GUITARISTS...string gauges

[AndrewSimon]

oh and I like elixirs but they are so expensive

Try Blue Steel instead.
It's cheaper then Elixir and sounds better but it doesn't have all the other avantages of coated strings.

[darcyb62]

oh and I like elixirs but they are so expensive

Try Blue Steel instead.
It's cheaper then Elixir and sounds better but it doesn't have all the other avantages of coated strings.

Never found the coating benefits to be worth the extra price.

[xander]

Black Diamond -- all guages.

Black Diamond Strings

[Hink]

Now to defend something I said whilst tipsy...

...again...

The thing with strings is that they are just the first step in your guitar signal chain, and "loudness" at that point tends to simply compress things further down the line.

(This is true even of acoustics, because after a certain point the wood just won't put out any more sound, no matter how thick the strings.)

The "loudest" electric guitar I have is a freak of nature. It's very heavy, with an enormous piece of wood. I keep thin strings on it, and it'll still blow away a strat or paul with 12's any day.

...but the loudness just compresses the sound by clipping the first preamp stage of whatever I put it into, so you really don't get more volume, just a deser signal/wave.

...which is to say, once you hit compression, be it physical or electronic, string guage makes no difference, and there are many other factors in volume other than string guage.

...balancing those factors makes more sense than a focus on one element.

See? Clear as mud!



-S.

sleek great post, you obviously have the same view as I? However I would like to correct one small detail...the strings are the second step in the signal change. The first step is the most critical, strings are subjective, from there the signal change either helps you or hurts you.

Ever stop and think about it? There is so much that we take for granted. The factory soldered it....it's good...it has a 3 way or 5 way switch..if it's a Gibson or Fender it's gotta be good parts right? I mean they care so much for their guitars I'm sure they put much better parts into it.

All of course bogus. When I was a young and it was the "hotrod" era I learned that if you want a performance car you've got to go with after market parts. It's no different with guitars, except it's a lot cheaper to "trick" out. But many do not, in fact too many people dont even know how to solder.

So the chain is now looking like this human>strings>electronics>out to amp/pedals. However you have to notice things and understand. Just like some companies use 'lite' software, you can't really compare the lite to the full blown. Same thing with pick-ups...often you will see "Duncan" pick-ups...but are they? Yeah they are marketted by Duncan...but many are generic. (of course there are exceptions)

So now the little chain already has two weak links (maybe three depending on the player, which is not a put down). First you have stock pick-ups which may have more issues then you realize. Then you have machine soldered parts, you have inferior parts (three way and five way slide sitches come in two flavors...one is very cheap), potentiometers are often cheap, even most new guitars I have seen the jacks seem to be finger tight (the mounting nut).

Please bear in mind some like the cheap sound...look at Dan Electro's.

I can take a soldering iron to a les paul, change out the PAF's, put a couple humbuckers with coil taps and get the guitar as tinny as a Tele...on the other hand I can change the pick-ups in a tele and play rippen metal.

As Sleek points out wood matters a lot, one of the things that gives a les paul it's sound (and one of the reasons I dont have one, my amp gave a hernia, when my guitar does I'm done )

So the statement "heavy strings are louder" is too blanketed. That's why I ask on what. Rarely are guitars properly sheilded in the factory (a worthwhile mod is to use copper sheilding tape and seal it up). So again I suggest that strings "sound" is far less important then their "feel".

This is also why I dont go by the name on the neck, or the price...but how it feels. About three years ago I bought an ESP MG750, it wasn't very expensive. But had an original Rose, the neck was 24 fret and it felt good. Another ESP had EMGs in it (though none of the salesman could tell me what models) it was twice the price and with my eyes close and the guitar unplugged (very good test) they felt the same.

I bought the cheaper one, I'm gonna modify it before I play it anyhow. It's sweet now with all new electronics, EMG pick-ups (81 and 85), good three-way, sheilded, even a pre-amp. But that guitar is sweet for me...not anyone else (though many seem to like it, but hate my Am tuning).

