Any real sound/tone difference in .11's?

Randy Shafter

Hey, hey. Is there any real sound or tone difference in .11 gauge strings from .10's? Just curious because i'm thinking of replacing my tele from 10's to 11's. Thanks for the advice folks!

i57dwun4yb1pt8

i only do recording - live may be different.

ive gone from 9s to 11's over the years on rythm guitar and its alot fuller / more body and sustain .

the lead guitar i use has gone from 9s to medium tens / heavy bottoms with a heavier low e string ( 054)

your fingers get used to it and it sounds much richer.

i would say very fast playing would be better with 9's though

you will likely have to tweak the truss rod , intone and bridge if you change though.

-Chris-

I've also found an improved tone from using .11s

Do it!

Strings.ie

There's more meat on the bone with a heavier string but it really depends on what you are doing. I'm more nimble on lighter strings and that can bring out better aspects in my playing but heavier strings allow me to much more rhythmically. One option is to use a custom set with heavy E A D & maybe G or lighter G B E.

rcaz

I like heavier strings, 11s on my Telecaster and 12s on my Jazzmaster. Way more full-sounding, the tension feels way better. I've heard a few people say they don't like them because you can't play as fast on them, but you can practice and overcome that.

They cover a lot more tonal ground, I reckon. If you have all that full tone and you don't want it, you can filter it out, but if you don't have it you can't put it in

stephenshields2

From my experience, the difference is minimal, and for live use, negligible.

The only strings that sound different are your two heaviest, E and A.

So, I use Dean Markley Light Top/Heavy bottom, which I have found to be fantasic strings. (But they do dull quicker than D'addario's or Ernies)

Their gauge is .10, .13, .17, .30, .42, .52.

So thats the treble strings from a set of 10's and the bass strings from a set of 12's.

Good times.

---

Also, on a different note, the change in "tone" that most people refer to when speaking about heavier strings, is more to do with the fact that the strings react differently compared to usual.

"Tone" is a hard word to describe, it has different meanings to different people, but playing a comfortable gauge of strings will give you much more of said "tone", than straining yourself playing a heavier guage of string, looking for this "tone".

Hope this makes sense.

It does in my head!!

artvandulet

stephenshields2 wrote: »

So, I use Dean Markley Light Top/Heavy bottom, which I have found to be fantasic strings. (But they do dull quicker than D'addario's or Ernies)

Their gauge is .10, .13, .17, .30, .42, .52.

So thats the treble strings from a set of 10's and the bass strings from a set of 12's.

You should try D'addario EXL140's then in that case.;)

OP, you could split the difference with 10.5's.

stephenshields2

artvandulet wrote: »

You should try D'addario EXL140's then in that case.;)

OP, you could split the difference with 10.5's.

But I love my Dean Markleys while they last, good enough for Gary Moore, good enough for me!

Good call on the 10.5's actually, I had a set of GHS Boomers 10.5's, threw them on the Les Paul, its a good compramise!

jimmy99

Heavier gauge always sound better,but the heavier you go the harder they are to play.11 would be a good compromise on a les paul.On a strat maybe 10's.

NoQuarter

How could a .10 be harder to play than a .13 ie. the B string on a set of 9's??

Its all in your head folks!

Your gonna get your 10's and think the high e string is much harder to bend completely ignoring the fact that you can bend every other string on the guitar and they are much fatter!!

-Chris-

You need to read up on this a bit more methinks.

The other strings are at a different pitch.

Pitch, tension, length and thickness are all intertwined. If you change one, the rest change.

bitethebullet

Dude let me tell U ...(short pause) stringus gaugus ain't anyway proportional to tone. let me explain that if you don't read much .....hendrix used 10's.....page used 8's as did clapton...so did/does Senior Gibbons. Stevie played 12's but in all honesty tone depends on several important digits

-Chris-

Digits, amp, speaker, guitar, pickups, length of cable, buffers in your pedals, whether you have your combo amp on the ground or elevated, how many speakers, what size they are, what tubes are in your amp (if you have any)....

I could go on...

All else being equal, I prefer the sound of 11s for my playing.

Demeyes

NoQuarter wrote: »

How could a .10 be harder to play than a .13 ie. the B string on a set of 9's??

Its all in your head folks!

Your gonna get your 10's and think the high e string is much harder to bend completely ignoring the fact that you can bend every other string on the guitar and they are much fatter!!

There's so much wrong with that logic. What makes the string harder to bend is the tension, not the just the gauge. You tune that b string upto e and then try doing some big bends on it and tell me it feels the same as it did before you tuned it higher!
I'd recommend you give the 11's a go and try and play them a good bit when you put them on to adjust. At first they'll seem tight but you'll get used to it pretty quickly, if you don't like them switch back. If you play with lots of gain the difference in tone won't be as noticeable but if you are playing cleaner stuff you should hear the difference the extra thickness makes.

