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 6 String Gauges? I'm liking .013s!
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| Author | Topic: 6 String Gauges? I'm liking .013s! |
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Eric West Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA |
posted 25 January 2006 10:44 PM
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Been back hard at the Teles last 6 months and I found the strangest thing. First I tried a set of .010s, and liked them. After getting my fingers toned up for regular two fret bends, and playing a lot of new stuff, I tried heavier strings. Wow!. I started out with a set of DeAddario .010s, went to a set of .011s, and tonite I strung it 13 15 20 30 52 and 54! Major difference with being in more tune, the strings are sending a stronger signal, I set the action closer to factory specs and last of all the bends don't seem any harder to make. Anybody else find this? I've always noticed that the guitar players I've worked with over the years that I seemed to like the best played heavier gauges, and it was mainly because they didn't seem to play as sharp unless they had really delicate touch. Maybe they aren't as "twangy" but the action being lower, I can still get a decent 'quack' out of them.. EJL |
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Henry Nagle Member From: Santa Rosa, California |
posted 25 January 2006 11:26 PM
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You're crazy!  That's like a cheese slicer. I think I remember that Stevie Ray used .013s. |
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Tony Prior Member From: Charlotte NC |
posted 26 January 2006 03:43 AM
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I've gone the other way.. 09's I'm gonna try 03's soon.. ------------------ [This message was edited by Tony Prior on 26 January 2006 at 03:44 AM.] |
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Jack Stoner Sysop From: Inverness, Florida |
posted 26 January 2006 04:56 AM
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Lately, on my Tele, I've been using .09 sets but using a 10 instead of 9 for the E string and 12 instead of 11 for the B string. Seems to have helped the sound on those two strings. On my old Chet Atkins Gretsch I had to use heavy gauge strings or the Handle for the Bigsby Tailpiece would be up in the air as lighter gauge strings were not enough resistance for the spring in the Bigsby. I used the Gretsch "Chet Atkins" strings (still have one of the old round plastic cases that the strings came in). |
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Alvin Blaine Member From: Sandy Valley, Nevada, USA |
posted 26 January 2006 05:16 AM
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I've been using 12 15 18 30 43 56 for years. I get a nice big tone and it keeps about 90% of other guitar players from using my Tele when they want to sit in. |
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Stephen Gambrell Member From: Ware Shoals, South Carolina, USA |
posted 26 January 2006 05:38 AM
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As long as the 3rd is unwound, I can deal with it. Chords go out of tune with anything smaller than 10's, though, and I really like them big ol' flatwounds on the ES-175. |
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Tony Prior Member From: Charlotte NC |
posted 26 January 2006 05:51 AM
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Stephen, do you notice more "Body Drop" with the .09's than with the .10's ? t |
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Per Berner Member From: Skövde, Sweden |
posted 26 January 2006 06:57 AM
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On my Gibson J200, anything less than .013-.058 yields a horribly weak tone, but I've never tried going above 0.011 on the Tele. But what the heck – I need to replace the nut anyway, so I might as well enlarge the grooves for a heavy gauge test ride before I make a new one. Interesting! ------------------ |
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Bryan Bradfield Member From: Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. |
posted 26 January 2006 10:26 AM
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Per - What is the year of manufacture for your J200. I believe that one tailors the string gauge one uses to the way in which the guitar was structurally built. I have a 1965 Gibson LG1 (ladder-braced) on which I use .012 .016 .025 .032 .042 .052 The sound is weaker, or quieter, than I prefer, but I have dobroist's finger tips and if the guages were heavier I would not to play it. This guitar is of heavier construction, and needs a heavier gauge string. I understand that the heavier construction is characteristic of the 1960's Gibsons. On the other hand, I have a 1930 Gibson L00 on which I string |
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Kevin Hatton Member From: Amherst, N.Y. |
posted 26 January 2006 11:07 AM
