. Thanks!
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Reply:150 days 2 hours 32 minutes ago
Member: jobabrinks
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13 is REALLY heavy man. That's like jazz guitar gauge. I used to play 12s and 13s when I was first really getting into the guitar because that's what Stevie played. I tore my fingers up really badly. Like skin and dry blood was all over the place and I couldn't play for a while. You DONT want to try a gauge that heavy unless you are a seasoned player. I completely disagree with strings that heavy giving you more control. 13s aren't really amenable to stringbending and it'd be hard to get them up to pitch at the lower frets. I use 10s on my electric. When I get a hollow body, I'll probably string it with 13s. The difference in tone between 10s and 13s is nowhere near worth the trade off in playing fluidity. Then again, just my opinion.
Reply:150 days 2 hours 1 minutes ago
Member: Leif
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been playing fusion jazz and prog. rock for 20 some years so 13s work for me.. but i like the control of a heavy guage. Yeah my finger tips are rocks. they look normal but they when my wife or someone touches them they say they feel like stone..calices build up..i don't feel a thing...
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 56 minutes ago
Member: Steve Aguilar
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iam curious why such thick strings for jazz, is it the deep bassy feel you get from them, sides the control?
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Reply:150 days 2 hours 28 minutes ago
Member: Danno
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I can imagine 13s would be good for serious drop tuning
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 58 minutes ago
Member: Leif
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don't drop tune too much...sometimes...if you can handle 11's you can get used to 13s...
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Reply:150 days 2 hours 21 minutes ago
Member: bradZILLA
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i use 12's on my acoustic, and 11's on my electric. On my acoustic I like Martin strings, I think i use an Eric Clapton set, they give a nice tone whatever they are. It's not that much harder to play for me and you get a much nicer tone in my opinion. Maybe you got a faulty set of DR's? I think they are handmade, so some are bound to be lemons.
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 57 minutes ago
Member: Leif
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yeah, well like i said...the dr's sounded great but they broke on me! so i stick with the blue steels...yeah they are hand made...i dunno if that makes them any better really. but yeah i'm willing to give them another try because they sounded nice!
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Reply:150 days 2 hours 10 minutes ago
Member: Steve Aguilar
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13s my god man lol I only use .10s right in the middle or the skinny top heavy bottom by ernie ball but thats about it, your fingers must be like stone :P the DR string thing though I think is a one time thing I once bought a pack of regular ernie ball strings and there was like a burn mark on one of the strings >.>
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 51 minutes ago
Member: Leif
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Well actually i don't play traditional jazz (unless someone makes me) i just have jazz roots. It's a fusion but Yeah the bottom end is sweet and i feel like i have great control on my bends when i use them..Try them out...They aren't that bad..Queens of the stone age use 13s and they are i guess hard rock! So i don't feel they are just for JAZZ players...maybe they are more drawn to fusion players though..Stevie ray was a fusion player with blues roots but lets face it that's still rock. anyone have any other strings i can try they think are nice?
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 50 minutes ago
Member: dcunning30
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I use 11s. It's a compromise between 9s amd 13s. I can get the sustain, bend, and with some effort, use my floyd on the 7-string.
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 48 minutes ago
Member: Leif
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what type of string are your 11s cunning?
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 40 minutes ago
Member: dcunning30
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i use d'adarrio 7-string packs with 11s on the top
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 34 minutes ago
Member: Leif
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yeah i tried them... a lot of people like them though..
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 28 minutes ago
Member: Desmond
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With sting-related conversations preferences are all-over the place, obviously.

For me, I like the TONE of a certain string on a certain guitar. I prefer the deep tone of a heavy-gauge string, but will often throw some medium-gauge on my Strat for lead-stuff and a more brittle sound.

Lead-players often prefer a lighter gauge string for the reason given -- bending. When you use a 26 wound-third -- it isn't easy to bend that durn-thang up to your nipple.

For the arch-top .. I like the heavy flatwounds - -and yes -- they hold their tone a lot longer than a light-gauge, conventional wound string.

Mostly, try lots of strings and remember -- you don't always have to stick with the strings that come prepackaged !! But I love those color-coded thingys !!

Reply:149 days 23 hours 13 minutes ago
Member: Danno
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I'll have to remember that bit of advice as my main goal is to bend strings to my nipples LOL
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Reply:150 days 1 hours 6 minutes ago
Member: sallan
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I also use heavy guage flatwound stings. 13's are as light as I go on my Borys, and I'll go as heavy as 15. 13's are a good balance....I have no problems bending a whole step or more, with the main problem there being the bridge slipping with too heavy a bend.

On my solid body electrics I still use 10's, but I almost never play them anymore. Control is a relative thing, but tone is obviously going to be better, as will sustain, with a heavier string.

-sallan
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