I switched to eights and...

[soundcreation]

Light strings will expose a dog of a guitar. If you can put 9's or 10's on your guitar and it still projects and sustains then it's a great guitar. If you need to use 11's to get great sound then chances are your guitar is weak.

[DaleH]

Waylon Jennings used like custom 6s. Very light.

[TruSlice]

 

Light strings will expose a dog of a guitar. If you can put 9's or 10's on your guitar and it still projects and sustains then it's a great guitar. If you need to use 11's to get great sound then chances are your guitar is weak.

 

 

Truth.

 

 

 

Bad guitars:

 

Too light = not much happening.

 

Too heavy = not fun to play.

[Brewski]

I plan on going to 11's - on one of my guitars as the singer likes to go to Db and after playing that way when I come home the 9's are tight.

 

I play with guys that like the feel of 11's for that acoustic feel and some others that think anything less than 10's are too thin.

 

I believe you should play what you feel good playing and forget the BS.

 

I do hear a major difference between 10 and 9 tone but I really don't care that much to where I'm gonna wrestle with my guitar just for tone!!

 

{censored} That!

[faberbz]

It's not tuning I'm worried about, it's accidentally bending strings when fretting chords. The light strings are so easy to bend it's hard to fret them straight down to the board with out pushing them sharp from either too much pressure or moving laterally across the fret. I 'spose it's another one of those 'you'll get used to it' things. I've got the too much pressure thing sorted now, i have a fairly light touch. FWIW, my formative years were spent on acoustic as well. It's taken me years to adapt to the touch sensitivity of electric.

 

Ah, I see what you're getting at.

 

I used to do that, too, and once in a while still do (after I have been playing acoustic for a while).

 

The lighter touch does help.

 

I also notice that when I get tired/lazy, I start playing with my wrist higher behind the neck instead of under it, and I end up increasing pressure when fretting, and then some of those problems with lighter strings. Probably a sign of bad-habit-latency from earlier years

[BoneNut]

Weak hands, huh?

 

I play 9s and have weak hands too.

Woke up this morning with a hard on. Grabbed it with both hands to try and bend it down... I couldn't.

 

Better go see my doctor and ask for vitamins or something.

[Raymar]

Used to use 8s as a kid(EB Extra Slinkys), then switched to 9s(DiAddario - D'Best!) as an adult, then just five years ago I switched to 10s because I tend to bend strings ad nauseam. I like 10s now because they're a great all around gauge for rock, blues and jazz. However my fingers have become stronger and have acclimated to the extra tension and I may have to move up to 11s soon.

[Tubefox]

Eights are pretty fun if you have strong hands. Major third bends make you feel like a MAN!

[Cobalt Blue]

I don't believe that mass = tone

Thinner strings vibrate more, and more vibrations = more tone

[Cobalt Blue]

Billy Gibbons Signature Strings:

 

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/regular/2/9/9/755299.jpg

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/DunlopDunlop-Reverend-Willy-String-Set-Extra-Light?sku=712949

[Uma Floresta]

13s or go home

[Jarl Sigurd]

I'm a real he-man.

 

I break 9s.

 

I even break 10s sometimes.

 

I use 10s by default.

[Hozze]

I've picked up the guitar again after a long layoff due to carpal-tunnel syndrome and subsequent surgery. I've also gone to lighter gauge strings and it really helps keeping the wrist in decent shape, can't say there's much of a difference in tone either. I've lost a lot of dexterity, strength and speed though, but I'd rather play like crap than not at all.

[BeanoBoy]

 

You may want to check these out: http://www.theguitarcolumn.com/2010/02/dunlop-billy-gibbons-custom-string-set.html And Page also used .008's (actually a banjo string on the high E and then moved the rest of the set up one string and tossed the low E string). Neither one of them can ever be accused of having thin or weak tone.

 

 

EXACTLY! SRV got everyone brainwashed into the HEAVY gauge trip. The heaviest I could go was .10s. As I've gotten older, I use .095s on my Gibson type neck guitars ( PRS, Les Paul, XaviereXV900) and .09s on my Fender guitars. .08s feel a bit loose for me tension wise.

[Surrealistic]

Pah to being "a man" if that means making life more difficult just to prove you're a man. I'll take lighter strings every time, I'll pass on the Chuck Norris/Jean Claude Van Damme movies and I've been known to drink Bacardi & coke. Call me a wuss - I couldn't care less*

 

* And yes the phrase IS "couldn't care less" and NOT "could care less". Always bugs me, that one.

[MuyLoCo444]

I play 9s and have weak hands too. Woke up this morning with a hard on. Grabbed it with both hands to try and bend it down... I couldn't. Better go see my doctor and ask for vitamins or something.

 

I was being sarcastic to the OP, dumbass.

[newbuilder]

Whatever works, I am just glad you can play pain free. If I had to use thread and it worked and kept me pain free, I would do it:idk:

[Mossy Moss]

i prefer 9s as theyre easy to bend but not too easy. also it seems 8s go out of tune easier. of course big string gauges stay in tune the best but are harder to bend. heavy strings hurt your fingers less because there is more surface area like fretting the back of the knife instead of the cutting edge

[joshmac]

I dont know why some people make such a big fuss about other people's string gauge ?! Its personal preference people

[BoneNut]

I was being sarcastic to the OP, dumbass.

 

My answer was just a sarcastic comeback too. No harm intended

[Dr_Kuh]

I had everything from 8's to 12's and have settled with the 11'S now. Best size in terms of slinkyness and durability and sustain.