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Eric, I use those same strings. Diadarrio .013's, but I play backup Gretch rythm. They sound great, but I think that if I played lead I'd go lighter. When you play Tele with lighter gauge strings you better have touch and sensitivity. I've known guys like you say who have heavy grip, no touch, and sharp their strings when they fret. Drove me crazy on steel haveing to explain this to them. |
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Dave Mudgett Member From: Central Pennsylvania, USA |
posted 26 January 2006 12:03 PM
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For me, it's about desired tone for the application and what touch-bendability I want. Usually I use .010-.046 SITs on a Tele, Strat, or Les Paul for country, blues, rockabilly or other styles of rock. Occasionally, on a particular guitar, I may prefer .009-42 or .011-.050 in this application, but generally prefer a plain third. For me, I find that lighter strings "twang" better. Snap, crackle, and pop. I often need to use slightly heavier strings on a Gretsch with Bigsby, like Jack says. Part of it is also about keeping the thing in tune. But on a jazz guitar, I usually go with larger strings. I go back and forth between round wound and flat wound strings. .012-.052 or .013-.056 is typical, with a wound third. On acoustics, I usually prefer the sound of "medium" sets, or .013-.056, on heavily braced dreadnaughts, like 50s and later Martins or 60s and later Gibsons, and light (.012-.052) or extra light (.011-.049) for progressively smaller bodied and lighter braced guitars. But one should look at the bracing and manufacturer's recommendations - putting mediums on a lightly braced Martin Golden Era dreadnaught without the popsicle brace can be trouble, as I learned the hard way. These are "typical" gauges for these applications, I think. Most guitars will "tell" you what strings they like if you "listen" to them carefully with different sets. IMO. BTW, SRV used .013 sets, but tuned down to Eb. It's a nice tone, but not right for everything, for me at least. |
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Mike Winter Member From: Oregon City, Oregon, USA |
posted 26 January 2006 12:08 PM
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I use .011's on my Tele. I have the old style, three saddle bridge, but the brass saddles are compensated. It seems like the .011's work best for me as far as the intonation is concerned. It's never perfect, but pretty close.  ------------------ |
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Jim Walker Member From: Florida Panhandle |
posted 26 January 2006 03:35 PM
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I tried 13's, it was like playing bass. Killed my fingers. I'll stick with my Rotosound Yellows. 10 to 46. Roto's dont break as often as all the others I've used. I'm heavey on the B-bender and was always busting strings, switched to Roto's in 1999 and haven't broken a single string since. ------------------ |
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Jim Peters Member From: St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
posted 26 January 2006 04:45 PM
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Eric, any doubt of your insanity can now be absolutely relinquished1 SRV did use heavier strings, but he tuned down. Lots of the Tele twang comes from the rattlin of the strings against the frets. Heavier strings are fine for jazzbos, if your fingers can handle it, go for it! Good luck! JP |
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Eric West Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA |
posted 26 January 2006 07:54 PM
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Thanks all. I find that they aren't quite as bright, but put out a bit more signal. Being as I have always had a somewhat heavy touch on things I'll probabbly keep with the .011s on my playing tele, or maybe D'A 12s. Surprised me though they bent much like the .010s and the action could be lowered. Thanks all. EJL |
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Jim Phelps Member From: just out of Mexico City |
posted 26 January 2006 08:13 PM
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Yep, bigger strings can have a lower action than really thin ones. You obviously don't suffer from weak fingers! I haven't been able to use heavier strings due to some weakness in my left hand and fingers from an old accident, I have to stay with lighter strings. At least I've still played all these years. The doc had a great way with words, too. "When can I go back to work?" "What do you do?" "I'm a guitarist". "Oh boy....well, not anymore!" Fooled him, though. I'd say anyone can put any guage of string on any guitar they like, and play whatever guitar they want in whatever kind of music they want. But what do I know... ....but I do get disgusted with people who make up rules for everything; you have to play a Tele in country music and it has to have light strings, etc. Actually have had people tell me, "Nice guitar (my Gibson Super 400CES) but you should be playing a Tele for country music, not that rhythm guitar". I played my Super 400 with .012's on it in country and country-rock bands. Ha! OK, I've conformed a bit... I've played my '72 Tele in most country bands... but I'll still play anything I want in any kinda band, with any guage and type of strings I want, too. If you like heavy strings on your Tele and they feel and sound good to you, go for it. |
