Electric strings - wound G vs plain (caveman content)

[ksdaddy]

For about the last year I've strung my '77 Telecaster with 13-56 D'Addarios with a wound 3rd. I love the heavy strings with the exception of not being able to bend the G string much. I can bend it, but no matter how far I bend, I'm only going to get a half step out of it. Seems like an unwound string would have more of a pitch change pushing it the same distance. I know that flies in the face of science, but it's more my layman's observation. 

The wound G string is a 0.026". I'm thinking of trying an unwound string in it's place with the sole goal of having a better bend.  Suppose I should replace it with a plain 0.026"? Or should I lighten it up a touch, maybe 0.22" or 0.024"?

Not expecting you guys to carry around magical answers like that in your back pocket, but curious as to your thoughts. I will have to order anything I replace it with regardless.

If that unwound G string drowns out the others, the deal's off lol.

[Pinch]

I think it's called the Macdonald string tension calculator, it's online. You could fiddle with that and see what would fit best in terms of tension. Other than that,should work. 

[kidblast]

so 13s on a telecaster?? chya..   brutal!!  Bending anything would be a chore for my hands

I do like using wound Gs on archtops where the lighter 10s just don't seem to do right by those kind of boxes.  but,, -- 11s is my limit

 

[Whitefang]

If you can buy the string separately, give it a try.  But not all shops sell strings separately, so if you have to buy the entire set, wait until you need to change strings and try it then.   

With the gauges you're talking about why not use piano wire instead of a set of guitar strings?  

Whitefang

[ksdaddy]

10 minutes ago, Pinch said:

I think it's called the Macdonald string tension calculator, it's online. You could fiddle with that and see what would fit best in terms of tension. Other than that,should work. 

Thanks for that. I'm on my way out the door so I only fiddled with it a minute.... it gave some interesting and unpredicted results as the gauge was changed. I will dig more later.

 

13 minutes ago, kidblast said:

so 13s on a telecaster?? chya..   brutal!!  Bending anything would be a chore for my hands

 

I think my motivation is that when I had 10s on the Telecaster and used it exclusively, after a couple weeks my hands got weak. I had to shift to acoustic to build strength back up. This way I'm "working out" all the time.... and to be honest, I'm having more fun because I can now play the Tele with the same tactile feedback as an acoustic... I can strum harder with no buzz, I can Travis pick better because my 'feel' is transferred to the Tele without having to lighten up...  I just feel like I'm using a bigger hammer. I'd just like to get a few better bends in if possible... if not, I'll slide up!

 

7 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

If you can buy the string separately, give it a try. 

I will likely just order some online.  Juststrings sells them cheap (postage, not so much).

[Sgt. Pepper]

https://tension.stringjoy.com/

Edited June 29, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper

[Whitefang]

6 minutes ago, ksdaddy said:

I will likely just order some online.  Juststrings sells them cheap (postage, not so much).

No music shops anywhere near you?  Too bad.  And sales tax is cheaper than postage these days.

Whitefang

[badbluesplayer]

Josh Smith, the blues tele guy, uses .013, .017, .026P, .036, .044, .056.

[mihcmac]

On my electrics I use EB 10 thru 46 and the same exact electric set on my acoustics, because if they don't "feel" the same as my electrics, I don't play them. I sacrificed tone for comfort, recently I went to Elixir coated electric strings 10 thru 46, on my acoustic, because they resist corrosion really well and feel slippery longer. I totally detest wound G strings, my acoustics are setup for me to use the entire length of the neck, hovering a lot past the 12th fret fully taking advantage of the single cutaway body style.

Edited June 29, 2022 by mihcmac

[ksdaddy]

2 hours ago, badbluesplayer said:

Josh Smith, the blues tele guy, uses .013, .017, .026P, .036, .044, .056.

I think I'll order a few 24s and 26s. 

I think I have D'Addarios on there now... I was given several sets of GHS Boomer 10-46. I ordered some GHS 0.056", pulled the 10 out of the packages, and now I have a half dozen sets of 13-17-26w-36-46-56 on the cheap.

[jdgm]

If you want to bend up one tone, an 0.18 plain G string is hard enough.  IMO.  Unless you are tuning down to Eb.

Edited June 30, 2022 by jdgm

[kidblast]

5 hours ago, badbluesplayer said:

Josh Smith, the blues tele guy, uses .013, .017, .026P, .036, .044, .056.

Does he do standard tuning, or maybe lower?  Like Eflat?

 A lot of guys that use the heavier gauge strings seem to do that.  SRV was for sure doing that, and I think guys Tommy Castro and Walter Trout do too

I will say this..  It's easier to sing all night in Eflat vs standard!

[ksdaddy]

1 hour ago, ghost_of_fl said:

So the G went from wound to unwound.  And that's why your G string on an electric guitar is such a pain to keep in tune compared to the other strings.  It was originally designed to be wound. 

Sometime in the early 80s I read a Guitar Player article about Eddie Lang. He died young, and his main guitar(s) were 16" L-5's. A couple disappeared but his widow retained one of them. The writer for GP visited her and she let him take it out and examine it. 

It had a wound B string.....

[Larsongs]

Like BB King told Billy Gibbons, “Man, Why you workin so hard?”

I’m good with 9’s on my Tele….

Good luck..

[merciful-evans]

I have used 13s on my Hofner archtop, except I wasnt trying to bend any strings! I gradually reduced to 11s and that about right for the guitar (25.5" scale) but bending is possible though not easy.

I do agree entirely about making tone the 1st priority though.

[badbluesplayer]

14 hours ago, kidblast said:

Does he do standard tuning, or maybe lower?  Like Eflat?

 A lot of guys that use the heavier gauge strings seem to do that.  SRV was for sure doing that, and I think guys Tommy Castro and Walter Trout do too

I will say this..  It's easier to sing all night in Eflat vs standard!

Nah.  He's just a monster.  It looks like Norm of Norm's guitars behind Joe.

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by badbluesplayer

[ksdaddy]

I guess it comes down to 'the right strings for the guitar'. I do have bridge cables on the Tele but it's what works and gives the feel I want... well, maybe with a little G string tweak... we'll see how that goes... I may stick with the wound one.

I have 10s on my gold top, 11s on my Squier Jazzmaster AND Jaguar, 13s on the Heritage Super Eagle, 12s on the '58 Anniversary, God knows what on others... I'm flexible,