Randy Shafter

Thanks for the input folks. Just so you know, I dont play live or record etc. I just play for enjoyment! Anyways, perhaps i should mess around with my amp some more before changing strings just now. Im happy enough with .10's for now but i'll probably throw .11's on sometime in the future.

Alanstrainor

NoQuarter wrote: »

How could a .10 be harder to play than a .13 ie. the B string on a set of 9's??

Its all in your head folks!

Your gonna get your 10's and think the high e string is much harder to bend completely ignoring the fact that you can bend every other string on the guitar and they are much fatter!!

I played 13's for about a week. Try it some time, your fingers will be torn to shreds and you'll cry for mercy:D:p

-=al=-

i used to play 13's on my acoustic yonks ago, wouldnt even dream about doing it now, hands are all used to 9's now, the odd 10's too, pretty sure i use 11's on acoustic now

Alanstrainor

-=al=- wrote: »

i used to play 13's on my acoustic yonks ago, wouldnt even dream about doing it now, hands are all used to 9's now, the odd 10's too, pretty sure i use 11's on acoustic now

Ah i was talking about an electric in my post. My acoustic has 13's on it now, although i want to but a heavier gauge on them when i restring.

NoQuarter

Demeyes wrote: »

There's so much wrong with that logic.

Yup well my logic wont be right when you change it to suit your own ideas lol! I never mentioned retuning! i suppose my logic is wrong cause if you put cheese wire on instead of strings its harder to bend too?

Its as simple as this: theres no major difference in bending your high e and your b string so changing from 9's to 10s doesnt make that much of a difference at all!

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I played 13's for about a week. Try it some time, your fingers will be torn to shreds and you'll cry for mercy:D:p

Wimp!

Alanstrainor

NoQuarter wrote: »

Its as simple as this: theres no major difference in bending your high e and your b string so changing from 9's to 10s doesnt make that much of a difference at all!

Your logic is still messed up i'm afraid!

I know you mention different tuning, but the above doesn't make sense! Your high e string, in standard tuning will be 5 semi-tones "tighter" than the b, and therefore much harder to bend and play.

-Chris-

NoQuarter, I was polite in my response to you earlier but now I'll be more direct:

You don't know what you're talking about. Go and read up on it and stop talking through your arse.

NoQuarter

-Chris- wrote: »

You don't know what you're talking about. Go and read up on it and stop talking through your arse.

No thanks ill just keep playing the same as I have been for 10 years. Dont need an article to change strings!



Alanstrainor I know exactly what your sayin but imo the changing up in gauges doesn't make much difference at all assuming you dont make a big jump!

-=al=-

If i did use higher gauge strings there isn't a chance it would be standard tuning


i wouldnt actually mind trying the string with different gauges mixed in, the bottom/heavy top/light strings, may work out ok for acoustic, prob only do bends on the top 3 strings 80% of the time

-Chris-

NoQuarter wrote: »

No thanks ill just keep playing the same as I have been for 10 years. Dont need an article to change strings!

But you do need an article to teach you how tension, length and thickness result in pitch.

A 9 tuned to E may feel similar to a 13 tuned to B, but it'll feel nothing like a 13 tuned to E.

Unless I misunderstood your posts, you don't understand this and you shouldn't be afraid to admit you're incorrect and to learn something new if you want to keep improving as a guitarist.

NoQuarter

-Chris- wrote: »

A 9 tuned to E may feel similar to a 13 tuned to B, but it'll feel nothing like a 13 tuned to E.

Unless I misunderstood your posts, you don't understand this and you shouldn't be afraid to admit you're incorrect and to learn something new if you want to keep improving as a guitarist.

I understand it perfectly! But to answer the OP's question like i was...

Is there any real sound or tone difference in .11 gauge strings from .10's?

No.

-Chris-

In your opinion.

My opinion is Yes.

We'll agree to differ I guess and the OP can do his own experimentation.

NoQuarter

If the 11's dont tear his fingertips off that is. Heres hoping!

-Chris-

Your callouses thicken pretty quickly, as do your fingers in general. You might need to two-finger bend where you used to use one finger, but that's not a big deal depending on how you play.

Horses for courses...

rcaz

-Chris- wrote: »

Your callouses thicken pretty quickly, as do your fingers in general. You might need to two-finger bend where you used to use one finger, but that's not a big deal depending on how you play.

Horses for courses...

Even if you need a two-finger bend for the first week, your fingers get much stronger very quickly. After two weeks on 12s, my old strat with 10s felt like it was strung up with Capellini.

As for feel and strength, as others have said, the unit mass is immaterial, it's the tension that makes the difference.

