Strings

[nuclearass]

I used to play D'Addario EXL and still do on my standard-tuned guitars...those strings sound best and last very long IMO...
when I tuned down to C I wanted to have a plain G-String (lol) and the 11gauge d'Adario felt too soft, the 12gauge didn't have a plain G, so I switched to Ernie Ball beefy slinky cause they feel stiffer than D'adario (the 11gauge beefies felt just right for C).
Unfortunately ernie ball's are far inferior to daddario in terms of sounding "new" for a longer period of time....they become duller sounding quite fast and don't last as long as daddarios.....still I'm stuck with them cause they feel good in my tuning.

Aaaargh. Please don't tell me this is true . I just did the same exact thing and I really like how the beefy slinky set feels. I've only played with it a couple of times but it just felt really good. I really think I've finally found a good set for me that works for both tunings that I use D & C#. I always liked Daddario because also IMO they sounded good for a long time, but they just didn't have a set that felt good in both tunings.

 

[beyond dead]

kurt cobain used piano wire. he made millions

 

[JBroll]

Yes, but people here tend to want to sound GOOD.

Jeff

 

[Fifth_Horseman]

I have always used D'Addarios, except for two or three experiments that only made me more confident in my initial choice. They just sound and feel perfect to me. And in 7 years I have only broken three strings, two of them by overtightening the tuner with the string sticking in the nut. Which is the fault of the nut and the user, not the string.

So for me, I use standard sets that get progressively and equally thicker depending on my tuning - 10-46 for E standard, 11-49 for D standard, 12-54 for C standard, and if I were ever to play in B, then 13-56.

Same here. D'Addario also offers a 10.5-48 set which I use for Eb standard.

 

[LSD-Studio]

Aaaargh. Please don't tell me this is true . I just did the same exact thing and I really like how the beefy slinky set feels. I've only played with it a couple of times but it just felt really good. I really think I've finally found a good set for me that works for both tunings that I use D & C#. I always liked Daddario because also IMO they sounded good for a long time, but they just didn't have a set that felt good in both tunings.

 

[Aaron Smith]

I dunno, a wound G string may be annoying for soloing, but for chording it sounds a whole lot better...

+1

 

[beyond dead]

Yes, but people here tend to want to sound GOOD.

Jeff

no doubt!! in all seriousness I use daddarrio 9-54 on a seven string. part of the reason i play the 7 is so i can have low tunings, with standard tension and string size. otherwise i would just string up with piano wire or the thickest shit i could find on a 6 string and adjust the action

 

[TomAwesome]

no doubt!! in all seriousness I use daddarrio 9-54 on a seven string. part of the reason i play the 7 is so i can have low tunings, with standard tension and string size. otherwise i would just string up with piano wire or the thickest shit i could find on a 6 string and adjust the action

The number of strings has very little bearing on this. A .054" tuned to B on a 25.5" scale 7-string will feel and respond exactly the same as the same .054" string tuned to B on a 25.5" scale 6-string. The tension and feel/response of a string of a given gauge at a given tuning is dependent on the scale length. The number of strings that happen to be on a guitar make no difference whatsoever in this respect.

 

[beyond dead]

your right, but i like the fact that it plays like a 6 string with a lower string. ive tried playing 6`s tuned down with bigger gauges, but don`t like the way the higher strings feel when strung in this manner. not as easy to bend and such.
before i moved to the world of 7 strings I liked dr strings. they sounded wicked and played beautifully imo. iommi and dimebag are big influences and they both used lighter strings. just my own preference. that aside I am a drummer

 

[SickBoy]

One brand I absolutely don't recommend is LaBella!
I bought my standard 9-46 set and something was fishy right during winding the 1st string - it broke when reaching the pitch!?!
Then after playing for a while I noticed how 2nd and 3rd string started going flat, too fast and too often and all that AFTER being stretched already.
I'm like WTF then I noticed that they started uncoiling (not sure if that's the right expression, but I guess you get the point) around the ball end and just did "sproiiing" in the end... I've have NEVER EVER seen in my 15 years of playing a string that would "uncoil" all by itself, what a piece of crap... 2 sets - exactly the same story!

My standard choice is GHS Boomers 9-46, but now I'm playing D'Addario EXL125 9-46, just cause I've found a guy at ebay who sells them in 10 set packs and each set costs me 3 times less than the one bought here in store... Maybe it's just my imagination, but I somehow felt that those D'Addarios relatively quickly lost the fresh sound compared to Boomers, dunno...

In case anyone wonders I *gulp* tune to E standard

 

[JBroll]

before i moved to the world of 7 strings I liked dr strings. they sounded wicked and played beautifully imo. iommi and dimebag are big influences and they both used lighter strings. just my own preference. that aside I am a drummer

The guy who distorted amps before they sounded good distorted and the guy who single-handedly renewed the half-myth that solid-state hi-gain needs serious work? Yep, you're a drummer.

Jeff

 

[Where She Wept]

The guy who distorted amps before they sounded good distorted and the guy who single-handedly renewed the half-myth that solid-state hi-gain needs serious work? Yep, you're a drummer.

Jeff

burned...

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Never saw those before. what do you tune to?

Drop C and B.

They are pretty tight tension wise either way.

 

[Where She Wept]

Drop C and B.

They are pretty tight tension wise either way.

I could imagine. I should use a set of those as a base for a 7-string set. My 7's are tued to Bb and A and i ever seem to have enough tension.

 

[Potshot]

I'm using D'addario .13-.56 on my 25.5" scale axe and .13-.62 on my 24.75" axes for drop B tuning, works nicely.

 

[greyskull]

d'addario=mint
Ernie ball=fail/goes dead or breaks in five minutes.
rotosound=god awful crap

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Just be carefull if you do no telling if it will work. I have different machine heads for the lower 2 strings because of their gage.

 

[beyond dead]

The guy who distorted amps before they sounded good distorted and the guy who single-handedly renewed the half-myth that solid-state hi-gain needs serious work? Yep, you're a drummer.

Jeff

if it were not for dime, there would be no kranks. if it were not for iommi there would not be metal, or heavily distorted guitars. if there were no drummers, guitar players would get laid

 

[TomAwesome]

if it were not for dime, there would be no kranks. if it were not for iommi there would not be metal, or heavily distorted guitars. if there were no drummers, guitar players would get laid

1) While Dime deserves all the respect he gets, I don't think I'd cry if Krank amps never existed. I had to use a Krankenstein once, and I hated the thing. My Line 6 gear sounded better. Seriously.

2) There would be, but Iommi does deserve his share of the credit.

3) You're right. If there were no drummers, we would still get laid.

 

[beyond dead]

lol:
i stand corrected. i think i may try using some heavier gauge strings and see how it goes. does anyone notice an substantial difference in tone?