KVR Audio

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 3:56 pm

egbert wrote:
mckenic wrote:I tried flat wound 9s on the Gretsch and liked them fine - until I changed back to standard 10s - MUCH more bite
Going from a .009 to a .010 is more than a 20% increase in mass per unit length (factor of increase = 100/81) so you could expect a correspondingly big jump in signal from the pickup. The increase on the other plain strings is a little smaller but still pretty significant.

notice he said from flatwound...flatwounds are much more subdued then round wound to begin with...

mckenic · Post by **mckenic** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 4:11 pm

Thanks for the info guys - Id be more of a 'feel' kinda guy and wouldnt take much notice of the technical differences... while the flats were VERY easy to play I found a more 'bluesy' sound overall from standard D'addario 10s.

I dunno I found 'em crunchier... its difficult to describe a feel...

Im looking at my new set of Gallistrings Jazz Flat 10's as I type - would you imagine they would have a similar 'bite' (considering their size/mass) as the standard 10s Im using at the mo??? The ease of playing flats is something I like but its not worth the muffled tone...

Thanks again guys,
Dave

selfconstruct · Post by **selfconstruct** » Sat Oct 22, 2005 4:18 pm

Pyramid 11-48 for my Asat and Savarez 500AJ for my Godin.

Sleek Month · Post by **Sleek Month** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:41 am

..but I wonder what takes more finesse...heavy or lite strings...wimpy surely isn't the word I would use...I think that it takes more precision to play with light strings. However bending heavy strings does take brute force...both SRV and Gary Moore had/have use .013 and both could/can bend like mad...both very talented guitarists...

Well, I may be in a very small camp, but I pretty much think the whole "thicker strings=better tone" thing is just more gay guitarist crap.

Yeah, maybe they sound a little different, but come on, it comes from your hands...

I mean, who has a "thicker" tone, Eddie VanHalen? Malcom Young? Tony Iommi?

All of them use different guages, all of them have very distinct "good" tones. Is one more right than the others?

I just use whatever feels comfortable, thought I use 9's for country because of all of the big double and triple stop bends.

-S.

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:21 am

Sleek Month wrote: Well, I may be in a very small camp, but I pretty much think the whole "thicker strings=better tone" thing is just more gay guitarist crap.

I totally agree, my comment wasn't meant all that serious anyways...
Still, personally I find intonation to work way easier with thicker strings and bendings of all sorts still not being a problem. But then, I've got fat and rather powerful fingers.

fritzman · Post by **fritzman** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 10:22 am

For heavy stuff tuned to C# I use 11-70. For normal pop, rock, heavy stuff I use normal 9ers or 10ers. Depends on the mood.

zeoy · Post by **zeoy** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 10:31 am

11s GHS boomers everywhere ... (except for the Alhambra of course).

dry bones · Post by **dry bones** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 11:25 am

I use 10s because that's what was on the guitars I learnt to play on, and it suits me. The Ernie Ball Slinkies are okay as well, I use Rotosounds because my band has a low-level endorsement.

Peel · Post by **Peel** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:05 pm

I agree that saying heavier=better is nonsense. However, different string guages certainly sound different. The biggest difference to me, tonewise, is that lighter strings have more of a twangy sound to them. There's not as much difference between .11s & up. The more distortion & effects you use, the less pronounced the difference will be.
Personally, for some purposes I really like the sound of light strings. If I had a spare guitar, I might keep it strung with .09s or .10s, but for everyday purposes I find those guages too difficult to play; they're always flapping around. I normally use .12s.

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:10 pm

Btw, there's a strong difference on more distorted sounds using heavy gauge bottom strings, being that you'll hear each slide way louder than on thinner gauges.

Gregjazz · Post by **Gregjazz** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:23 pm

Used to use 10s on my guitar, but then I moved to 11s, which I like much better. The tone is a lot fatter and has more presence.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:28 pm

Sascha Franck wrote:Btw, there's a strong difference on more distorted sounds using heavy gauge bottom strings, being that you'll hear each slide way louder than on thinner gauges.

true, quite true....though couldn't the argument be made if you're doing it purely for tonal reasons that more can be done with electronics in the guitar, thus making feel of the strings the number one factor? Of course feel is completely subjective and we all differ on that...

edit, for instance adjusting you poll (sp?) pieces...

jens · Post by **jens** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:35 pm

Hink wrote:
Sascha Franck wrote:Btw, there's a strong difference on more distorted sounds using heavy gauge bottom strings, being that you'll hear each slide way louder than on thinner gauges.
true, quite true....

not at all in my case...

Sascha Franck · Post by **Sascha Franck** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:37 pm

jens wrote: not at all in my case...

Oh, so you're breaking some physical laws... interesting to be sure, I'd like to hear that.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:44 pm

Sascha Franck wrote:
jens wrote: not at all in my case...
Oh, so you're breaking some physical laws... interesting to be sure, I'd like to hear that.

no but your statement is quite blanketed and open to interpretation as there are far too many variables to consider before saying that thick strings sound louder...louder then what? On what?

GUITARISTS...string gauges