Who here does not shred but likes thin necks and light strings?

[n0fx]

Yeah...I'll admit it. I use 9-38's. I don't play with a pick either.
I REALLY dont like 40's on the low side. I wish somebody made an 39 actually.
I know there's more tone available with bigger strings though.

[czarny]

I play 9s. I switched to 10s for a while and tried 11s and 12s but they just didn't feel right. I mainly play bass so in theory I should like thick strings on a guitar too, but I just can't stand them.

[ILikeGuitar]

Both thin and thick necks have their unique positives and negatives, just depends on the mood. I do like satin finishes on the back though.. and big frets for some nice bends and 10s for strings

[DaveAronow]

Me.

[DaveAronow]

 

I play 9s. I switched to 10s for a while and tried 11s and 12s but they just didn't feel right. I mainly play bass so in theory I should like thick strings on a guitar too, but I just can't stand them.

 

 

Yeah, I wonder what the connection is?

 

I am mostly a bass player too, so you would think I would like thicker neck and heavier strings. I have big hands and a G.I. Joe Kung Fu grip, but still, my favorite setup is a Jackson Soloist neck and hybrid 9-42s for strings.

 

I like heavier strings on acoustic though.

 

Usually 11's.

[yoyodunno]

Over 10's are annoying for me to bend, and under 10's are like spaghetti.

[blakfacenostubs]

i like thin necks and 8's. But i play blues.

u play blues = light strings
?

[Runn3r]

...yup..i like c-shaped thin necks (though not the flat and thin) and 9's...

[mustang5]

I like 10's or 11's. Don't shred or do metal but prefer floyds. Any decent neck will do so long as it sounds good.

[sylvesterlowery]

I like thinner necks like Ibanez Wizards and the thinner Jackson necks. I play metal, but I cannot shred. I attempt to sometimes, but it just sounds like crap. I mostly play downtuned doom/stoner metal, some death and thrash. I use either 10-46 or 10-52's depending on tuning.

[Roy]

I'm a little fuzzy on the definition of "shredding". Does it mean playing really fast or just playing metal really fast? Anyway, I'm a speed demon and my fave neck is a vintage Ric. Super thin, 7.25 radius, 1/4 inch narrower than other necks at the 12th fret, strung with 9s.

[DaveAronow]

I'm a little fuzzy on the definition of "shredding". Does it mean playing really fast or just playing metal really fast? Anyway, I'm a speed demon and my fave neck is a vintage Ric. Super thin, 7.25 radius, 1/4 inch narrower than other necks at the 12th fret, strung with 9s.

 

I think shredding is basically a derogatory term inflicted on people with technical prowess and speed by those with NO technical prowess and or speed to make themselves feel better about themselves for not having said skills.

 

They use generic catch phrases to descibe shredders like "no feel" "total wankery" "no soul" etc. It mostly just refers to speed. Not completely, but generally speaking, the faster you are able to play, and the more technical ability you posess, the more likely you are to be a "shredder" and thus ridiculed by those who CANT shred but lamely claim they would never even want to because, in their twisted logic, somehow, musicianship actually decreases as speed and technical ability improves.

 

Granted, there ARE tons of players out there that play lightning fast and crazy technical stuff that still dont play anything cool or interesting or melodic or nice, etc, that ARE "shredding wankers", but somehow, alot of people cant seem to tell the difference between the ones that actually play great musical melodic interesting stuff. They ALL just seem to get lumped into the same category if they happen to tend to like to play fast, or god forbid... aquire some level of technical prowess through hours and YEARS of obscessive practice that has paid off for alot of them.

 

I say this as someone who actually CANT shred, and possesses only minimal speed and technical ability, but the guyitar players that constantly get ripped on around here as "useless shredding wankers" blows my mind as some of them tend to be EXCELLENT superior guitar players. Alot of it seems to also be proportionate to the success of said shredder. It seems the more popular they become, the more they get ridiculed by the people that claim they dont appreciate a shredders ability, when the truth is they are usually just a little jellous.

 

I am not saying you have to like the kind of music a "shredder" plays, and in fact a big proportion of it tends to be heavy rock/ metal, but to deny the ability of some of these players only serves to make the bashers look like fools that know little of which they speak.

 

 

 

If Beethoven, Tschaikovsky, Rossini, Vivaldi, Paganinni, Liszt, Chopin, etc were alive today, alot of them would be playing electric guitar and some of their pieces would no doubt be very fast and technical, but you can be sure that there would be no shortage of yeayhoos out there STILL calling them useless shredding wankers.

 

Many of these bashers have never and will never perform anything for an audience consiting of much more than the bowl of fish sitting on their nightstand and maybe a dog, or captive family member or two.

[dacat]

hehe, ^^^ beethoven shredding. it was said 8's are too thin for blues, but i read billy gibbons uses them?

 

i like thin necks and 9's but have factory 10's on my Epi for now. have a Ibanez RGA121 with wizard neck and play blues and whatnot on it. i play fast a lot but do not 'shred' as far as i know.

[Schtang]

I use 9's on my strats and 10's on my Gibsons.

thats exactly my setup as well - 9's on Strats and 10s on my Gibsons and tele.

[csm]

it was said 8's are too thin for blues, but i read billy gibbons uses them?