Sandvich

I switched to 11s on my Tele and it did fatten it up a bit but not a lot. I'd recommend using thicker strings with Single Coil guitars, humbuckers will be fine with lighter gauge.

Then again Frank Zappa used pretty light gauge strings and got some of my favourite tones.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

NoQuarter wrote: »

I understand it perfectly! But to answer the OP's question like i was...



No.

rubbish , there is a very audible difference in low end and warmth.

you can hear it even if its not plugged in.

NoQuarter

DaDumTish wrote: »

rubbish , there is a very audible difference in low end and warmth.

you can hear it even if its not plugged in.

Yeah....between 11s and your drums :pac:

i57dwun4yb1pt8

I play drums , bass , guitar , keys and also sing

moron

Bootsy.

I've been using 12's for years. I went from 10' to 11's, then to 13's for a while (ouch!), then settled on 12's.

Although I do prefer more 'boom' in my tone, I changed for reasons of feel. Lighter strings just feel too skinny, floppy, and weedy under my fingers.
(I actually changed soon after I started playing bass, so it might have something to do with that!)

I play with a funky, percussive style, using mostly 3 or 4 note chords, double stops, and single notes, so they suit my style perfectly.
Plus, I usually tune a half-step down whenever I can. I like the sound and feel that way. This on a strat btw and I had to adjust the intonation and file the nut a little.

One thing about them tough, I absolutely HAVE to have a wound G string, I HATE unwound G strings, I think they sound awful 'clangy' and just don't feel right.

At the end of the day it's whatever feels right to you that matters.

Bootsy.

Oh right, to answer the OP's question!...

Yes, there is an audible difference in sound.

It's much better to my ears and feels much better to me.
But some people like a lighter, 'jangly' sound/feel. So whatever you're into.

And Jimmy Page used 8's, so a big sound is obviously about a lot more than the flippin strings!

I say go for it!

NoQuarter

DaDumTish wrote: »

I play drums , bass , guitar , keys and also sing

moron

Wow lots of string experience there!

Medals in the post

-Chris-

NoQuarter wrote: »

Wow lots of string experience there!

What's wrong with you that you can't accept that other people may find 11s to sound better/thicker?

There is definitely a difference in tone between thicknesses of strings.

Do you think you've all the answers after your 10 years of playing guitar?

-=al=-

-Chris- wrote: »

What's wrong with you that you can't accept that other people may find 11s to sound better/thicker?

There is definitely a difference in tone between thicknesses of strings.

Do you think you've all the answers after your 10 years of playing guitar?

pretty much it really

i57dwun4yb1pt8

NoQuarter wrote: »

Wow lots of string experience there!

Medals in the post

people like you shouldnt be allowed near musical instruments ,

i suggest you take up felching.

rcaz

DaDumTish wrote: »

people like you shouldnt be allowed near musical instruments ,

i suggest you take up felching.

People like you shouldn't be allowed near internet forums.

NoQuarter

El Pr0n wrote: »

People like you shouldn't be allowed near internet forums.

They do say drummers are a bit slow....

punchdrunk

10-54's on most of my guitars here,huge difference in tone on the lower strings compared to 9's

Seziertisch

I think the original poster's question was fair enough, but that anyone would claim that there is no difference in sound between string gauges is just completely mad ...

ball ox

NoQuarter Vs. Physics

Round 1

GO!!

i57dwun4yb1pt8

El Pr0n wrote: »

People like you shouldn't be allowed near internet forums.

coming from you thats potkettle etc , darling

i57dwun4yb1pt8

NoQuarter wrote: »

They do say drummers are a bit slow....

whos the drummer ? I can play drums , yes

seems you are the slow one , along with your complete lack of musical ability to hear string differences , and understand simple physics .

I would say you are in fact a TROLL .

PeterIanStaker

I use .11's with a wound 3rd and I think they're great. Stay in tune very well and feel right, but in the end its about what you think feels right.

NoQuarter

DaDumTish wrote: »

I would say you are in fact a TROLL .

Maybe your not so slow after all! A bit sensitive though! God forbid someone has a different opinion on the internet!


Either way, i stand by my original position, i dont think theres a REAL sound difference between 10s and 11s. 9s and 12s yeah sure, but 10s and 11s....not a REAL difference....as per the OP's actual question. Which i reiterated in earlier posts to clear my position. The OP simply wanted to change from 10s to 11s on his tele, I hardly think he should expect fireworks!

Seems you have trouble understanding simple english!

ps, i only start trolling around the end of the 2nd page when i seen half of you going mad!

ball ox

NoQuarter wrote: »

ps, i only start trolling around the end of the 2nd page when i seen half of you going mad!

feylya

Well played guys.