Guitar Question: What weight of strings?

[Kenazo]

So my strings need replacing on my Godin SD. I've been playing with Dadario ultra lights. What difference will I notice by going to heavier strings? Will the sound change or will it just be a little harder to play?

 

[whattaguy]

Heavier strings will give you a meatier/fuller sound. Make sure you get your guitar setup for the heavier strings as they will pull the neck harder and may eventually raise your action.

 

[JDub02]

I like 10's .. which I think are just regular "lights".

you'll get a fatter sound (more bottom), but you'll also have to get your guitar set up again because the intonation will be off.



what do you think of the godin electric? i've never played their electrics, but i have a norman acoustic and i think their acoustics are the best bang for the buck out there.

 

[Kenazo]

I really enjoy the Godin. I'm obviously no Guitar expert, or I wouldn't be asking what the difference in strings was. But, I really like the Godin. It sounds great, action is awesome and it's really solid (Solid maple neck and body). For a cheaper guitar ($600cdn), it's probably one of the best, imho.

 

[thomsbrain]

as mentioned, your sound will get fuller and fatter, although not amazingly so. but the most important aspect, IMO, is that heavier strings ring truer. that is, when you pick a note, thin strings have a nasty tendancy to literally vibrate themselves sharp, so when you play hard everything gets out of tune until you back off again. thick strings allow you to dig in a lot harder without things going sharp on you.

if going between 9's and 10's on a guitar w/o a tremelo, you can probably get by without a setup. if you have a tremelo or you're going to a thicker guage, you may need a setup to keep your action right.

i play light top/heavy bottom sets, which are like having the thin strings "10" guage and the thick ones "12" guage. you get big bass and thick strings to handle the beginning of your pick attack, and thin strings for bending when playing lead.

 

Been using Ernie Ball 10-46 for the last two years. Switched to 11-48 last week as an experiment and it threw my whole game off. Bending was harder but that wasn't the problem. The whole dynamic changed. I couldn't pull off the same harmonics I usually could and everything was generally out of whack. Switched back this weekend and I am never going back.

Best. Strings. Ever.

 

[Rudee]

I use Diaddario 10's on my RG's. One of the cheapest ways you can get different tone is by a simple string guage change.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Currently using DR 10's. Not a big fan of them though, looking for something different. (Used to use D'addario 10's or 11's on my old Strat)

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
as mentioned, your sound will get fuller and fatter, although not amazingly so. but the most important aspect, IMO, is that heavier strings ring truer. that is, when you pick a note, thin strings have a nasty tendancy to literally vibrate themselves sharp, so when you play hard everything gets out of tune until you back off again. thick strings allow you to dig in a lot harder without things going sharp on you.

if going between 9's and 10's on a guitar w/o a tremelo, you can probably get by without a setup. if you have a tremelo or you're going to a thicker guage, you may need a setup to keep your action right.

i play light top/heavy bottom sets, which are like having the thin strings "10" guage and the thick ones "12" guage. you get big bass and thick strings to handle the beginning of your pick attack, and thin strings for bending when playing lead.

10 thin and 12 thick? The gauge scale means an increasing thickness as the number drops, right? Unless gauge when referring to strings is completely opposite.

 

[apologetic]

Elixir coated strings are awesome!! Using 11s right now

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
as mentioned, your sound will get fuller and fatter, although not amazingly so. but the most important aspect, IMO, is that heavier strings ring truer. that is, when you pick a note, thin strings have a nasty tendancy to literally vibrate themselves sharp, so when you play hard everything gets out of tune until you back off again. thick strings allow you to dig in a lot harder without things going sharp on you.

if going between 9's and 10's on a guitar w/o a tremelo, you can probably get by without a setup. if you have a tremelo or you're going to a thicker guage, you may need a setup to keep your action right.

i play light top/heavy bottom sets, which are like having the thin strings "10" guage and the thick ones "12" guage. you get big bass and thick strings to handle the beginning of your pick attack, and thin strings for bending when playing lead.

10 thin and 12 thick? The gauge scale means an increasing thickness as the number drops, right? Unless gauge when referring to strings is completely opposite.

Um, he means using the light strings from the 10 gauge pack and the heavy strings (the 12) for the lower strings.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
as mentioned, your sound will get fuller and fatter, although not amazingly so. but the most important aspect, IMO, is that heavier strings ring truer. that is, when you pick a note, thin strings have a nasty tendancy to literally vibrate themselves sharp, so when you play hard everything gets out of tune until you back off again. thick strings allow you to dig in a lot harder without things going sharp on you.

if going between 9's and 10's on a guitar w/o a tremelo, you can probably get by without a setup. if you have a tremelo or you're going to a thicker guage, you may need a setup to keep your action right.

i play light top/heavy bottom sets, which are like having the thin strings "10" guage and the thick ones "12" guage. you get big bass and thick strings to handle the beginning of your pick attack, and thin strings for bending when playing lead.

10 thin and 12 thick? The gauge scale means an increasing thickness as the number drops, right? Unless gauge when referring to strings is completely opposite.

Yeah, it's different nomenclature for guitar strings. It's actually .010 inches, .012 inches, and so on. Gauge in this case is only meant to refer to extra light, light, medium, and heavy.

 

[phantom309]

Heavier strings also don't buzz as much. They also have more dynamic range - you can hit them harder. You'd think they'd also last longer than lighter strings would, but they don't.
What works for you also depends on what music you play - in general shredders/metal players tend to like really light strings like 9's or 8's; blues guys lean toward heavier strings. Stevie Ray Vaughn used 12's, as did Pete Townshend. You really have to be strong to play fluidly on strings that heavy - takes lots of practice - but there's no other way to get that big powerful sound.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: apologetic
Elixir coated strings are awesome!! Using 11s right now

I like Elixirs too.

 

[Fritzo]

Heavier strings will make you louder, but will be harder on your fingers. You also won't be able to bend as much. I've never needed anything over light guage, though I did move up to mediums for an acoustic concert in college so I could be heard. Only time I've used them though.

Partial to Ernie Ball Super Slinky's myself

 

[Kenazo]

So, I ended up going for 10-46's