String Gauges

Matt Smith

THEOCRACY
Jun 11, 2004
1,169
37
48
46
Athens, GA
www.theocracymusic.com
I'm sure this has come up a million times before on here (gotta love the search function still not working...), but what gauge do you guys recommend for lower tunings? We tune to E flat, so I usually use .10-.46, but one song we're doing is tuned to Dropped-D (from our usual tuning, so it's actually C# instead of D). The low string won't stay in tune for two seconds, too thin for that tuning I suppose. What should I use?
 
Just try different gauges until you find one you feel comfortable playing and that stays in tune better...
Personally i use .58 or .60 and tune in B, but even when i tune to D i go with at least .52
 
.10 - .60 I tune to C on six string on my 7 its the same but in B. I know a few ppl who play 7's and have a .70 like Loomis, but fucked if I can play those little bastards(might as well play bass).
 
I like thick strings since i'm originally a bassist, but to be honest, .60 is thickest the store where i usually buy strings has :)
I tried putting a G bass string on my guitar once but it wouldn't fit in the trem.
 
gee I must be wimp, I'm in Eflat and am in drop c# half of the time and find 9-46 fine :ill: :cool:

quess it really depends on what your guitar is like, the strength of your hands, vibrato, etc etc.

I would mess with your action a bit, and intonate it for that tuning, if it won't sit right with 11-54, or 11-56 you must be the most heavy handed player in the world :headbang:
 
12-56 Pyramids, tuned to C

Not bad at all, could be a tad thicker... maybe a 57 or 58 would be perfect... but they're better for it then the 50 and 53 I've previously had
 
Try the "Light Top, Heavy Bottom" strings. the 1, 2, and 3 strings are "regular" and the 4, 5, and 6 strings are "Medium"
 
I -HIGHLY- recommend using Thomastik-Infeld Powerbrights. I used to use the heavy bottom series myself... 10-50, and they have a richer tone, and last longer, than almost any other set of strings out there.

I only use Pyramids now cuz they make them in a thicker gauge.. and they too, are amazing. True, they're like $15 a set, but, money well spent.
 
We used to tune to B (ibanez rg550ltd & gibson vee) and I used to buy 7 string packets and throw out the .010", so I got a set of 0.013"-0.056" cheaper than buying jazz strings or whatever. However....I always felt they were just a little too light (I like more tension for bends and stuff), so we tuned up a half step to C. Much better.
I have 0.012"-0.054"'s on my Les Paul tuned down a full step to D and the tension is grand.
I have 0.010's on my standard tuned Ibanez and 0.011's on my other Ibanez tuned half a step down to Eflat.
 
jamesboyd said:
I would mess with your action a bit, and intonate it for that tuning, if it won't sit right with 11-54, or 11-56 you must be the most heavy handed player in the world :headbang:

That's actually part of the problem; I am way too heavy handed. I'm trying to work on it though.

Thanks for the advice everyone!
 
I play really light, and I like my strings pretty slinky. You're all gonna think I'm crazy but I use 10's on my baritone tuned to B flat. It suits me just right. I think it even helps my tone a great deal (a lot brighter).
 
String gauges are very personal but I've found that higher tension strings, especially the low 3, work much better for crunchy/pounding rhythm work particularly when you do a lot of down picked muting. They simply respond faster with less flop. I know that some guys can make light strings work for metal rhythm but I can't. Considering that a thick pick and heavy pick hand attack is part of that sound heavy strings are just needed. Maybe Mr. Sneap can give us some input on this but to my knowlege every monster rhythm player that I can think of uses heavy strings.

So ... I use 25 1/4" scale guitars and I use a custom string set so for standard tuning from low to high: .052, .044, .036, .017, .011, .009. This in conjunction with a fairly high action on the low end and medium action on the high end. I have a very heavy pick attack so this is the way that I have to set up my guitars. For drop C# I use: .060, .050, .042, .020, .014, .011.

I've tried to use lighter strings with the goal of learning to have a lighter pick hand but the rhythm sound always suffers. (Sigh!)
 
Impy said:
I like thick strings since i'm originally a bassist, but to be honest, .60 is thickest the store where i usually buy strings has :)
I tried putting a G bass string on my guitar once but it wouldn't fit in the trem.

For that you should mount the bass string upside down and cutting the little ball at the headstock!!!

Anyway for standard tuning i use .009/.046
for 1 tone down .011/.049,
for 1 tone down, dropped C .011/.052
and for the Ibanez seven string i mix a .009/.046 (the E and A are from the .011 set) and a bass string .065 for the low B.

It took a lot of experimenting and still not satisfied in certain things.

D'ADDARIO all the way. I tried a lot of strings, this are the best for me.