Dig it! I had an obscene revelation over the past week / weekend and it all started when I got that PRS guitar, and this could change... everything... forever

smurfco

smurfco

Meatus McPrepuce
I got that PRS McCarty, you know the one, from the other thread that I had started. And I really was like "wow" I mean, wow was what I said. It played great and sounded great and it felt great and I felt great too. I put a new set of strings on it (my usual Daddario 10s) and it was still great. But... it didn't feel quite so good.

I asked the guy what it had on it and he said they were Daddario 9s.

9s!

For some reason I had a 10-pack of Daddario 9s in my guitar junk drawer for a few years and well, this got me curious. So I took the 10s off the PRS and put a set of 9s on it and bam. Back to that really magic feeling of "wow this seems very good and nice"... it was back...

So my eyes rolled towards my Les Paul and I thought... what if? And I put a set of 9s on there, too. And guess what? It felt better!

Telecaster - felt better.
Stratocaster - felt better.
Jazzmaster - felt better.
SG - felt better!

So I put 9s on six of my electrics over the weekend and liked it on all six of them. I might be able to tell a slight difference in tone, but not a big one. But barre chords are much easier and bending feels a lot more natural and controlled... I think I might keep the 10s on my Gretsch and Ric 330 semihollows but I'm going to slowly rotate 9s in on my others I think. I always kind of scoffed at 9s or for whatever reason never thought about them... I've just always been a 10s on everything guy. If that PRS hadn't had 9s on it I'm sure I still would be.

Who knows if the switch is permanent but... has anyone else made this switch? I had to loosen the truss rods on the guitars but most of them didn't require much if any action or intonation adjustment once the relief was set. (The Strat required some extra work bc I have the trem set to float and had to loosen the spring claw to compensate)

What say you? Sound off in the comments below!!!
 
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I remember doing the same thing. I kept reading all those Billy Gibbons interviews where he talks about using crazy light strings so I just though “Fuck it, I’ll drop down to .09 and see how it goes.” I love it. I started using lighter strings for lower tunings, too. Right now I’m using .010s on an SG for C and I’m going to put another one in A# with .012s. Although, oddly, .012s don’t feel much different in A#/B on my 26.5" scale guitar than they do on a Gibson. But they probably intonate better on the baritone.
 
I've never really considered strings that much but often struggled a bit with squeaks.

Then I bought that Gretsch, and it wasn't like that. Not at all. I found out it came with Elixir Nanoweb strings which supposedly have this coating hoodoo thing going on.

I'll probably use whatever I have left of the D'Addarios and get Elixirs for the other guitars too.
 
I was just wasting time on Instagram and saw bits of 1980s interviews with Hetfield and Hammett in 1984 and they were both using .09s.
 
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Another thing is the Elixirs last much, much longer which has become a consideration since I almost only use clean, or just about on the verge of breakup sounds these days.
 
I used to string all my guitars with 11’s. I think it was good for me in those early years. My finger muscles got strong. I didn’t have much subtle feel at that time.

I switched to heavy bottom light top strings at one point. That was great for a time. My touch was much improved.

Now, I use 9’s on 24.75” scale and 8’s on 25.5” scale. I can switch between heavy pick hand technique or a light touch at will.
 
After playing acoustic exclusively for a really long time I had trouble with anything below 10s, snd even 10s took some getting used to to play in tune. But the these days I dont really have that problem as I mostly play electrics other than the nylon str.
I've been at 9s on Fender scale for quite a while now.
(with the exception of the Falcon. Im wary to do it on that because of the BIgsby so it still has 10s).
I might try a set of 9s on the old Carvin and see how it goes.
 
I tried a mixture of 9's and 9.5's on some strat scale guitars last year and played them side by side with shorter (PRS scale) with 10's... I ended up liking the 10-52s across the board for my play style... but everyone is different. One of my buds likes 14s on his acoustic but has 9's on his Junior.

Whatever floats your boat and fits your hands. :helper:
 
I've been around the block with all the string gauge controversy, from the SRV 13s with an unwound G to the Malmsteen oo.8s. Yeah there are differences, tradeoffs, advantages etc. I'm bored of the subject. My belief is this...raise your action high enough to let the string vibrate freely at all dynamic levels and you can use any gauge that is comfortable for you. Stretch them out properly, develop the appropriate touch, adjust your pickup hight and you are good to go.
 
I've always used 10's on electrics. But recently I tried 11's instead of 12's on one of my acoustics since the action was a tad higher than I like but I don't have the equipment, space or knowledge to mess with the height and having already had it setup by a luthier figured I would probably make a bigger mess of things. They "seem" better so I just did the same on another acoustic which is very well set up and kind of the same. They sound a bit thinner/more trebly but not significantly noticeable and as I play mostly fingerstyle on them I think it's a good compromise between tone and playability :shrug:
 
jrockbridge said:
I used to string all my guitars with 11’s.

I switched to heavy bottom light top strings at one point.
Click to expand...
I’ve been using 10-50’s on one of my guitars recently and liking it.

But I also use 11s on my band guitars, 10-52 on my tele, 13’s on the cue stick and 10-46 on a couple of others and maybe 13-72 on the baritone.
 
I’ve used 9s my entire playing life, except for a couple years when I switched to 10s for some reason. It sucked. I never got used to it. Switched back and never messed with it again.
 
I was using 9s for a while, but I've settled on 10s. 9s are a perfectly cromulent gauge though and I'd be happy to play them any time.

In other shocking developments, I've changed my picks to Herco Gold Flex 50s (.63mm). I fucked around with heavy picks of various types, then went back to my old reliable Jim Dunlop .73mm grey nylons. But then I thought, 'go crazy and get the Hercos, becsuse they look old school and cool'. So far I'm liking them, which I am sure you're glad to know.
 
I put the Beato video on my stereo and turned it up without watching the video as they did it. I didn’t like the 8’s. They have a sizzle thing happening as they die off I don’t care for. All riffing lacks crunch and is flubby at the initial strike. Not saying it’s right or wrong, my opinion.

In November 1989, Dan Erlewine got to check SRV and Beck’s guitars out with their techs. Took measurements of the spec and put them in his book. That night in Columbus SRV had the 13 swapped out for an 11 due to sore fingers. The rest were from the set of 13’s. Story is in Dan’s book Guitar Player’s Repair Guide, 2nd edition. He did the same thing with BB King, John Mooney, Albert Collins, and Buddy Guy.

I play 13’s on my dread acoustic tuned down to D standard. Never tried them on electric.

I play 10’s on almost everything electric because I was fretting chords out of tune a little with 9’s and was looking for something to help with that. In my head it helps.

I put a set of 8’s on once for the sake of trying it. The very first bend I snapped the little e. I bought some single e’s and tried it again. Just to ham fisted to make any use of them.
 
I have 10s on my solid bodies, mainly for tuning stability on the Strat but also for the feeling, and the Lester feels flabby with 9s. I have 11s on the Gretsch but I might try a set of 12s as that too is very soft to play.
 
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