String Gauge and Tone

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visserman
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String Gauge and Tone

Post by visserman » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:25 pm

Have a look at this video and see what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGXj_NQONYM

When you listen to the three people doing the tests listen to their playing: A lot of the variety also comes from how they play.
The last guy plays on low E string, while the others do not touch that string.

I think the 0.11s sound best in the bottom end.

Wish they would have done the test with a clean sound, also vary between chords and single string playing.

Check out the comments and most people seem to agree on heavier gauge and also on the sound.
Really there is no right and wrong. Changing a lighter gauge to a heavier one is a pay-off in twang.

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Pepe
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Re: String Gauge and Tone

Post by Pepe » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:17 pm

At some time I tried .012 jazz strings on my guitar after having been favouring .010s for several years. I went back to .010s and then I switched to .009s. I like low gauge strings and I cannot really play higher gauge strings. I'm fine with the sound, so that's okay.
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visserman
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Re: String Gauge and Tone

Post by visserman » Fri Feb 07, 2020 11:55 am

Pepe wrote:
Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:17 pm
At some time I tried .012 jazz strings on my guitar after having been favouring .010s for several years. I went back to .010s and then I switched to .009s. I like low gauge strings and I cannot really play higher gauge strings. I'm fine with the sound, so that's okay.

I can understand, it takes time and experimentation.
When you mentioned Jazz Strings I guess you mean Flatwound strings? They do sound a bit duller and will not give you the ring (twang) you will get from round wound strings.

I have experimented with all kinds of set-ups over time.
Your string gauge does also have to do with your style of playing: By using thinner strings you may find yourself doing things which sound better with that particular sting gauge. In a way, you do adjust to what your strings will let you do.

I think for people who interested in trying out a different gauge, just set a particular guitar up for the gauge you want to try and leave it like that for a while. Over time you may find that you start to play certain things in a different way.

I had a particular moment where I was going to do gigs as a duo with a Bass Player. At the very last minute bass player pulled out, and I could not cancel those gigs. To compensate for that miss in low end I ended up using a 0.56 and 0.46 for the bottom end. The rest of the set was a regular 0.11
I did experience quickly that those heavier strings were great for doing riffs on the lower strings, it also helped to give a boost for any chord configurations I played.

After those gigs I decided to stick to those heavier strings, also started to use them with some of my other guitars.

Since the last four years I started using another variation; For both my high E and B I use a 0.17. The low A and E are still the gauge as mentioned above and the middle strings come from a regular 0.11 set, but sometimes I make slight changes depending on what strings I have.
My choice for the 0.17 came from wanting to use different tunings and doing more scraping and other kind of string-tap-techniques.
I can still bend the strings as before, no change there.
Of course the guitar did need to be adjusted for nut ( make spacing of slots for the E and B a bit wider) and a little neck relief.

I actually have three guitars set up for this particular set, the others still do have the 0.56 and 0.46

Now when I use the guitars of students (who usually have a regular 0.09 or 0.10 set I caanot get much power from the Top E and B string when its comes to scraping and other kind of sounds. My students agree as well, as they do get the know the sound of those thicker strings. When they try my guitar, they actually do like the sound and feel.

I do have to say I do like the sound of 0.10s as well, but when I use them (sometimes I do changes gauges for a few days................) I end up playing different kind of things.

To overcome all of this one could have a three neck guitar, and each neck would be set-up for a different gauge of strings. In that way you could play the same instrument and experience the difference! For each neck you could also have a different kind of set of pick-ups. Now the pick-up ideas is a whole different kind of story, let's leave that out of here for now.

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Pepe
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Re: String Gauge and Tone

Post by Pepe » Fri Feb 07, 2020 5:45 pm

No, those weren't flatwound strings. It was a high gauge set with a wound G string.
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chromandre
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Re: String Gauge and Tone

Post by chromandre » Sun Feb 16, 2020 1:35 am

currently really love the intonation and stability and, kinda satisfying raw power of 11s with a wound G (exl115w), feels a little closer to playing an acoustic with more string bend capability. I do not know, I could never seem to get the G string to intonate perfectly before I went with wound G... however I am very curious about the "jimi gauge" .010 / .013 /.015 / .026 / .032 / .038 which is kind of the reverse idea, use an even lighter gauge on the G string.

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