So it seems to me that with three companies trying to develop the best sim...the myriad of strings...the difference in players and I wonder what people are thinking. all play a bigger role then strings for the sound of the guitar. It's a shame that many people dont care about that side...say you're a great player with a great amp...you ultimate goal is to get that great playing to the great amp without losing much. They have a great amp a great guitar....says who is my question?

But wait it's a 3000 dollar les paul...don't you understand Hink, it's much better then your ESP. It's a Gibson, the best. I point to the area beneath the strings and ask people what they think is getting lost. So many people dont even think about it or get it.

So let's put the fact that fatter strings are louder to bed...the only time that will be an issue is if it's the same guitar and the attacks are identical..then yes fatter srings are louder...not a good reason to buy em imo.

I know why people dont like elixers, same reason as me...they don't feel right, they almost feel lubricated.

So I asked about gauges to see where people here stood..I can tell you some facts from observations. 9's are the most sold, followed closely by 10's. Dean Markely, D'addario and GHS are perhaps the most popular. I use D'addario 9's.

What amazes me is that people will practice, buy a name guitar, buy the hot amp of the day...hoping for magic...I am amazed at how many people believe that PAFs are effecient...they're not, they're vintage. It surprises me that people believe that it's better made...better then what?

So this thread has been interesting to say the least...I use the strings that my fingers like and are use to, as for sound...I leave that to me, my playing and my mods will get me the sound I want...

[AndrewSimon]

oh and I like elixirs but they are so expensive

Try Blue Steel instead.
It's cheaper then Elixir and sounds better but it doesn't have all the other avantages of coated strings.

Never found the coating benefits to be worth the extra price.

How about prolonging the frets life to avoid those $300 refret jobs?

[Hink]

oh and I like elixirs but they are so expensive

Try Blue Steel instead.
It's cheaper then Elixir and sounds better but it doesn't have all the other avantages of coated strings.

Never found the coating benefits to be worth the extra price.

How about prolonging the frets life to avoid those $300 refret jobs?

so you know you can do a frer job yourself for about 30 bux, there is no hard part...however after 30 plus years of playing only once have I had to do a fret job...

[AndrewSimon]

however after 30 plus years of playing only once have I had to do a fret job...

Good to hear.
I purchased my electric about a year ago and I can see some frets starting to look flat.
The guitar tech who set it up for me told me that if you play a lot you can wear them out in 1-2 years.
I hope he is wrong.

[egbert]

however after 30 plus years of playing only once have I had to do a fret job...

Oh great! A bullshit competition! That's nothing I tell ya! I've been usin' the same set of strings for thirty years!

[Ian B]

however after 30 plus years of playing only once have I had to do a fret job...

Oh great! A bullshit competition! That's nothing I tell ya! I've been usin' the same set of strings for thirty years!

That's nothing, so have I.............but the strings above the third fret haven't had a finger laid on them. 'Open chord only Ian' is my name

[analog orange]

12's acoustic

11's electric

Whatever's cheap. The tone is in your hands.

[Hink]

however after 30 plus years of playing only once have I had to do a fret job...

Oh great! A bullshit competition! That's nothing I tell ya! I've been usin' the same set of strings for thirty years!

which part is bullshit?

[egbert]

That's nothing, so have I.............but the strings above the third fret haven't had a finger laid on them. 'Open chord only Ian' is my name

I bet you play a killer version of Wild Thing though

[egbert]

however after 30 plus years of playing only once have I had to do a fret job...

Oh great! A bullshit competition! That's nothing I tell ya! I've been usin' the same set of strings for thirty years!

which part is bullhit?

OK -- you fooled us all - you play fretless guitar!

Seriously though - for just 1 second - frets do wear out ( unless you have 101 guitars and play each one every three months or so). Of course my piano strings are a whole other story - still holding up very well after thirty years

[Sascha Franck]

The frets on my Anderson were worn out after 3 years. No, no fret job possible to fix them, had to be new ones, I tell ya!
But then, the first ones really seemed to be utter shit. The second generation frets behave way better (after another 3 years).

[Aleatoric]

10's all around