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Guys, I sold out (and I made a rambling post as well)


LucSulla

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I finally moved from 10s to 9s after really wondering why in the hell I'm making myself work harder.  Honestly, I can't tell a damn difference in tone.  It took a little bit to adjust to picking fast because the strings fought back less, but I got that worked out.  I'm going to try out some 9.5s and see if I like splitting the difference better, but all in all, I've really enjoyed going lighter.  Overall, I feel like my bends and vibrato hang in there better over a three hour set.  

On another note, I know I've been scarce lately - My personal life turned from fantastic to flaming garbage back in October, and I am just now kinda digging out from under that. I did pick up a Friedman BE-50 Deluxe like I mentioned - great amp!  The idea was to sell the Small Box, but that didn't happen because it is a great amp too.  The BE-50 caters more to my high-gain love on a lead channel, and being that I am too stupid to make a boost work right going into dirt, I really like have a third channel I can just click for leads.  That being said, those Small Boxes just do the 60s-plexi through Van Halen I thing so well that they are just cool.  So now I'm sitting an a gazillion dollars worth of amps, haha.   

I also picked up a Gibson Explorer.  I think it's a 2017.  Great playing and sounding guitar, and it has quickly worked into a regular for my gigs.  It also has a totally Gibson screw up on it I notices the first time I changed the strings.  One of the tuners is off by at least 10 degrees to the left, and it was totally a factory error.  No additional screw holes or anything on the back; it was just made that way.  Pretty guitar but slightly fucked up.

Other notes on this now update that you never wanted,  my band won favorite band in town in the local entertainment rag up here, and I finally got best guitarist after being runner up two years in a row.  I can actually think of at least three other guitarists up here that have better chops than me, but everyone is real-stand-in-one place-and-shred or whatever.  I guess the reason I like having won that finally is that for years I've been telling guitarists that rock is about the show, not your chops - people want to see something happening on stage that makes them wish they could be up there having as much fun as you.  I'm actually quite reserved until I get to know people, but I definitely play the part of guitar hero on stage.  So winning that finally was vindication for my "Looking like Little Richard is more important than playing like Steve Vai" approach to playing rock 'n' roll live.

Now if I can just get the rest of the band to loosen up a little and move around, haha. 

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10.5s on 24.75" scale, 9.5s on 25.50" ...coming from 12s and 11s, I wondered why I waited so long! It's a great feeling to find a gauge that makes playing be the most fun and if you're not losing anything with the sound then all is well in the world!

And congrats on the best player award too! Rock it up, amigo!

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32 minutes ago, cynic said:

Congrats!

Oh, and I've got a few sets of 7s in a drawer.  I've yet to try them, but I eventually will.

I have a feeling I'd rip those clean off.  I've already broken more strings in the last few weeks than I have in years. 

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Glad to hear from you...

 

Last year, I finally decided to try .010s on a Tele that I gig with frequently after finding that the .010s that came fron the prior owner on my Archtop Studio felt fine. Frankly, it feels a tad stiff. Several gigs and practices later, I think I like the Gravelin/Gilmour approach:  .010s (or 009.5) on the 24.75" scale and .009s on the 25.5" scale. Methinks this will actually create a greater sense of fidelity in how the two scales "feel".

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46 minutes ago, cynic said:

Oh, and I've got a few sets of 7s in a drawer.  I've yet to try them, but I eventually will.

BFG uses those, but his are chambered for a better acoustic voice. Lol

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20 minutes ago, Biz Prof said:

BFG uses those, but his are chambered for a better acoustic voice. Lol

Cripes, the one guitar on a rundown I saw has a chambered body, chambered neck and chambered headstock according the Billy himself.  

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Using both 9s and 10s and settled to Thomastik Infeld Sliders. Love the brass on them.

And yeah, congratulations to the win!

Rock the snot out... B)

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I've been using hybrid Slinkies on my fiddles for over 30 years now and they are perfect for me, regardless of scale length.  Even my hollowbody Gretsch Tennessee Rose has them on it, and trust me it's the easiest playing Gretsch you'll find.  I like consistency of feel and tone no matter the guitar I grab, and the 9-46 gauges give me a little extra bass punch and feel with the lighter top end.  I highly recommend checking them out!  They are the orange packaged Ernie Balls, and for the last 5 years or so I've been using the Cobalt Slinkies as they seem to be more durable and longer lasting.  YMMV! 😎

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I was using hybrid sets of 10-54 or 56. That was my preferred testosterone-fuelled gauge to playing guitar as an extension of my dick.

However, while getting older, I’ve tamed down my macho attitude, because my fingers are hurting lately; so I decided to go 8-38 in all my guitars, which in addition are all 24.75”.

Surprisingly, this not-so-manly gauge sounds great —and it’s definitively way easier on my fingers. Also, it allows my middle to stand up quickly in the event of any criticism.

In short (scale), I’m a happier (guitar) man now! 😜

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Used to use mostly 9's with 10's on a few guitars but for the last 5 years or so it's a pretty even mix. There is a little adjustment between gauges as far as bends go but I don't really notice any significant difference in tone between gauges. When it comes down to it, I think it's the lack of time or I'm too lazy to change the gauges that are on the guitars now to avoid having to tweak the setups.

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I've been using 10s for years. I liked the tone, and I liked it when the strings fought back a little. I recently switched to 9s, and realized I should have done that a long time ago! They're much easier to bend, with no loss of tone.

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6 hours ago, zorrow said:

I was using hybrid sets of 10-54 or 56. That was my preferred testosterone-fuelled gauge to playing guitar as an extension of my dick.

Whoah, dude!

6 hours ago, zorrow said:

However, while getting older, I’ve tamed down my macho attitude.

(Seinfeld voice), "I don't think ya have. See the aforementioned post."

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I`ve gone the opposite way, but only slightly. I used to use 9-42 on 24.75 and 25 inch scale necks and 8-38 on 25.5 scale necks. Now I use 9.5-44 strings on 24.75 scale necks and 9-42 on 25 and 25.5 necks. D`Addario NYXL`s. Fantastic strings.

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On 1/19/2019 at 9:48 AM, GuitarGuy65 said:

I've been using hybrid Slinkies on my fiddles for over 30 years now and they are perfect for me, regardless of scale length.  Even my hollowbody Gretsch Tennessee Rose has them on it, and trust me it's the easiest playing Gretsch you'll find.  I like consistency of feel and tone no matter the guitar I grab, and the 9-46 gauges give me a little extra bass punch and feel with the lighter top end.  I highly recommend checking them out!  They are the orange packaged Ernie Balls, and for the last 5 years or so I've been using the Cobalt Slinkies as they seem to be more durable and longer lasting.  YMMV! 😎

I grew up on D'Addario 9-42.  Switched to 10s for a few years, more than a decade ago, now.  Then developed chronic wrist pain (too much time arguing on the internet, methinks :( ), but couldn't go all the way back down to 9s, s I landed on 9-46s.  Tried a dozen different brands in that gauge and always came back Ernie Ball hybrids.  Best feel and tone of all, including some "boutique" brands.

 I've gone through binges a number of times over the years since of trying to get up to 10-46 or even 10-52s, but in the end, I don't hear enough of a tone difference to offset the increased labor to play, much less the increased pain.  So that's what I've got on both my Hamers (24.75" ans 25.5") and my Ibby now.  I'm like you -- I want consistency of feel across my arsenal.  And through my Shiva or my Budda, I'll put these tones up against anything out there, whether played on rubber bands or bridge cables, lol!

 

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