Favorite brand and gauge of strings

[BrendanO]

Brand-wise, it doesn't matter a whole lot to me. I don't like the feel of Elixers and Ernie Ball, but am otherwise pretty easy. DR, D'Addario, GHS, whatever. Gauge wise, I skew heavy. My favorite set for standard tuning is .054-.013, and go heavier from there for low tuning.

[Nerine]

 

My favorite set for standard tuning is .054-.013

 

 

Poor guitar

[fretless]

http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/rcohaelgust.html

10's

 

http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/rcohanirowob.html

light

[Phrophus]

Elixir nanoweb 10s on all of my 6 strings. I haven't shopped around that much for my 7s, but so far my favorite has been D'Addario 10-59.

[NaturalBornBoy]

Only D'Addario's for me.

 

42-9 for E and 46-10 for Eb.

[Cibyl]

I don't have a favorite anymore -- I go between GHS Boomers, D'Addario's and SIT's. SIT's are very good and cheap. Other than a few extreme cases (Elixers), I've found not much difference in tone or feel with most brands to be that picky anymore,....electric strings I mean. Depending on the guitar - 10-46 or 11-50.

 

For acoustic I'm a lot more picky.

[TravM]

EB .11-.54 for B standard, plays like a manly version of .9's on a Floyd equipped guitar

[jshaffer20]

I use all D'Addario. 10-46 on my E tuned guitars and 13-56 on my Drop B guitar.

[ENdtime]

EB Beefy slinky 11-54 for d Flat

 

DR DDT 11-54 also for d flat.. These are a little warmer sounding to my ears, but do what they advertise, which is to lock in tune really quick, and sound clearer while downtuned.. And they do both if those better than the Ernie Ball.. But I still like the Ernie balls on some guitars..

 

And while I generally dislike daddario I use their 13-56 for standard B. Sometimes I'll swap a 62 on there and drop it to A

 

I don't have any other guitar tunings at the moment, but every once in awhile I'll go to D standard with some Ernie Ball 10-52, or e flat with the Cobalt Regular slinky

[JR13]

I've used EB 10s forever. Really wanted to like Daddarios but they just didn't seem right to me. Might try GHS Boomers next time I'm out.

[100 watt]

11, 15, 22, 36, 42, 52 normally (as of late)

If Im dicking around & doing the "hendrix" thing, a stock set of 11's with a 20 for a g string

Usually favor GHS strings, but anymore I just greab whatever, as no one carries bigger guage GHS around here any more

[draelyc]

Just get the Dimebag sets? Pretty sure it's the same gauges for all 6 strings. Might even cost less, but I dunno how much you pay for them.

IIRC, Dimebag used the hexcore strings, and the Tite Fits & Pure Blues sets are roundcore, which means they come to pitch at lower tension. I've become a real fan of that roundcore design ~ it just feels better under my fingers.

Plus, through my local shop, I can get these customized sets at the same cost as a regular, prepacked set. In fact, they come boxed up like a prepackaged set from DR, but with a sticker across the top of the box listing the custom gauges. Pretty cool, imo.

[DET1973]

Dean Markley Blue Steel 11-52 with unwound G

[Pepi]

D'addario 10's on electrics 11's on my Tele's

 

Elixir Nanowebs on my acoustics

[The Anomaly]

Elixir nanoweb .009's

[Hotcakes]

Webstrings. 10-46 for standard and e-flat. 11s for D and C#.

 

I used lighter strings when I practiced more, but now I seem to break them a lot.

[100 watt]

Im slowly going down in string guage. My hands are getting worse (as with the rest of my 35 year old carcass).

[guitarbilly74]

 

Im slowly going down in string guage. My hands are getting worse (as with the rest of my 35 year old carcass).

 

 

Yeah dude. I used to play 11-60s and thought I was hot {censored} until I was diagnosed with tendonitis at age 30. It was painful as hell and very depressing not to be able to play guitar for months. I went through a lot of physical therapy and thankfully my hands made a full recovery. So I won't {censored} with this {censored} again. These days I use a set of 9's and really low action, tune 1/2 down and learned to play softer. {censored}, I have 100w of power behind me, no need to whack on the strings anyway. My playing has actually gotten cleaner and better. And the tone is just fine, some of my favorite players (Iommi, Gibbons, EVH) use light strings anyway. It's just a matter of fine-tuning your rig and technique. I won't risk my health again.

[Nick H]

EB 10-52 in drop C. EB 9-42 in E standard/drop D.

[Spaced Out Ace]

IIRC, Dimebag used the hexcore strings, and the Tite Fits & Pure Blues sets are roundcore, which means they come to pitch at lower tension. I've become a real fan of that roundcore design ~ it just feels better under my fingers. Plus, through my local shop, I can get these customized sets at the same cost as a regular, prepacked set. In fact, they come boxed up like a prepackaged set from DR, but with a sticker across the top of the box listing the custom gauges. Pretty cool, imo.

 

Ah, well that's cool!

 

I prefer hex core myself. I like more tension and a little bite. I have a slightly low action with just a little bit of extra height so that there isn't too much fret buzz and I can get nice feel under the fingers. I don't like it so low as far as action goes that the strings feel limp under my fingers.

[Spaced Out Ace]

 

Yeah dude. I used to play 11-60s and thought I was hot {censored} until I was diagnosed with tendonitis at age 30. It was painful as hell and very depressing not to be able to play guitar for months. I went through a lot of physical therapy and thankfully my hands made a full recovery. So I won't {censored} with this {censored} again. These days I use a set of 9's and really low action, tune 1/2 down and learned to play softer. {censored}, I have 100w of power behind me, no need to whack on the strings anyway. My playing has actually gotten cleaner and better. And the tone is just fine, some of my favorite players (Iommi, Gibbons, EVH) use light strings anyway. It's just a matter of fine-tuning your rig and technique. I won't risk my health again.

 

 

That sucks, bro. You ever tried running, stretching, and warming up to get better circulation before you play?

[chrispsullivan]

I play standard .10s and have tendonitis/carpel tunnel issues from time to time. I've thought about going lighter gauge, but simply adjusting my technique and refraining from playing for 4+ hours at a time has pretty much made it go away.

[hcprimerib]

I love Stellar Strings and their standard 10s set is happy time for me

[guitarbilly74]

 

That sucks, bro. You ever tried running, stretching, and warming up to get better circulation before you play?

 

 

Sure I have always done warm up exercises and stretching before I play. The thing is not everyone can play heavy strings, it all depends on how strong your tendons are and each person is different. The problem is you just find out it was too much for you when it's too late and the damage is done. I was lucky to get treatment at an early stage and was able to make a full recovery but for a lot of people the damage is permanent. It's just not worth the risk, I plan to continue to play guitar for the rest of my life.

[Spaced Out Ace]

Sure I have always done warm up exercises and stretching before I play. The thing is not everyone can play heavy strings, it all depends on how strong your tendons are and each person is different. The problem is you just find out it was too much for you when it's too late and the damage is done. I was lucky to get treatment at an early stage and was able to make a full recovery but for a lot of people the damage is permanent. It's just not worth the risk, I plan to continue to play guitar for the rest of my life.

 

Well at least you were able to solve the problem before it got worse. Anyways, I notice the DelayLab is in the spam section of your sig.