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string gauges?

canuck7
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canuck7
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01/20/2003 3:35 pm
i've been wondering what gauges people like to play. i use some standard 10-46s but i'm probably going to a SLIGHTLY heaviery gauge and stay or maybe stay and try to get some really light bottoms strings for soloing.
some people hate heavy strings and some crave them. Zakk Wylde uses 10-60s and i'm constantly amazed. i mean, KoRn's A-tuned seventh string is a 60! Zakk Wylde is one awesome crazy guy.
well, what gauges do you guys use?
Thanks for listening to this small piece of me.
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# 1
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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01/20/2003 5:18 pm
I keep a couple of axes strung with D'Addario EXL110 (.010-.046) for ocasions when I wanna get slinky. I keep my main guitars strung with EXL115W (.011-.049 with a .021 wound G). I play mostly rythym, and heavier strings give much better tone. Next string-change, I'm taking the step up to EJ21 (.012-.052). I don't do 3-fret bends, and none of my guitars have a whammy bar. I insist on huge tone, and killer sustain without having to resort to overdrive or feedback. As with any equipment choice, its a deeply personal thing.

Use the search icon at the top of the page to look for older threads on strings. There's a lot of stuff here!
Lordathestrings
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# 2
SLY
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SLY
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01/21/2003 12:31 am
I mainly use D'Addario EXL110 (.010-.046) ... I play mostly lead, and I can't stay more than a 5 min away from my whammy & 8 frets bending habbits.

I used to play (.009's) , but changed to (.010's) for tonal reasons... I never play .008's cuz whenever I play a guitar strung with these & do some crazy bendings I instantly break the high e-string , not to mention the crappy tone you get from these (IMHO).
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# 3
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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01/21/2003 3:03 am
Originally posted by SLY
... I never play .008's cuz whenever I play a guitar strung with these & do some crazy bendings I instantly break the high e-string , not to mention the crappy tone you get from these (IMHO).
true words... you need to have some mass in your strings in order for them to interact with the pickups, plus the fact that 'spiderwebs' sustain even less than the average banjo! (And I ain't humble about my opinions... I've developed them over a lot of years). :)
Lordathestrings
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SLY
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SLY
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01/21/2003 11:03 am
Originally posted by Lordathestrings
[B...plus the fact that 'spiderwebs' sustain even less than the average banjo! [/B]


LOL @ 'spiderwebs' !

Some people play these for the ease of bending, and the low action they can set with a (.008) ... But yeah, tone is more important ... You can get used to play higher gauge , but you can never get good tones out of these , erm , 'spiderwebs' .... :D
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# 5
canuck7
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canuck7
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01/21/2003 2:25 pm
love that term, spiderwebs. that's right, i think the lowest i'd drop my e to is a 9 or something, i'll probably end up sticking with 10-46 or 10-something heavier.
keep posting your string gauges.
Thanks for listening to this small piece of me.
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# 6
SLY
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SLY
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01/21/2003 3:14 pm
The most popular gauges are 9's & 10's ... Actualy I want to try the 11's , but my neck is very slim & I'm afraid if this tension would harm it ... I believe the (.010-.046) gauge is the most balanced between tone & playability.

The only famous guitarist I know who play 8's is Malmsteen.
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# 7
Azrael
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Azrael
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01/22/2003 10:43 am
I use the Elixier .009 - .042 gauge plus a .054 for the low B (7 string)

i have tried heavier gauges, but thats not my cup of tea. The lightest strings i have tried so far where .007 - but thats thiner than a hair *LOL* i bought them because i wanted to have a 7-string guitar with a higher A - string. unfortunetely i never got up to an A - G# was the note where it snaped *LOL*


[FONT=Times New Roman]Holiness is in right action and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. What you decide to do every day makes you a good person... or not.[/FONT][br][br]

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# 8
janir123
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janir123
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01/22/2003 11:35 am
I'm using DR '9/'42s. They're good on my Ibanez but I think my Hamer's gonna need '10s or '11s (short scale,setneck). The '9s just don't seem to last....
Thanks

