Guitar String Gauges

MetalDawg

Just wondering what string gauges other people use.
I've been using D'Addario 0.11 - 0.49 with a wound 3rd for about 18 months now and I think they're class. Used to just use 0.10's. I play metal , as the name suggests, rock, SRV style blues and a bit of everything. These strings handle standard tuning all the way down to Drop C. And yes, I can play fast on these cables!
Anyone fond of a particular string gauge?

Dord

I use Ernie Ball Power Slinkies ( 0.011 - 0.048) on guitar and on bass I use Optima Gold (0.045 - 0.105).

Guitar and basses are tuned to E.

feylya

I use 11's with a plain g, 10's and 9's. Different guitars for different things

pistonsvox

Dadarrrio 11's on both me tele and LP Junior. :pac:

Alanstrainor

Elixer 11's on my Bacchus Strat. Best. Strings. Ever!
Daddarios 11's on my Fender and Squire Strats, very crappy recently, have found they lose all their brightness very quickly.
Not too sure what's on my Edwards Les Paul, but they seem good to me, well so far anyway.

rcaz

I'm with felylya on the different guitars thing. I have 12s on my Jazzmaster, which feel and sound perfect on that guitar, but I like having 10s on my Tele, they feel a little better for the guitar. I play a little more aggressively on my Tele, so the more typical 'rock' guage seems appropriate. IIRC I have 11s on my Strat (I left it alone for AGES before deciding what to do with it, so I've forgotten exactly what strings are on there). It's tuned D-A-D-C#-A-D, and they seem to work. I'd prefer 12s for the tuning, but that would pull the bridge way up.

As for brands, I always just grab Ernie Balls, because I was brainwashed into thinking they were the 'best' when I started playing. I fail to see how different brands of the same guage string could vary that much. Opinions?

68 lost souls

At the moment ernie ball 10s for gibson scale and 9s for fender scale. Thinking of putting some "chromes" 13 on my strat. Might give the dean markley signiture sets a whirl soon aswel.

On my bass I have 45s Daddario at the moment but changing to chromes as soon as I lower my nut.

-Chris-

I've had Ernie Ball Power Slinkys (11s) on all my guitars for ages now. All in standard tuning.

Playing anything lighter just feels weird under my fingers at this point, too squirmy!

Quillo

Elixirs Nanoweb 45-105 on my SR700
D'Addario EXL120 9-42 on my Strat'
D'Addario Pro Arte EJ45 28-43 normal on my Rodriguez MCR11

All standard tuning.

Welease

I seem to be the opposite end of the scale.. Mainly use 8's...

I have recently been trying other gauges, without much success... My strat has 10's, which I find too heavy and my Les Paul has 9's which are not too bad but still don't feel as nice as 8's.

Patricide

Ernie Ball 10's on the tele tuned to standard
Ernie Ball 11's on the viper tuned to drop C
Ernie Ball Regular slinky on my musicman
Dean Markly sr2000's medium on my warwick 5 string.

God dam i also hate dadarios!

Paolo_M

I'm in the "different gauges for different applications" camp.

The strat I use for blues is in standard and has 9s. I tried 11s and 10s when I was on a SRV buzz but to my ears it lost a bit of sparkle on the neck pick up, which I use mostly, so I went back.

My two Les Pauls have 10s and 11s. The 10 is in standard and the 11 is down a half tone. The 11s I found are slightly thicker sounding which is great as the "down half tone" tunes tend to be heavier anyways.

I've a hot rodded squire with a bridge humbucker that has 12s but it's down a full tone and then dropped C. The brighter sounding strat body works great here to keep the definition when chugging away on the low strings.

My Ibanez have 9s and a really low action 'cos I'm trying to learn to sweep pick properly after years of half arsedness.

Fingers Mcginty

Ernie Ball 10's on my pacifica's and 11's on the 335 copy. Still not convinced on the higher the gauge the better the tone camp. These just FEEL right on the these guitars.

raindog.promo

I've gone from 10's on SG and 11's on Jaguar to 11-s on SG and 12's on Jaguar (doth d'addario) and higher gauge than usual on the acoustic, I think 13's not too sure.

I'm going to try some 12's (GHS Boomers) on the SG soon.

Overall, I'm happy with the results.

Bstatic

I've always used D'addario 9's. Never experimented with anything else.

Do you get a heavier rockier sound with a larger gauge???

Paolo_M

Bstatic wrote: »

I've always used D'addario 9's. Never experimented with anything else.

Do you get a heavier rockier sound with a larger gauge???

You get a thicker, fuller sound with a heavier gauge.
It works well for rock stuff and gives you a different feel. I tend to play slightly differently with heavier strings.
It does different things depending on the amp too; if the amp is already on the on the edge of becoming muddy sounding, a heavy gauge guitar may push it that bit too far.
IMO, you also loose some top end sparkle, especially with single coil guitars.
This could be a good thing with a toppy amp like an old Fender or a JCM800.

The heavier gauges are essential for dropped tuning, IMO, unless you like playing with cooked spaghetti for strings!!
Oh yeah, IMO, gauge is reletive to pitch; 12s in standard concert pitch would be considered a heavy gauge but 12's in baratone would be normal to light.

Randy Shafter

I use Dunlop .10's on my Tele. Standard tuning.
They do the job!

Dangerous Man

On my 25.5 scale electrics I use .10 guage stings. On my Gretsch 6131T - I use 11s because of the shorter scale / tuning stability.