seeker Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Does anybody here prefer 9s over 10s for setneck, shorter (Hamer/Gibson) scale guitars?I've always gone with 10s, but have been playing a number of local-shop guits that appear to be strung with 9s. And am in bendy heavan; have been listening/playing to a lot of Page stuff lately.Do you lose much in the tone and or sustain departments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backinit Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Just the opposite for me, .010 - .046 on gibby scale and .009 - .042 on a Fender scale. I probably leave something on the table but I play non bo-teak gear anyway so WTF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punkavenger Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I've put the Jimi Hendrix 11 to 52 set on all my guitars ... the tone is just so much fuller. I'm a medium quality player anyway, when I play basically I'm practicing to get better. Might as well get good using the strings I like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooks Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 i use 11's when tuning down to Eb,otherwise i use 10's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BubbaVO Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I strung up a rather bright sounding Ibanez ST with 11s, a Hamer Studio w/ 10s and Daytona with 9s. And I've mixed and matched. They pretty much sound the same to me when playing heavily through heavy - moderate distortion. Playing clean there is a difference to my ears, but I like bendability. The 11s were more difficult to bend so I've gone away from those entirely. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 11's on my 24.75" scale guitars tuned to standard and on my 25.5" guitars tuned to E flat.10's on my 25.5" scale guitars tuned to standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atquinn Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 10's on everything! I've never had any guitar that I've tried with both where the 10's didn't sound better. For some gutiars it changed a kind of crappy tone to a good one. I'm used to them so bending on any scale isn't a problem. Plus, come one, you know who light gauge strings are for, don't you? -Austin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyB Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Plus, come one, you know who light gauge strings are for, don't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 9's on Gibsons, Epi's and Hamers10's on Fenders w single coils9's on Fat Strats and Frankenstrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseydrew Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I use D'addario XL 9's for all my guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockbody Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 10's on everything tuned down to Eb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbymack Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 10s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shark Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 .010 to .052 on everything. Better tone. Stronger hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCChris Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 9-46 for me, on all scale lengths. The slinkiness I like on the unwound strings with a little fatter tone from the wound strings. High action too, which is what real men prefer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGale Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 10.49326 for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pirateflynn Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Whatever gets you to pick up the guitar more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velorush Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 10 to 46 for me As for tone, I bought into the big strings/big tone thing for years. From a pure physics standpoint, the higher mass of larger strings would have to produce higher disruption of the pickup's flux field. Then I learned the the Rev Billy G plays 8 to 40s. His tone doesn't seem to suffer too much for it. Edited, sorry for the tangent... Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zorrow Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I use 10-52 on all my 24.75". To me there is a slight difference about tone --or so I want to believe-- but that's not the point. I am actually an EXTREME BENDER too so, if you want to know why I use 10's and not 9's, please keep on reading: With 9's, when I want to bend up to a perfect fourth, sometimes I cannot hit the note I go for, no matter how hard I try. I have very strong hands, so it's not a matter of strength. I think it's just because the elasticity of the string reaches its limit at a given moment --being thinner, 9's would stretch up to a lower point than 10's. That's how I moved from 9's to 10's, and from them on my extreme bends worked way easier. Just try this now: bend up a major third on your E string at, let's say, the 12th fret. Did it work? Ok, now try to do the same on the B string. Do you notice how it's easier to go one major third up in the later case? No!? Well, I do! In any case, that's my rationale about why I don't use 9's anymore. It seems to me that, the thicker the gauge, the more "stretchable" the string is when tuned at the same tension. I found 10's provide the best tension/tone/elasticity combination for my style of playing --which, I repeat, includes a lot of extreme bends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyB Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 As for tone, I bought into the big strings/big tone thing for years. From a pure physics standpoint, the higher mass of larger strings would have to produce higher disruption of the pickup's flux field. Then I learned the the Rev Billy G plays 8 to 40s. His tone doesn't seem to suffer too much for it. Yes, but I don't know anybody who's worked harder on putting together strange combinations of downstream components to get those tones. He doesn't just plug into the nearest Mesa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pirateflynn Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Plus, I think he's pulling your leg a lot of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feynman Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Only about 100% of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punkavenger Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I too was fascinated by the fat string phenomena ... I read about SRV and Dick Dale ... The Mermen ... sometimes 13's were common. I know for a fact that my Daytona sounded much richer going from 10's to 11's. With the 11's the 46 just seemed too small ... 52's? Now thats manly. Now all my guitars have the 11 52 set. I dont play any shred ... bluesy alt rock over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velorush Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 As for tone, I bought into the big strings/big tone thing for years. From a pure physics standpoint, the higher mass of larger strings would have to produce higher disruption of the pickup's flux field. Then I learned the the Rev Billy G plays 8 to 40s. His tone doesn't seem to suffer too much for it. Yes, but I don't know anybody who's worked harder on putting together strange combinations of downstream components to get those tones. He doesn't just plug into the nearest Mesa. 11s seemed to sound 'bigger' but 10's have been a good compromise, 'playability' vs. tone. Edited, sorry for the tangent... Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyB Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 As for tone, I bought into the big strings/big tone thing for years. From a pure physics standpoint, the higher mass of larger strings would have to produce higher disruption of the pickup's flux field. Then I learned the the Rev Billy G plays 8 to 40s. His tone doesn't seem to suffer too much for it. Yes, but I don't know anybody who's worked harder on putting together strange combinations of downstream components to get those tones. He doesn't just plug into the nearest Mesa. Ha! JohnnyB wins on calling me on this, followed closely by Pirateflynn and Feynman (having a little fun with you guys...). I didn't buy in to the 8's argument 1. To JohnnyB's point, if I had eight Bixonic Expandoras to chain together before the amp, each adding just a hair of gain to the next, eights might just work. Billy G's pulling your leg on that one, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 I use .011s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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