9s vs 10s

[cibyl]

If my heavy-handed hacker style, using 9s is the equivalent of me boxing a 9 year old. It's just not fair.

 

[Joeytpg]

11s for me.

+1

 

[Audioholic]

After playing and getting used to 10s, 9s feel so flimsy and to Plinky on the top. Bigger bottom generally from bigger gauge

 

[Metlupass2]

I use 9's on all my floyd rose guitars and 10's on my tune o matics.

 

[King Crimson]

I use 9's on all my floyd rose guitars and 10's on my tune o matics.

Screw the strings...nice f'n tits Met!

 

[petejt]

I wouldn't use either. 0.011"-0.052" minimum.

 

[King Crimson]

I wouldn't use either. 0.011"-0.052" minimum.

Alright, Pete - I want more...who is she?

 

[TheMagicEight]

I've been playing around a bit, and FWIW if anyone is interested, have come to a couple of conclusions. First off, pure nickel strings do NOT sound as big as nickel plated for distorted tones. I think maybe they work well for some types of cleans, but with distortion, IMHO there isn't enough clarity to cut through.

Second, I prefer the 9s in every way, I think. With 10s, to compensate for their thickness, I had somewhat low action. When I restrung with 9s, I had a lot more buzzing and they didn't sound great at first. But what I couldn't do with 10s that I found I could with 9s is raise the action and still play comfortably. I can't really imagine having bigger tone.

Of course, it certainly seems we all hear things a little differently. Single note runs? Maybe the thicker strings do sound a little bigger in some places. But for me, 9s just feel and sound right. And yes, I'm tuned half a step down to Eb.

If I can ever figure out how to record high quality clips, is there anyone interested in hearing the difference between different types of strings?

 

[nevusofota]

I like EB slinky hybrid 9-46 for all my guitars.

 

[Tone Zone]

10's all the way!

 

[155]

10's, because 9's are invisible to me since I don't believe in them.

 

[mikehickey]

i can't vote, because i am down with 11-52

 

[se7en]

I like 11's with a thicker set of top strings. I think how high you have the strings off the guitar is a big part of it, too. Higher action (within reason) yields more tone.

 

[TheMagicEight]

Now do you guys that play 11s - 13s in standard do much bending? I'm just curious because anytime I play thick strings, they feel excellent, but I have a very hard time doing any bends. And if I do, my fingers tend to get chewed up.

 

[se7en]

Now do you guys that play 11s - 13s in standard do much bending? I'm just curious because anytime I play thick strings, they feel excellent, but I have a very hard time doing any bends. And if I do, my fingers tend to get chewed up.

I use 11's in Eb. No trouble bending...

 

[some dude]

11-50 on most of my guitars (LPs and SG). I keep putting 10-46 on my Explorer for some unknown reason, but don't feel the need to change.

Now do you guys that play 11s - 13s in standard do much bending? I'm just curious because anytime I play thick strings, they feel excellent, but I have a very hard time doing any bends. And if I do, my fingers tend to get chewed up.

It probably hurt the first time you bent 9-42 back in the day, but you got used to it, right?

Same deal with 11s.

 

[racerevlon]

My only concern playing. 009s on a Floyd guitar is string breakage. I like the stability of. 010s for pull-up whammy, but I don't know that I want to re-float every floating trem I have. The Ibanez ZPS trems mitigate that fear a good bit--the ZPS trem on my S540 is rock-solid. The only Floyd I have that's more stable is the Speedloader.

 

[rev156]

10's for me.