String Gauge and Make

[asimmd]

Hi All

I always use D'Addario 11/49 strings,and have done for a long time.I know there are some wrapped strings around but,I don't fancy them,maybe I should try them?

Question is,does using a heavier gauge than my 11/49 make that much difference to the tone.

Does the make have much effect?

Thanks

Alan

[peterbower]

Alan

That's a loaded question, because every one will have their favourite make and size of string. A lot depends on your style of playing and what you play, so if you will forgive me, i don't want to recommend a string only because i suspect you will get countless recommendations which only ends up being very confusing.
I suggest you tell us what type of music you play, which could narrow the field down considerably.

Peter

[asimmd]

Thanks Peter,

Music is Instrumentals,mainly in the style of Hank and the Shads.

I have 3 Strats,all set up to use 11/49's,my problem is,I don't want to try 12/52 or 13/56 in case the nut slots are too narrow.

I also don't want to open the nut slots as if there is not much difference,I would then need a new nut,something I don't fancy doing myself.

Alan

[John M.]

Last year I tried a set of 12's on my strat.
The problem was that i coudnt bend the things!
I finally settled on 11 to 52's.
They seem to be a good compromise sound wise and they are a lot easier to to bend.
Dean Markley and d' darios are good.
The Markleys come with a plain third string as well as a wound one in the package, so if youre using pickups with staggered poles using the wound string evens out the volume imbalance.

[peterbower]

OK,
D'Addario strings are pretty good, possibly the best of the American brands. As for size, well, every body seems to like the thicker strings for the Shads sound but I'm not sure its the 'holy grail'. I heard some fantastic Shads sounds on 10's quite recently.
Charlie Hall and a few of our friends on this forum like the Newtone strings for the Shads sound, especially the round core ones so give them a try.
If you do move up to 12's your nut slots will definitely need re cutting to accommodate the bigger diameters. That will need doing by a pro unless you know what to do.
At the end of the day, string size has to be a compromise between tone and playability, unless you are a Stevie Ray Vaughan fan where he went up to 15's at one stage although that was eased slightly by dropping down to 'E' tuning.

Cheers
Peter

[asimmd]

Thanks for the replies guys

I think the general idea would be to stick with what I know.

It's always assumed that the thicker string gives a more Hank tone but,being as I am not interested in sounding like Hank,I guess the 11/49's will suffice.

Alan

[GAJ52]

Hi Alan

I am very impressed with the sound the French gentleman Gerabriel gets from his guitars and found out he uses Ernie Ball 12 -56's so I (naively) had these strings professionally fitted to my Fender Strat - big mistake. The sound is very disappointing compared to my Newtone 10 - 46's I had before, I was expecting a magical improvement in tone, and now trying to bend the string to the intro of Apache is extremely hard. I have also lost some sustain (see my post in the technical section 'Guitar Lacks Sustain').

On my experience in fitting thicker strings I would say don't, on the other hand I may have just been unlucky and my playing style suits thinner strings.

Glen

[asimmd]

Thanks for that Glenn

I think that proves I should stick with what I know.

Alan

[Emiel Visser]

Hi Alan,

After 50 years of playing with all kind of strings, I found that the thicker the string, the more "metal" there is, so the sound is fetter. To my ears anyway.
Specialy the high E string is very sensitive for that. It uses the last magnetic pole in the row and with the bridge pickup often at the very side of the pole. In other words, there is the least magnetic activity. So the thicker the string the more output.
I once tried 09 strings against 012 and the difference is great.
So therefore I use on one of my strats 012 for the old numbers where no or not so much bending is needed and 011 on my other strat.

Regards,
Emiel