trotro Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Hi, brand new on the forum and owner since 1week of a wonderful ES-335, my first Gibson, my other guitars are Strats. I am learning to play Blues and I was wondering what could be the best strings on my guitar On my strat i use Elixir, but I am afraid are to bright for the 335. Any suggestion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Hi, brand new on the forum and owner since 1week of a wonderful ES-335, my first Gibson, my other guitars are Strats. I am learning to play Blues and I was wondering what could be the best strings on my guitar On my strat i use Elixir, but I am afraid are to bright for the 335. Any suggestion? Ernie Ball or d'Addarrio are nice...9's or 10's unless you want a huge tone with 11's or 12's...depends what type of sound you are looking for...heavy gauge are hard work but SRV used 13's on his Strat.....Happy Picking !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St James Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 Ernie Ball or d'Addarrio are nice...9's or 10's unless you want a huge tone with 11's or 12's...depends what type of sound you are looking for...heavy gauge are hard work but SRV used 13's on his Strat.....Happy Picking !! VEWRSATILE, I have 7 335's////and wam well versed in doingf mods that donlt costa lot but produce a lot when it comes to tone. FIRST and FOREMOIT go the the LIFESTYLE THREAD in the FORUMS and read the 25 ways to get the best GUITAR TONE EVER. Then we can move onto small thing like changin your capcaitors for 25loo thise two TONE knobs will ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING !!!! Chnge your nut from that plastic garbage to a UNCUT BONE nut cut to your strings. Then TRY a different string you;re NOT playing astart anymore GIBSON come with TONE INCLUDED !!!! lol I use DR PURE BLUES #10;'s....they are prestretched soput em on tuneem playa song, re turne, play a song re-tune and now they should last 2-3 weeeks !! I can give ya a million ideas but the one good thing is the pick ups !!!!! NO NEED TO CHANGE THEM. IF ya like email me and I';ll help ya with some easy modes that cam make a huige difference. I am a 55 yo blkuespalyer who hass been doing this for 45 year and am on ALLIGATOR RECORDS ALWAYS WILLING TOHELP A NEW GUY TO THE LAND vOF TONE OR GIBSON !!!!!! PSYCHOBILLYBLUES@Gmial.COM Let me know what grea you use from amp to cord,k strings, picks etc...... I'llbe happy to help ya out I am gonna try to post a pic of my 59 Hope to hear from ya St James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjohnson Posted September 12, 2010 Share Posted September 12, 2010 I would worry more about material and gauge then manufacturer. Try pure nickel wound strings, preferably in 11s. DR Pure Blues (round core), Gibson Vintage Reissues (hex core) or Les Paul signatures (thread-wrapped ball end - very cool!), DAddario EPN115s, GHS Burnished Nickel (slightly polished), etc. etc. I would start with a hard look at GHS Nickel Rockers 1315s - w/a wound G string & slightly flattened so even a bit more mellow, but with nice tone color and smoother feel. All are quality builds, with only subtle differences, so any would likely be fine. Pure nickel will be warmer then nickel-plated like the stock Brite wires, very good for blues on hollow-body archtops & they sound great w/57 classics. 11s will give a bit more oomph and good tension on the shorter scale, but 10s would be easier to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trotro Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 I would worry more about material and gauge then manufacturer. Try pure nickel wound strings, preferably in 11s. DR Pure Blues (round core), Gibson Vintage Reissues (hex core) or Les Paul signatures (thread-wrapped ball end - very cool!), DAddario EPN115s, GHS Burnished Nickel (slightly polished), etc. etc. I would start with a hard look at GHS Nickel Rockers 1315s - w/a wound G string & slightly flattened so even a bit more mellow, but with nice tone color and smoother feel. All are quality builds, with only subtle differences, so any would likely be fine. Pure nickel will be warmer then nickel-plated like the stock Brite wires, very good for blues on hollow-body archtops & they sound great w/57 classics. 11s will give a bit more oomph and good tension on the shorter scale, but 10s would be easier to play. Ok thanks I have chosen gibson vintage reissues 10-46. Sound is very warm and gauge is perfect for my hands! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjohnson Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Ok thanks I have chosen gibson vintage reissues 10-46. Sound is very warm and gauge is perfect for my hands! Sweet! I use them on my 336 - love 'em - if they had that wound G they'd be perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincentw Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 Great strings. Try the Britewires next time around and see if you hear the difference...I think you will. Not that one is better than the other just a good example of how strings can affect tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleggoe Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I'm using SNAKE OIL Vintage LH 10's. Darker sounding than other strings I've tried and keep their tuning far better than the Gibson Humbucker strings they replaced. I like these snake oils because they seem to anable a broader range of sound tones and colours to be obtained from my 335. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougg330 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I'm using SNAKE OIL Vintage LH 10's. Darker sounding than other strings I've tried and keep their tuning far better than the Gibson Humbucker strings they replaced. I like these snake oils because they seem to anable a broader range of sound tones and colours to be obtained from my 335. +1 on the Snake Oil Brand strings. They sound great, feel great, and last a lot longer than most other strings. My tech got me to move from 10's to 11's on my ES-330 and I love them. They feel virtually the same - partly because of the trapeze tailpiece, I guess - but sound much bigger and fuller. I try other brands form time to time just to check them out, but always circle back to the Snake Oils. If you have 10's on now and they feel good and sound good, you're all set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypsyseven Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I can recommend Ernie Ball Rock ´n´ Roll pure nickel strings...11´s by the way...flatwounds are fun too but a little to muffled on my Casino... