Just went to 11.5 to .056

[riffermadness]

Damn those are too fat for my girly hands. I have to practice on acoustic regularly just so 10s feel good and slinky.

Just picked up a D'Addario Balanced Tension set but have not installed them. Looks like the B increases from .013 to .0135 and the
D and A both decrease by .001. Anybody love/hate the BT sets?

I have been using their Balanced tension strings since they first came out and I think they are great strings,same D'Addario feel but they seem to hold the tone as long as in they don't lose their tone if you keep them on for awhile, and as they are called "Balanced tension" they seem to feel like they claim to me.They are my string of choice now over the original XL's.

 

[supersonic]

I see why Angus/AC/DC & SRV used heavy ...

Angus uses 9-42, always has.

 

[AlxStl99]

10-46 on the LP & Strat, Hybrid 9-46 on Pro Mod

 

[JakeAC5253]

Nice and heavy. I usually play 11-54 or something like that on my 25.5" scale guitars. What scale length do you have it on?

3 LP's an SG, a 86' Charvel & an Epi 335.

I just ordered 6 more sets,

These strings are Meaty, they Rawk.

I have used GHS for 30 years, and the Nickel Rockers CL 9.5 to .048 for 11 years.

I had to adjust the Floyd springs on my Charvel but other than that everything is Amazing.

Even my GF said she could notice a dif when i play.

I see why Angus/AC/DC & SRV used heavy ...

Certain string bends @A-440 can be tough but my callluses & finger strength will increase.

The Charvel & 2 Pauls are E-flat. Originally i bought the heavys just for that but there was such a difference i went whole Hog.

If you have a guitar with a floating bridge on tension springs like the Charvel, check out a brass trem block if you haven't already. It actually makes a difference.

 

[Monkey Man]

I'm so grateful for having seen this thread.

Struggled with occasional, sporadic playing for 30 years, and never in winter (no heating) since I lost the use of my hands for 3 years (factory work - overdid it to the max). Repetitive movements cause my fingers to seize up, and straining them, such as when bending, shortens the brief windows I get to play in. Once my callouses reappear, I still have to bend a string every day just in order to be able to, well, bend strings. Stuck with 10s all this time 'cause I was afraid of losing too much tone, but it sounds to me like a number of cats who know what they're doing (I don't!) use 9s, so I guess I'll have to bust the move I've been putting off for freakin' decades.

I reckon I'll find that my stubbornness and worry over tone (get it? overtone? Uugghh...) was all for nought (or very-near nothing), and that those things'll be so much easier to bend I'll actually get some much-needed playing time in. Ridiculous what we put ourselves through.

Thanks again, brothers, for sharing what you're using! I'm kinda excited about this...

 

[Chester Nimitz]

Nice and heavy. I usually play 11-54 or something like that on my 25.5" scale guitars. What scale length do you have it on?

3 LP's an SG, a 86' Charvel & an Epi 335.

I just ordered 6 more sets,

These strings are Meaty, they Rawk.

I have used GHS for 30 years, and the Nickel Rockers CL 9.5 to .048 for 11 years.

I had to adjust the Floyd springs on my Charvel but other than that everything is Amazing.

Even my GF said she could notice a dif when i play.

I see why Angus/AC/DC & SRV used heavy ...

Certain string bends @A-440 can be tough but my callluses & finger strength will increase.

The Charvel & 2 Pauls are E-flat. Originally i bought the heavys just for that but there was such a difference i went whole Hog.

If you have a guitar with a floating bridge on tension springs like the Charvel, check out a brass trem block if you haven't already. It actually makes a difference.

Mine is an early 80's Germany Floyd with a large steel block. I don't think because of my route i could get any bigger block in there. But i know about the big brass blocks.

 

[audiomidijace]

9-42 standard tuning and drop D. I actually DON'T like the sound of bigger strings.

 

[DrewJD82]

I was having some issues with my Drop C guitar and using 10-52 or regular 11's, I'm recording an album and it's the main guitar for it. After the first two weeks with 10-52's the tension felt way too slack, so I went up to 11's and it worked for the higher strings but not for the bottom 3, so I went up to 11-56's. I've been dealing with carpal tunnel for a few years now and I was hoping the bigger strings would really help strengthen my hands/wrists, but I'm going to be switching back to 11's because some days I can't even get past 15 minutes of playing before my hands hurt bad enough that I just can't do it.

I remember when I first felt the pain shooting in my wrist a few years back, thinking "Shit, I can play through this with no problem. Don't know how people actually can't play because of some pain....".....I take that back now. It's got the same effect on my hands as Negan does on Grimes.