Members Naterel Posted May 12, 2009 Members Share Posted May 12, 2009 if your not careful you will crack a nut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L6Sguy Posted May 12, 2009 Members Share Posted May 12, 2009 if your not careful you will crack a nut one should hold the guitar firmly down on the workbench/table to avoid that, and maybe wear a cup just to be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johnrambo Posted May 12, 2009 Members Share Posted May 12, 2009 This. 13-56 in dropped C on an Esquire. FTW. your 13's aren't so manly when you drop them down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members huutevar Posted May 12, 2009 Members Share Posted May 12, 2009 I use 142 gauge across all six strings. And my guitar neck is 17 feet wide. Thicker strings will sound fuller and sustain longer but you won't be able to play as well for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnderMocs Posted May 12, 2009 Members Share Posted May 12, 2009 I use 11s. You can learn to play on any strings, you'll probably hate the feel at first but your hands will get stronger. I can't use 10s anymore, way to loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members christianatl Posted May 12, 2009 Members Share Posted May 12, 2009 your 13's aren't so manly when you drop them down hater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DylanWilde Posted May 12, 2009 Members Share Posted May 12, 2009 I think it's a personal decision, but I can't recommend highly enough that you go up to 11s. Right now my second guitar (a tele copy) has 11s on it, with a plain third string. It's the one I use for songs and parts that require significant bending. My main guitar has my own custom set of D'Addarios that go 12,14,24w,32w,46w,60w. I love it, it actually feels like I am playing an instrument and working with some resistance and dynamics as opposed to playing noodley lead parts with something closer to dental floss than steel strings. I played 9s for about 8 years (since I started) and going to heavier strings forced me to slow down, focus, and really work the instrument and develop my touch instead of just flying around the fretboard playing flashy solos and doing unnecessarily wide/fast vibratos and superfluous bends. For me, the change really improved my style and made everything about my approach to the instrument smarter, more tasteful, and more mature. Also, if you set your action lower and have your instrument well set-up in general, the heavy strings don't seem so unwieldy - for me they actually seem more comfortable to play than oddly thin strings with no resistance. Also, some technical things to consider: -More volume going into your pickups from the heavier strings means a better signal from your guitar hitting your effects/amp -Heavier string vibrations cause the instrument to resonate more and generally sound better -Heavier strings "flap" less and hold a truer vibration path, so you can set your action lower and have a smoother/faster setup for your left hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members surferbeto Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 They just need to man up. It'll be better for them in the long run. +1:thu: Several of my favorite players use really thick strings. Peter Buck, SRV, Dick Dale... They do it for the tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members greatwhiteclark Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 the guitar will be fine, its not like guitars are made for 10s, or 11s or whatever.truss rod may well (read: most likely) need adjustment as part of new setup, but the nut wont need to be replaced, just filed a bit as will the saddles. of course if you arent 100% competent/confident, its well worth having it done by a real tech, rather than wasting time {censored}ing things up, trying to decide whetehr its {censored}ed up, making a few threads about it, and then bringing it to a tech to resolve. this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members surferbeto Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 I went from 9s to 10s years ago because I played quite a bit of acoustic guitar and found that moving back to an electric strung with 9s after getting accustomed to the extra tension made me over-bend and generally caused the 9s to feel very insubstantial, which put me off... My experience exactly. I go back and forth a lot. And I string my acoustic guitar with medium gauge strings (because they sound better), so those are quite thick. If I put 11s on my electric guitars then the transition is not a big deal. And I break fewer strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BHz_econo Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 Heavier strings won't make you a better player or "a man". As Duderanimous says, for some styles, lighter strings can actually be better.As for tone, I've heard arguments both ways- some say if you have a really good guitar to start out with, it won't need heavy strings to sustain or to sound good and full-bodied. It will certainly sound different- whether it sounds better or worse is pretty subjective.Shifting all the extra weight and tension in the strings may well make your guitar harder to play- SRV still managed to fly all over the fretboard with a set of 13s, but if the rumours are true, he also had to superglue his fingers to his forearms after a set so he could pull the skin off his arm to replace what he'd lost from his fingers. If inventing new forms of suffering to overcome makes you "a man", then I guess I stand corrected.I went from 9s to 10s years ago because I played quite a bit of acoustic guitar and found that moving back to an electric strung with 9s after getting accustomed to the extra tension made me over-bend and generally caused the 9s to feel very insubstantial, which put me off while I was playing. My main guitar is a Telecaster, so taming the extra treble you get with lighter strings was quite a good thing.Your guitar shouldn't suffer any irreparable damage from the change in string gauge (so long as you're not tuning UP from standard tuning, anyway), but it will probably want some adjustment- the truss rod may need a tweak, the nut slots may need widening to accommodate the thicker strings without sticking and causing tuning problems, and the intonation may need adjustment. Just because it didn't work for you doesn't mean it doesn't work... :poke: I have a 56 on my top string tuned UP to F#. