Members Jimmy25 Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 I've just recently changed my Stratocaster's strings gauge from .9 to .10 because I felt like I wanted a thicker sounding. .9 was a bit too soft sounding and too thin for me. However, I found now the strings tension is extremely tight that it makes bending VERY difficult. Now very often I tend to bend out of tune (a semi tone lower) even when I try to bend really hard with the right posture. And it result in my fingertip's skin are falling off, and within a few hours of playing my fingertips are already hurting so bad that I can't bend anymore, and I have to wait till the next day to be able to play again. I play quite often, it shouldn't hurt this bad, and I think .10 is alright for me, and I've used .10 before, but it's just that this time the tension becomes so tight that makes bending extremely difficult. I don't know is it the setup or what. Is there a way I can release the strings tension and make it less tight by myself? I thought the action is already pretty low, but if lowering the action is the only way to solve this problem, how do I lower the action? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cobalt Blue Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Different brands of strings utilize different compositions of alloys and ratios of the inner core's thickness proportionate to the thickness of the string's outer wrap. Because of that, an Ernie Ball .024w (for example) will bend more easily than, say, a Daddario .024w. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 While you will get used to it, like Cobalt Blue said, I find Ernie Ball have more flexibility so it is something to consider. If you have an acoustic, go play that for a couple of days bending and whatnot and come back to the strat, it will be very easy. The action will not have any effect on the tension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 I've just recently changed my Stratocaster's strings gauge from .9 to .10 because I felt like I wanted a thicker sounding. .9 was a bit too soft sounding and too thin for me. However, I found now the strings tension is extremely tight that it makes bending VERY difficult. Go back to 9s. Adjust the knobs on both guitar and amp. Plenty of players with thick tone use light strings (Billy Gibbons). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members harold heckuba Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Go back to 9s. Adjust the knobs on both guitar and amp. Plenty of players with thick tone use light strings (Billy Gibbons). This. A 10 is pretty much a 10 so changing brands will just be throwing good money after bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HanSolo Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Try the Ernie Balls. The 2215's are taper wound with light gauge top (fretting) and heavy gauge bottom (over the pickups). You get the dynamics of the heavier string with the playability of a lighter gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members benzem Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Go back to 9s. Adjust the knobs on both guitar and amp. Plenty of players with thick tone use light strings (Billy Gibbons). This. Don't pay attention to the pissing contest contestants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yzfou Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 9-46 strings, easy to bend the high strings, bigger low strings. I must admit I don't hear a tone difference between 9-42 and 9-46, but it just feels better to me when fast picking or palm muting with heavier low strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor Morbius Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Different brands of strings utilize different compositions of alloys and ratios of the inner core's thickness proportionate to the thickness of the string's outer wrap. Because of that, an Ernie Ball .024w (for example) will bend more easily than, say, a Daddario .024w.This. I switched from D'Addario to Earnie Ball because D'Addarios felt too stiff for the same gauge strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Will Chen Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 While its certainly true that the more mass a string has the greater potential for a "thicker" tone, IMHO that should be that should be about the last thing you do to change your tone as a typical guitar rig has multiple points of EQ adjustment available. The only way to get comfortable on a larger string gauge is to practice. No shortcuts. You should choose string gauge primarily based on feel IMHO. I like to feel a certain tension, when I was younger and played all day and gigged all the time I played 11s, these days with less play time to get the same feel I used to get when my hands were much stringer, I use 10s. I imagine when I get even older, I'll use 9's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Why'd you drop your Ami post? Real classy kid. Tens aren't that hard if you go at 'em slowly for a few months. Even 11s and 12s at E don't pose too much difficulty. Within a couple years you wont even notice the extra effort. The diminishing returns are of course it gets progressively harder to bend quickly, and worse, bend high enough and of course fatigue. With 12s you might get a comfortable whole step at sane tempi. Your risk of injury goes up with gauge but by your demo clip, if you stick to that kind of methodical work, even Jazz gauges should fall right into your hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Django Sentenza Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 I've just recently changed my Stratocaster's strings gauge from .9 to .10 because I felt like I wanted a thicker sounding. .9 was a bit too soft sounding and too thin for me. However, I found now the strings tension is extremely tight that it makes bending VERY difficult. Now very often I tend to bend out of tune (a semi tone lower) even when I try to bend really hard with the right posture. And it result in my fingertip's skin are falling off, and within a few hours of playing my fingertips are already hurting so bad that I can't bend anymore, and I have to wait till the next day to be able to play again. I play quite often, it shouldn't hurt this bad, and I think .10 is alright for me, and I've used .10 before, but it's just that this time the tension becomes so tight that makes bending extremely difficult. I don't know is it