Jani
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# 9
PlanetDeep
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PlanetDeep
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01/24/2003 12:40 pm
I mainly use .010->.048 and an extra .060 for the 7:th string. I also use .013->.058 on my Rhoads which is tuned down to C. On my strat I use .010->0.48 (normal tuning)
"Yer 18 years old, you don't know **** about **** and pull up yer pants!!!" - Dennis Leary
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# 10
canuck7
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canuck7
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01/25/2003 1:20 pm
i've listened to previous posts and i've checked out some other guitars with lighter gauges and i've decided that a 10 should be the lightest gauge for the high e string. just my preference. it's got that good balance between too big and not big enough. it's got good sustain with my rig so that's my opinion.
that's just me.
Thanks for listening to this small piece of me.
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# 11
SLY
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SLY
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01/25/2003 2:17 pm
About the harmonic feedback & sustain thing ... Slash has got one of the best sustain & feedback harmonics , and he uses 11's gauge... I'm not sure anyway which should sustain more scientificaly , heavy or light gauge.

I think the difference in sustain between different string gauges (or even different guitar models) is realy minor, or more dependant on the pickups & the amount of gain coming out from your amp ... For example, my guitar is a Floyd Rose, Bolt-On neck type guitar ... And it sustains exactly (very little less or more) as any other tun-o-matic neck-thru guitar.

From the Tone point of view , everybody agrees that higher gauge gives bigger tone which most people like more ... But it's a matter of personal taste for sure .
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# 12
SLY
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SLY
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01/25/2003 11:33 pm
Less gauge have thinner sound that's not pretty good for nice rhythms or leads (IMHO).

9's are reasonable for some people cuz their playability is affected badly with higher gauges .

Just to add something , since I've been used to 10's for a long time , now my technique gets very sloppy (specialy the picking) when I play on a guitar strung with 8's ... just as people used to 8's get sloppy when they play 10's .
So it's just a matter of getting used to a certain gauge , and humans usualy adapt to anything very fast.

That's why I don't think it's a good idea to sacrifice the tone for the playability , which is something anybody can get used to in a short period of time.
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# 13
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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01/26/2003 1:26 am
Originally posted by SLY
...That's why I don't think it's a good idea to sacrifice the tone for the playability , which is something anybody can get used to in a short period of time.
YES!
Lordathestrings
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# 14
SLY
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SLY
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01/26/2003 1:10 pm
Who is Marcus Paus ?
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# 15
SLY
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SLY
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01/26/2003 1:17 pm
"Official Fastest" ?? cool , where did you get this ? If you know any sites plz post'em here. :)
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# 16
SLY
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SLY
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01/26/2003 1:30 pm
Just got "Caspersen's Secret Fetish" , nice one.

But I'm interested to konw how is he the "Official Fastest" , is it by some kinda contest , organization or what ?

I've searched the guiness records few years ago for this topic ,and found nothing.

I guess I've read before about a contest for the fastest drummer ... It would be cool to have similar contest for guitar .
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# 17
SLY
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SLY
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01/26/2003 2:01 pm
46 - 67 notes per second ????????????????????????????????????

What the FU*K is that ? Is that 16th notes at 600 bpm ? 64th at 300 bpm ?
I was very happy to play 16th at 300 bpm like Michael Angelo , but it's extremely hard to believe that someone who can double this realy exist ...

I just downloaded his stuff from mp3.com & haven't heard such things... Where did you get these info , I'd realy like to hear the 64th notes at 300 bpm form a guitar player , if it's true.

And where did you find the guiness records documentation for that , I've been searching for a long time and found nothing.
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# 18
SLY
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SLY
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01/26/2003 2:27 pm
Hmmm, I would never believe unless I heard myself .

And for 64th at 300 bpm , I just tried to see how does it sound on Guitar Pro tab software ... It's totaly blurred , a real mess , I still can't believe it could be achieved on guitar and sound decent.

Anyway , I can slide the chromatic scale up & down the whole neck 4 or 5 times per second , considering my neck has 24 frets ... That would be arounnd 120 notes per second !! :p

LOL
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# 19
SLY
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SLY
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01/27/2003 10:12 am
What speed ? the 120 bpm chromatic slide I mentioned ? I was kidding anyway .

I'm pretty sure that no one (Human) can play scales with 64th notes at 300 bpm ... Unless he uses my sliding trick ;) ... I'll copyright that one ! LOL
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# 20

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