Strings and Hands?

[Roger...]

Hi Folks,

Just curious.
Peoples hands (mainly men) vary from delicate watchmakers or piano players hands, to pan shovels with sausages stuck on them.

I was wondering; is the gauge of string usually chosen by guitar players, down to the strength of their fingers and hands, or purely by the musical tone?

ie: Does the smaller delicate handed player prefer 9's and the stronger handed player prefer 11's or 12's.

Best regards
Roger

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Roger,
I have small hands and use basically a mix of 9s and 10s. I might not need thinner gauges if I didn't need to bend notes so much.
Regards,
Charlie

[Roger...]

Hi Charlie,

I too have small hands and currently play with 10's. I find that if I play for long periods (half an hour or more), my fingers start to ache with the bending. I play almost every day. I'm thinking that I may go back to 9's hybrids (9-46's), which is what I used to play with. I'm just wondering if I'll lose the tone I have, which I rather like.

Many thanks.

Best regards
Roger

[spikestevens]

Hya Roger.

I'm another with relatively small hands. I always use 10's myself because I find I get the flexibilty of 9's but with the nice 'fat' tone of 11's.

I would imagine it's whatever works for the individual.

The only thing I have noticed is that over the years the fingertips on my left hand have become hardened due to the amount of playing I do. If I gently run the thumb of my left hand over my fingertips I can feel how almost leathery they've become: quite distinct from the tips of my right hand fingers, anyway.

Occupational hazard I expect.

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Roger,
Since bending notes involves mainly the second and third strings I use thinner gauges for those.
I would suggest try a custom gauge set if you can get them individually. Try 010, 011, 015, 026, 036, 046. On some Strats the B string may sound weak compared with the E and G strings. The best solution then would be to lower the pickups slightly.
Regards,
Charlie

[russjsmith]

I think you will definately lose some fullness of tone if you go to 9s. They are obviously easier to play if you are doing a lot of string bends like Jerry Donahue or Albert Lee or blues and heavy rock.
I would recommend 10s as a good all round compromise and if you fingers are aching after 30 mins perhaps your action is a bit high.
My hands are very large and I find that if I play every day the fingertips become hardened, however if you are a beginner or have a rest from playing for a few weeks then it can take a while for hardening up again. ( Always a problem with us men of a certain age!!!!)
With regard to large hands I am going to start a new thread regarding availability of wider necks for strats.

Russ

[Roger...]

Hi spikestevens, Charlie, and Russ,

Thanks for your replies, and will try and take them on-board.

Russ, I started playing in 1958 and played in a band from about 1960 to 1963. Since then, I've only played for about half an hour every three months or so until 12 months ago. Now I play for about a hour almost every day, mainly since I discovered Charlie's web site (I thank you Charlie). I know what you mean about the hardness problem though....... ;D

Best regards
Roger

[sixchannel]

Hi Roger
I've got fairly small and weak hands (I think) but I've persevered with 11s Elixir because of the great tone they give.
I have found that there is definitely a knack to string bending that takes some of the strain off the finger actually doing the work by "propping up" the finger doing the bending by placing the adjacent finger alongside it. Easier to show that do - sorry.
Failing that, as you live in the West midlands maybe a visit to Hankies would be a good idea. You can strengthen your fingers by trying to take a Cheese Cob out of Alan Bakewells hands!! LOL!
cheers
ian

[Roger...]

Hi Ian,

I do play my son's guitar quite often which is fitted with 11's. After about 3 numbers though, I have had enough (hand and fingers aching). I guess it's a combination of hand/finger strength coupled with playing technique. I think I'll stick with 10's (for the moment anyway).

Best regards
Roger

[alanbakewell]

"You can strengthen your fingers by trying to take a Cheese Cob out of Alan Bakewells hands!! LOL!"

Cheeky monkey.

I changed the strings on my CS Strat to 11's a good while back and can still bend three cheese cobs worth at the 9th fret. ;D

I have 10's on my 50th Anniversary and can feel the difference if I want to bend the strings.

Depending what tune I'm playing I have a good balance with these two.

Cheers, Alan.