the setup or what. Is there a way I can release the strings tension and make it less tight by myself? I thought the action is already pretty low, but if lowering the action is the only way to solve this problem, how do I lower the action? Keep playing with them and eventually .010s will seem very easy. You should keep moving up until you reach a string gauge intended for adult players, like .012 or .013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Keep playing with them and eventually .010s will seem very easy. You should keep moving up until you reach a string gauge intended for adult players, like .012 or .013. Listen to this man, he knows what he's talking about. As he move up in string guage, he's hoping his penis to reach adult size as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elantric Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Dont forget Daddario makes an "in between" gauge set .0095" - .044" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Django Sentenza Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Listen to this man, he knows what he's talking about. As he move up in string guage, he's hoping his penis to reach adult size as well. A good formula to determine player penis size is gauge of the high E string, times 560. The result is your penis length in inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PigWings_v2.0 Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 I've just recently changed my Stratocaster's strings gauge from .9 to .10 because I felt like I wanted a thicker sounding. .9 was a bit too soft sounding and too thin for me. However, I found now the strings tension is extremely tight that it makes bending VERY difficult. Now very often I tend to bend out of tune (a semi tone lower) even when I try to bend really hard with the right posture. And it result in my fingertip's skin are falling off, and within a few hours of playing my fingertips are already hurting so bad that I can't bend anymore, and I have to wait till the next day to be able to play again. I play quite often, it shouldn't hurt this bad, and I think .10 is alright for me, and I've used .10 before, but it's just that this time the tension becomes so tight that makes bending extremely difficult. I don't know is it the setup or what. Is there a way I can release the strings tension and make it less tight by myself? I thought the action is already pretty low, but if lowering the action is the only way to solve this problem, how do I lower the action?How long have you been playing? The difference between 9s and 10s really is not that big at all. God forbid you ever play an acoustic. There's no secret just keep playing and your fingers will get stronger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 Try the Ernie Balls. The 2215's are taper wound with light gauge top (fretting) and heavy gauge bottom (over the pickups). You get the dynamics of the heavier string with the playability of a lighter gauge. Um No. Skinny top, heavy bottom just means the gauges vary from the standard set. 10-52 rather than 10-46. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 You may want to check your truss rod. I had someone bring me a very stiff feeling Strat fairly recently. Adjusted the truss rod and did a few other minor things and it felt great. Not sure how yours is set up but I can't imagine .010 on a Strat being very heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 You may want to check your truss rod. I had someone bring me a very stiff feeling Strat fairly recently. Adjusted the truss rod and did a few other minor things and it felt great. Not sure how yours is set up but I can't imagine .010 on a Strat being very heavy. How would adjusting the trussrod make a difference to the string tension? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PigWings_v2.0 Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 You may want to check your truss rod. I had someone bring me a very stiff feeling Strat fairly recently. Adjusted the truss rod and did a few other minor things and it felt great. Not sure how yours is set up but I can't imagine .010 on a Strat being very heavy.A professional set-up wouldnt hurt. I've seen some stock strats that have had their setup destroyed by going from 9s to 10s. It's usually because the trem claw needs an extra spring to compensate for the tension. Otherwise the bridge rises to nearly a 90 degree angle off the body! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 How would adjusting the trussrod make a difference to the string tension? In the case I'm talking about it was less about string tension and more that the guitar felt stiff. Very stiff. The rod was way tighter then it should have been loosening it and giving the guitar a few adjustments (trem claw, saddle height, etc...) really made a difference. It felt like a completely different instrument. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RufusFussbuster Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 ...keep playing... I agree with the above. Play whatever gauge feels good today. Follow the above advice, and your ability to bend will improve. As will your tone, regardless of string gauge, guitar, or amp. For the record, I use GHS Boomers 10.5 on most of my guitars. Real men use Boomers, and really real men use half-sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Floyd Rosenbomb Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 When you change string gauges on a Strat it will need to be almost totally re-set up. If you didn't do this I imagine you're having a devil of a time keeping things from going sharp and flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members honeyiscool Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 GHS Boomers 9.5 They're my favorite strings. They'll do everything right and they bend great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted April 11, 2012 Members Share Posted April 11, 2012 You may want to check your truss rod. I had someone bring me a very stiff feeling Strat fairly recently. Adjusted the truss rod and did a few other minor things and it felt great. Not sure how yours is set up but I can't imagine .010 on a Strat being very heavy. I guess he could always tune down a half step to E flat, while he gets used to them and if he's decided he wants to move up a gauge no matter what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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