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Rick McDuffie Member From: Smithfield, North Carolina, USA |
posted 26 January 2006 09:00 PM
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.012 flats on my 335 for jazz stuff. There is just no way to get that big, meaty sound out of a little round wound string. |
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Mike Winter Member From: Oregon City, Oregon, USA |
posted 26 January 2006 10:08 PM
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I seem to remember reading that Stevie Ray Vaughn used .014's. ------------------ |
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Steinar Gregertsen Member From: Arendal, Norway |
posted 26 January 2006 11:24 PM
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Stevie Ray Vaughan's strings were: .013, .015, .019, .028, .038, .058 according to this site. Keep in mind that he tuned down a half step, which made the strings slightly softer (but still heavy enough.....). Steinar ------------------ |
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richard burton Member From: Britain |
posted 27 January 2006 06:15 AM
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Eric, I forecast that your next exploit will be to challenge the governor of California to an arm-wrestling match, and I wouldn't like to be in his shoes !! |
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Tony Prior Member From: Charlotte NC |
posted 27 January 2006 07:14 AM
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Like Jim, I now have the need ( requirement ) to go with lighter gauge strings, 9's...do to severe tendon stress on my left hand. I asked the Dr after going thru 6 months of meds and treatments...
He said.. "I dunno'...Could you before " ? Use what fits what you do, there is no such thing as one size fits all.. ------------------ [This message was edited by Tony Prior on 27 January 2006 at 07:15 AM.] |
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Per Berner Member From: Skövde, Sweden |
posted 27 January 2006 07:51 AM
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Bryan – to answer your question: my J200 is a 1994 model. Sounds terrificly shimmering and complex with .013s, but just dies with thinner strings. |
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Mike Winter Member From: Oregon City, Oregon, USA |
posted 27 January 2006 08:06 AM
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Steinar -- you're right. I stand corrected. ------------------ |
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Howard Tate Member From: Leesville, Louisiana, USA |
posted 27 January 2006 08:40 AM
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I like heavier strings on my Les then I did on the Tele. At one time I kept going to lighter strings til I finally got to no strings at all. The band seemed to like that a lot better. ------------------ |
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Ben Slaughter Member From: Madera, California |
posted 27 January 2006 02:22 PM
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I played 10s for quite a while on the tele, but went back to 9s. I find that I can have a lighter touch with 9s and get a little more speed. I've also gone, almost exclusively, to playing with a thumbpick. I'm also doing more, what I call, "backward bends" on the 3rd and 4th strings, where my ring and/or index finger are fretting on the 4, 5, and/or 6th strings and bending with only with my index finger. I don't think I could pull those off as smoothly with 10s or 11s. I do put 10s on my shorter scale, LP style guitars. I also have probably below average hand size for my height, so I may have a little less leverage than some. |
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David Mason Member From: Cambridge, MD, USA |
posted 28 January 2006 09:38 AM
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The mythology seems to indicate that fatter strings have a fatter tone, but 270 watts and a bunch of knobs seem to do OK by me for "fat." I use .009's on a few guitars, .010's on another, and I have a custom Warmoth Tele with a huge "boatneck" neck that works best with .011's. Duane Allman and Carlos Santana used .009's and if that's not a big enough sound, what is? |
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Jim Phelps Member From: just out of Mexico City |
posted 28 January 2006 11:13 AM
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I read somewhere that James Burton used a .008 set... seems he did OK with them, if that's true. |
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Eric West Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA |