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mister natural Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 the change from 10s to 11s was probably the best thing i've ever done for my guitars' tone (all started as 10s, then up to 11s). takes a couple days to get used to maybe, but SO worth it.nut, saddles, and intonation will all have to be dealt with. Echo - exactly the above ^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeremy Skrenes Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 When I switched to 11s, the bridge on my strat started lifting because of the extra tension. Tightening the screws on the underside of the guitar did the trick, and eventually I just added an extra tremolo spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BP90 Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 I have 10s on my SG, 11s on te Tele and 12s on the Strat. They are all used for a lttle different purposes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TomCTC Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 I used to use .010-.052s for years. Recently switched to a set of .009-.046s that I am really liking. It's not a huge difference, and takes a while to get your accuracy back for string bends as the tension is a little different. I'm a fan though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coma Larkin Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 I USE A .070 FOR MY HIGH E STRING AND MY NECK IS A WHALE PENIS BONE MOTHER{censored}ER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pencil-in Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 / dumbest post ever. / There are without doubt NO bones in that part of a whale. This thread is relevant to my interests... so, those of you who have gone up from 10's to 11's on a Tele, how noticable is the difference in sustain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members L6Sguy Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 ..... so, those of you who have gone up from 10's to 11's on a Tele, how noticable is the difference in sustain? very, but i wish there was a way to quantify it, as "very" doesnt really tell you much. lets just say its much more than one might expect from something involving the numbers .10 & .11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slamcityjam Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 / dumbest post ever. /There are without doubt NO bones in that part of a whale.This thread is relevant to my interests... so, those of you who have gone up from 10's to 11's on a Tele, how noticable is the difference in sustain? I honestly can't remember, I've used 11s for quite a while now but I think I'm gonna do the downsize thing soon. 11s are great for rhythm guitar parts, everything just feels more solid, but I play lead and feel like the tension can be annoying when playing more complex barred chords with long stretches and bending doesn't feel as natural as on my ES335 with 10s. So I'll put a set of 10s on my Tele next and see what I like better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members david17589 Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 Do I have much to worry about going from 10s to 11s? I imagine not, but I don't know, I've always used 10s, but want to go up. no i think it sounds differant on all guitars but its how ever your ears here the sounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hivedestruction Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 The first guitar I ever got was set up with 11-50s. I can't play anything smaller than that, just doesn't feel right at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Frank Drebin Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 I just recently made the switch from 10s to 11s and I'm happy with it. Didn't take that long to get used to and I really didn't have to adjust the guitar very much. Haven't really noticed much of a difference in sustain, but the tone and feel are much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members claytonjohn18 Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 It's not going to be much of a difference unless you bend a lot. There's a chance your nut may not like the change, but realistically, it doesn't matter. If you don't like them, just change back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IamBurnout Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 / dumbest post ever. /There are without doubt NO bones in that part of a whale.This thread is relevant to my interests... so, those of you who have gone up from 10's to 11's on a Tele, how noticable is the difference in sustain? Bears have penis bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NetStar Posted May 13, 2009 Members Share Posted May 13, 2009 I went from 9s to 11s and now I want to go even heavier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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