 

 

He fo sho do and he sounds wonderful, so what do I know?

 

Personally, I prefer substantial necks - Jerry Donahue sig Tele, Jeff Beck sig Strat -- and 10-52 strings, but hey, whatever works. There's no right-or-wrong in this ... all that counts is how it feels to you and sounds to others.

 

Used to play 9s a VERY long time ago, but moved up out of sheer self-preservation because I was always breaking them or bashing 'em out of tune (I'd hit a chord and the string would boing itself sharp). My reward was better tone, and since I'm incapable of seriously fast playing on ANYTHING at all, any speed hit thus incurred was undetectable.

 

FWIW, John Lee Hooker's guitars were strung incredibly light, and he could produce a YUGE tone by barely brushing a string. JLH never did anything the hard way if he could help it. His motto may well have been Woody Guthrie's famous line: 'Take it easy, but TAKE IT.'

[NEWYORK]

Hell!!!!
What is wrong with you precious little Nancies ???????
I have never read anything quite as sickening!!!!
Eights !!!! Nines !!!!! ..... What is this ? the world of toy guitar players playing at playing guitar ?????...Sickening just plain sickening !!!!!
You ladies need to take up boxing or weight lifting and become real men.
.Eights??????, Nines ???????
What is wrong with your limp little fingers ladies ?
Sickening just sickening !!!!!

[Loxley]

Hell!!!! What is wrong with you precious little Nancies ??????? I have never read anything quite as sickening!!!! Eights !!!! Nines !!!!! ..... What is this ? the world of toy guitar players playing at playing guitar ?????...Sickening just plain sickening !!!!! You ladies need to take up boxing or weight lifting and become real men. .Eights??????, Nines ??????? What is wrong with your limp little fingers ladies ? Sickening just sickening !!!!!

 

 

Yeah, seriously.. you all should be playing on telephone pole cables at the very least.

[john_p_t]

 

I feel like some of my friends are phonies when they insist that they love using boatneck strats with 13's on them. I know I'm not as manly as Stevie Ray, I can handle that. I love playing 9's and I love my Warmoth Standard thin necks!! Anyone else with me here?

Totally. In fact, If you want to feel macho, then kick sand in my 8 guage face.

 

I've got two main guitars I'm using a lot right now, one is a Variax 700, which I've got 10s on with a really high action, as I'm using it to play slide (badly) and acoustic sounds.

 

But my main guitar that I love playing is a strat currently strung with 8s, and with action so low it's like Rapunzel has laid down her golden hair on my fretboard.

 

I'm familiar with the "limp noodle" complaint lots of people have - my guitarist friends generally can't deal with my strat at all. But once you click into the lightness of touch you need, you can get some incredible stuff out of it.

 

Heavy strings require more discipline in some ways, and less in others. You have to be precise with really light strings, or it's going to sound a hideous mess. But it's a whole new universe of stuff to wrap your head around.

 

Sure, it's easier to play fast with light strings, but that's missing a lot. For me, it's more about subtlety. I can get things out of the 8s - through not having to struggle - that I just can't get out of heavy strings. Because heavy strings put you in an entirely different frame of mind. Heavy strings you arm-wrestle with; light strings you co-operate with. Both things have their place, but they're definitely different.

 

And if anyone thinks 8s means you can't play bad-ass, I've got two words: "Tony" and "Iommi".

[john_p_t]

On the neck question, my strat had a V-shaped neck, which wins me back some minor macho points, maybe. I cut my teeth on Les Paul style guitars, and while I've gone off them in recent years, I still like a neck that feels like a baseball bat.

[Roy]

Hell!!!! What is wrong with you precious little Nancies ??????? I have never read anything quite as sickening!!!! Eights !!!! Nines !!!!! ..... What is this ? the world of toy guitar players playing at playing guitar ?????...Sickening just plain sickening !!!!! You ladies need to take up boxing or weight lifting and become real men. .Eights??????, Nines ??????? What is wrong with your limp little fingers ladies ? Sickening just sickening !!!!!

[john_p_t]

 

I think shredding is basically a derogatory term inflicted on people with technical prowess and speed by those with NO technical prowess and or speed to make themselves feel better about themselves for not having said skills.

I dunno about that; certainly, that's not my view.

 

I don't listen to much shred music, and I certainly can't play like that myself, but I always really enjoy those kinds of players when I come across them. Hats off to the shredders, in my book. They've got their thing and it's pretty awesome when they do it well.

 

I went to see Slayer with a journalist friend who was reviewing them last year, and while I'd never put their records on at home, on the night, I absolutely loved it. It was definitely full of what I'd call shredding, but not as a term of disrespect; they blew the roof off. The shredding was part of their aesthetic and and their art; there was a bigger thing going on than just showing off.

 

So yeah, Malmsteen style music-as-athletics guys suck. But that's not the whole story. You can shred like Terminator X scratches; like Miles blows; like John Lydon screeches; it can be overpoweringly brilliant.

[john_p_t]

If Beethoven, Tschaikovsky, Rossini, Vivaldi, Paganinni, Liszt, Chopin, etc were alive today, alot of them would be playing electric guitar and some of their pieces would no doubt be very fast and technical, but you can be sure that there would be no shortage of yeayhoos out there STILL calling them useless shredding wankers.

Agreed.