OMG I tried some thicker ropes on the Les Paul

Kerry Brown

Kerry Brown

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I normally use 9-42s but for some reason I thought the new Les Paul could use some thicker strings. When I drove to the city to pick up the used Epi Dot I picked up some 11-49s. OMG this guitar really likes the thicker strings. I experiment with different strings quite often but I’ve never heard as much of a change as this. I just played a boogie in E for about an hour and a half. Cranked the little 1 watt Blackstar on the clean channel with the volume and gain dimed. It freakin’ rocks.
 
gball said:
I, like so many, split the difference by using 10's. Best tone/feel compromise IMO.
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The main reason I tried bigger strings on this guitar was because I was fretting hard and pulling notes sharp, especially barre chords. The neck is very comfortable but for some reason I was fretting harder than I normally do. The bigger strings have helped with that. I was really surprised by the fuller tone. Before when I’ve tried bigger strings the tone difference was not that noticeable.
 
Great, unexpected bonus tonus.
I am going the other way; had 10's on everything, but now staying 10-46 24 3/4" scale but moving to 9-42 on the 25 1/2".
I am currently tracking an "out for delivery" on 6 packs of Martin Darco electric string 9-42.
 
Interesting thread. My lifelong guitar experience has always been using regular set of 10's and standard E tunning. But, I have been contemplating changing my Strat to 11's or maybe 12's and dropping the standard tuning to Eb. This is supposed to be a big game changer in feel and tone. Not saying that one is going to be better than the other, but just different.
 
syscokid said:
Interesting thread. My lifelong guitar experience has always been using regular set of 10's and standard E tunning. But, I have been contemplating changing my Strat to 11's or maybe 12's and dropping the standard tuning to Eb. This is supposed to be a big game changer in feel and tone. Not saying that one is going to be better than the other, but just different.
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Drumoid said:
I'm a fan of 10's, but the flat wound 11's do sound interesting...
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I use .042" x .009" and that's as heavy as I can get away with and still do step and a half bends....once I started EQ-ing my rig, I could duplicate the tone I used to get with .010's...
 
I use 11s on my SGs, and they sound awesome to my ear. I can bend them, but I never go
to a step and a half. I usually use 12s on my acoustics... those are called "light gauge."

It seems to me that Fender guitars like to wear one lighter gauge than Gibsons do, so I use 10s on
my Tele. It rings like a bell and sustains for a very long time, putting the lie to most of the
negative things I've read people saying about bolt on necks.

And recently I've changed to tens on my two Epiphone guitars, to great effect. Both of them
came with tens as the factory string, and they sound and feel great.
 
I use 8 - 40 on standard tuning. The 7 - 38 on other turning like C, Sus A and D. GAD DAD and DAD DAD. There are always exceptions, such as I ran out of the correct strings.
 
Drumoid said:
I'm a fan of 10's, but the flat wound 11's do sound interesting...
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I was interested in flat wound strings years ago. I never did find out the point of them, I did order one pack only and put them one a 345 and put it away.
Some love/hate thing ?
 
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