posted 28 January 2006 11:17 AM
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Well I did a bunch of "side by side" tests with my different single coil teles and strats and I gotta admit the 13s are "plunky" with a bunch more "signal". Maybe it could be remedied by moving the pickups off the strings a bit. I'll try it on the one that has the 13s. I just used up a bunch of orphan SITs and EBs I had in my purse so I thought I'd try it. The .010s are for a little lighter touch than I've got. For now I'm settling on the D'Ad .011s leaving the 13s n my TV watching and practicing "51" Strat Tele.. I remember years ago in the DC area there was a guy named Jimmy Groves, that had what I would always call "The" Tele Sound. He had .012s to be sure but he ran all his knobs at 0 attenuation on his Fender Twin. "10", in other words, and a smattering of reverb. It was of course "in the hands" like the PSG. The sound wasn't a "twang", not a "quack" but you could fairly see sparks, and hear a "tubular" high edge. Not a single fret buzz, as seems to be the rage nowadays. His left hand fingers were like wooden pegs on the ends and he kept the "ash tray" on the tele. Doesn't seem like 30 years ago... Anyway, I'm sure not running out of things to work on, and it's sure easier to grab the 170$ Squire without a case, my 112, throw them in the pickup and head out. EJL |
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Ron Randall Member From: Dallas, Texas, USA |
posted 28 January 2006 05:19 PM
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FWIW I remember Chuck Berry using heavier strings and tuning down one/half step. Plenty of tone with the big gages, and easy to bend by going down a half step. He sure threw me a curve when he called tunes in Eb. I was playing rhythm guitar. ha! Ron
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Tony Prior Member From: Charlotte NC |
posted 29 January 2006 02:27 AM
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thank god nobody has aksed what BRAND is better..! theres not enough Internet space to host a file size of the magnitude that would result... but , ok I'm game I use, and have been using for at least two decades or more the exact same strings.. Fender 150's..nickel.. |
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David Mason Member From: Cambridge, MD, USA |
posted 29 January 2006 05:16 AM
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Tony, haven't you heard? There's a single family of dwarves locked in a basement in Indianapolis who make every brand of string on the market, everybody else just bags 'em up and overcharges you. I buy GHS when they have certain gauges I want (GBM: .011-.050; GB-LOW: .011-.053, designed for low tuning). I've been buying the Musician's Friend house brand for standard .009 and .010 sets, no complaints. For certain applications I buy single strings, and the only thing I wouldn't stoop to is mixing flats and roundwounds. I really, really can't tell the tonal difference between Ernie Balls, GHS, and D'Addario roundwounds, and since I smooth out my bridge inserts I break strings so rarely I couldn't hazard an opinion that way. |
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Jack Stoner Sysop From: Inverness, Florida |
posted 29 January 2006 06:18 AM
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I bought some cheap Sam Ash strings (.009 "Guitar Research") at one of their "blow out" sales. They were 10 sets for $6.99. I was expecting junk but amazingly they work pretty good. We are using them on a "stage" Peavey Predator (Strat copy) and once you get them stretched out they seem to stay in tune as good as name brand strings and sound pretty good. The Predator is an older USA made model and connected to a old Fender Deluxe Reverb it sounds as good as our lead player's Fender Strat. |
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Tom Quinn Member From: Sacramento |
posted 29 January 2006 06:28 AM
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I went through a heavy string period in my life, but found my Tele lost its twang and the Strat didn't sustain like I wanted. I can get all I need out of 9-46 sets. More sustain, twang and -- to my ears anyway -- tone, but YMMV and no problem. [This message was edited by Tom Quinn on 29 January 2006 at 08:31 AM.] |
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Eric West Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA |
posted 29 January 2006 02:28 PM
