JAF 13 Posted April 12, 2018 Report Share Posted April 12, 2018 (edited) I have put on 12 gauge strings on my G400 Pro, as i like the deeper sound. Its a wound G string but my question is as I had to expand the nut slots a bit to fit these bad boys. Do i need to replace the nut if i ever wanna go down a size to say 11 or back to 10 gauge again? Edited April 12, 2018 by JAF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ksdaddy 581 Posted April 12, 2018 Report Share Posted April 12, 2018 Not necessarily, especially if you just took out enough material for the 12s. I've seen nut slots be quite forgiving. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JAF 13 Posted April 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2018 Just enough to not damage the nut. The space for the 12 gauge is just enough to fit them in. SO good news. I think 12 may be a bit too hard yet. Ive played with 10s for a long time and liked the improved stability and deeper sound that over regular .9s Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ksdaddy 581 Posted April 12, 2018 Report Share Posted April 12, 2018 So much depends on how the guitar feels, and there are no rules. I have 10s on my Les Paul, 11s on my Tele and Strat, and I may go to 12s on the Strat. Hollow bodies get 12 or 13. I'm all over the place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JAF 13 Posted April 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2018 So much depends on how the guitar feels, and there are no rules. I have 10s on my Les Paul, 11s on my Tele and Strat, and I may go to 12s on the Strat. Hollow bodies get 12 or 13. I'm all over the place. I can turn my G400 Pro to single pickup mode. Not as good as real single pickups but I can understand your enthusiasm for using bigger strings on those. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mihcmac 869 Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) During the 70's and 80's, when punk emerged, the players were were looking for a different sound than what they could get from the traditional Gibsons and Fenders. Looking in pawnshops for old brands that died and experimenting on them, using heavier and heavier strings to get more sound out of them. One of the brands that reemerged from obscurity were the Danelectro's with their single coil pickups. Also there was considerable interest in old LP Jr's with P-90s and old Melody Makers. This era the interest was about getting more sound from the guitar leaving the canned Jimmy Page and Van Halen sound behind. Using heavy strings gave birth to extensive use of drop D, lower tuning and 7 string guitars. Coil taping allows you to get more or different tone out of your humbuckers specially when playing clean. Using coil tapping may seem anemic compared to the full on humbucker sound, but its just different and things like overdrive need to be adjusted for it. You may enjoy your coil tapping sound more clean at extreme high volume. Anyway the point is experimentation is good don't be afraid to break the rules.. Sorry for rambling but this topic is a lot of fun..... :) Edited April 13, 2018 by mihcmac Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Megafrog 170 Posted April 14, 2018 Report Share Posted April 14, 2018 During the 70's and 80's, when punk emerged, the players were were looking for a different sound than what they could get from the traditional Gibsons and Fenders. Looking in pawnshops for old brands that died and experimenting on them, using heavier and heavier strings to get more sound out of them. One of the brands that reemerged from obscurity were the Danelectro's with their single coil pickups. Also there was considerable interest in old LP Jr's with P-90s and old Melody Makers. This era the interest was about getting more sound from the guitar leaving the canned Jimmy Page and Van Halen sound behind. Using heavy strings gave birth to extensive use of drop D, lower tuning and 7 string guitars. Coil taping allows you to get more or different tone out of your humbuckers specially when playing clean. Using coil tapping may seem anemic compared to the full on humbucker sound, but its just different and things like overdrive need to be adjusted for it. You may enjoy your coil tapping sound more clean at extreme high volume. Anyway the point is experimentation is good don't be afraid to break the rules.. Sorry for rambling but this topic is a lot of fun..... :) You are spot on. I experiment with string gauge and tunings but I never experiment with binding... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JAF 13 Posted April 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) You are spot on. I experiment with string gauge and tunings but I never experiment with binding... I have this 1966 Suzuki Nagoya nr. 12, with real binding Edited April 14, 2018 by JAF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mihcmac 869 Posted April 14, 2018 Report Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) You are spot on. I experiment with string gauge and tunings but I never experiment with binding... In 1999 I acquired a new Korean made red G-400, 61 style, that had the photo imprinted top surface that Epiphone was so proud of at the time. It was beautiful and I was proud of it too. At the time I was using 9's but my pro friends kept telling me to use heavier strings to get a better or cleaner sound. I went from 9's to 10's to 11's and almost went to 12's but after a lot of testing I went back to 10's and stayed there. The "nut" survived the experimentation without mods. The neck was very resilient, only requiring minor truss rod adjustments with the string changes to keep the action above the 12th fret good. The G-400 and my Gibson SG-X were my main guitars at the time and I considered them interchangeable. The stock slots in the nut survived the changes on both my SG's. Currently I own 2 Epi reproduction 61 SG specials that I won't be doing any binding on them.. Edited April 14, 2018 by mihcmac Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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