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I would worry more about material and gauge then manufacturer. Try pure nickel wound strings, preferably in 11s. DR Pure Blues (round core), Gibson Vintage Reissues (hex core) or Les Paul signatures (thread-wrapped ball end - very cool!), DAddario EPN115s, GHS Burnished Nickel (slightly polished), etc. etc. I would start with a hard look at GHS Nickel Rockers 1315s - w/a wound G string & slightly flattened so even a bit more mellow, but with nice tone color and smoother feel. All are quality builds, with only subtle differences, so any would likely be fine. Pure nickel will be warmer then nickel-plated like the stock Brite wires, very good for blues on hollow-body archtops & they sound great w/57 classics. 11s will give a bit more oomph and good tension on the shorter scale, but 10s would be easier to play. + 1 on pure nickel 11s and a wound G string. I use PRS 11s with a wound 20 on my Howard Roberts and they can really start to push an otherwise super-clean Fender Pro. The HR is a slightly different beast from the 335, and has slightly hotter pickups, but it's not so very different in the end, and I bet the strings would do the same for your guitar. Just top for blues, though not easiest for bending (your choice of 10s will be better on that front). It's worth remembering that when Gibson debuted the 335 it came with a wound 3rd string, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notryt Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 + 1 on pure nickel 11s and a wound G string. I use PRS 11s with a wound 20 on my Howard Roberts and they can really start to push an otherwise super-clean Fender Pro. The HR is a slightly different beast from the 335, and has slightly hotter pickups, but it's not so very different in the end, and I bet the strings would do the same for your guitar. Just top for blues, though not easiest for bending (your choice of 10s will be better on that front). It's worth remembering that when Gibson debuted the 335 it came with a wound 3rd string, mind. I am actually shocked.. no one mentioned flatwound strings.. for a bluus guitar.. seriously?? If your going to be playing blues or jazz.. flatwound strings are the only way to go they cost more.. but last 3x longer and have such a warm tone about them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdntac Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 There's no one perfect set of strings --- everybody has different tastes. The best thing you can do is try five or six brands and see what you prefer. I used to use D'Addario but after having an issue with the ball becoming unwound on the high E string I switched to GHS. Now I prefer the sound of them. At one time I was using 10-52 gauge, then 10-46 now I'm using a hybrid set of 9, 11, 16, 26, 36 and 46. We guitarists are finicky...try, experiment and see what you like. That's really the best way to do it IMO since strings aren't too expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyl51 Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 I can remember seeing the great Tommy Tedesco years ago when I was living in Los Angeles. He played this beat-up Ventura replica of an ES-175........everybody was asking him during a break 'what year is the 175, how high is the high 'E' string at the 12th fret, etc.etc.etc.. THEN all of these wantabee studio guitar players were asking Tommy what brand string do you USE and what are the string gauges and DO you like half round versus flats, etc.etc.etc.............Tommy then looks at all of us and very calmly says 'look guys it is all in these and points to his hands'............and then says 'Man I use whatever is available'...........and THEN proceeds to plays great lines....true story from T.T. jim at Tinker AFB Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Ernie Ball Cobalt (I prefer 10's). These strings have a stronger magnetic signal than any other string I have tried. How do I know? The test is the signal strength as measured by a hex GK midi pickup and portrayed on the indicator meter of the Midi convertor (in my case GR33 and Axon AX100). For those who are not midi fans they also sound very good through normal pickups and amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro Vibratoer Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 I would go as heavy as you can. I would shoot for 10's or 11's. I believe the strat has a longer string length with more tension. The 335 should allow you to go to slightly heavier strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LysanderSky Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 I like Ernie Ball Slinky Top Heavy Bottom on my 335 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR9 Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Gibson Vintage Reissue or Thomastik-Infeld Electric Guitar Steel/Nickel Flat Wound I love flat wounds on my 339 and although Thomastik-Infeld are expensive, they last longer than most others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Yes! I have always used D'Addario round wound 11s with wound third on my 335. I recently tried a set of D'Addario Chrome 11 flat wounds and immediately removed them. Then I tried a set of Thomastik-Infeld Swing flatwound 11s, and they are fabulous. I'm going for a more traditional jazz sound, so I lowered the pickups, put on the flatwounds, switched from a red Dunlop Jazz III pick to a Dunlop Jazztone 204 pick, made a few adjustments to my amp, and I'm very happy with the sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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