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Just went and got a set of 11-50 Ghs "Boomers" to give 'em a spin on the "'51" tele/strat/hermo. I backed the Bridge humbucker way off, left the string height the way it was for the 13s with a very slight amount of "buzz" when the strings are picked hard, none when played softly, and I think that's the way I'm gonna go. I never liked the PSG D'Ads because I think they used to shlep their junk strings to Psgs. I got a bunch of them that looked more like ribbons, and never went back. The guitar sets are a lot better. I'm just trying the "boomers", but I think I've settled on the 11 sets regardless. I got three D'Ad 11 sets. I've got a couple sets of .010 Elixers in my case, and they seem to work good too. In six months I went from one old strat copy to four nice guitars, so I'll have no problem burning them up.. So far, it's all good, and I'm finding that I sure am a single coil guy that never did like anything but Telecasters. I'm seeing that the biggest bitch a lot of guys have with say the "Hiway 1" and other later Teles is the pickups being Overwound. Duh. Just that much more "mud" IMHO. Showing me that Danny Shields was right. Less windings is almost always better. Especially with amps as powerful as they are nowadays. EJL |
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David Mason Member From: Cambridge, MD, USA |
posted 30 January 2006 06:00 AM
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I agree about modern pickups, though I think humbuckings can sound good too, IF THEY'RE NOT OVERWOUND. What sounds good about the "P.A.F." humbuckings? They're weak, so they don't assassinate your preamp. Marshall and Boogie built their amps to be overdriven by normal pickups, then DiMarzio started building "Super Distortion", high output pickups, and the arms race was on. Hasn't anybody noticed that amps like the Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifer, and nu-metal guitarists in general, sound really awful? I guess it's like driving a car that goes 160 mph in a country with 65 mph speed limits, or buying a truck with 30" tires to drive to the library and back. You can shoot sparrows with a 12 gauge, too.  |
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Bob Martin Member From: Madison Tn |
posted 30 January 2006 08:13 AM
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Hi Eric, I think it's great you can use the heavier gauge strings because that's what you like but I'll just throw one word of caution in for you. I have a buddy in town that probably got a better tone for commercial playing on Tele's and Strats and Les Paul's than any other session player around. He liked heavier gauge strings like 11's and I always wondered how he bent them so well and he always just said it's all in what your use to. That has been over 30 years ago and he now has a pretty bad case of arthritis in his left hand and has to play 9's and now tells me he wishes he had been playing 9's all along. He doesn't know if the heavy strings caused him all of the trouble or not but it certainly didn't help thats for sure. So just a word of caution. I don't know how old you are but arthritis is always in the back of every pickers mind. Bob |
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Tony Prior Member From: Charlotte NC |
posted 30 January 2006 09:03 AM
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" a single family of dwarves locked in a basement in Indianapolis" ?? huh ?? I thought they were in Kansas .. With Toto.. Thru the years, I have tried every stinkin' brand know to every common dwarf.. a friend gave me 12 packs of Sam Ash strings once..I still have 11 and a half packs left.. I don't think it's so much about which brand but rather the consistency from set to set... Your playing style, how you approach bends , trills and chords is also based on string gauges being consistent from set to set... David, to you have the Dwarves direct phone # ? ------------------ |
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Eric West Member From: Portland, Oregon, USA |
posted 30 January 2006 06:21 PM
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Well Bob, I don't think "living another thirty years" is going to be one of my major concerns.. Actually I have pretty healthy bones and musculature, and have never had problems with my steel playing and carpal etc, for as much as I have played. I do know that when I played guitar the most back in the 70s, the quality was nowhere near what it is today. I probably practice two hours a nites afte my day gig, and handling chains on a lowboy puts a hell of a lot more strain on my wrists etc. I do like the D'Ads, and am liking the GHS Boomers so far. I use only GHS SS for my E9, and Power Wound SITs for my C6. Anyhow, time for "Mercury Blues, and "Hummingbird". I slowed them both down last night and it's time to go to work. EJL |
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Mark Lind-Hanson Member From: San Francisco, California, USA |
posted 31 January 2006 01:18 PM
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For electric 6-strings I prefer D'Addario .011's with a Wound G... I've gotten used to it- & don't enjoy the plain g's so much anymore... |
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Loni Specter Member From: West Hills, CA, USA |
posted 05 February 2006 11:59 PM
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I like 10s on my Fenders and LPs Although I have super perfect 'fat back' warmoth neck that I can put 11s on and it feels like 9s because the action is very low. Billy Gibbons (zz top) uses 8s. |
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