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Skinny Top, Beefy Bottom


Sheepdog1969

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No, I am not referring to my female anatomy preference, if that's what you were thinking. I AM referring to Ernie Ball Custom Gauge, Nickel Wound, Guitar Strings. (10, 13, 17, 32, 44, 54 is what I have. I don't know if there are other variations available) I stumbled across these recently when looking for EB Extra Heavy, which my G&L seems to favor. I grabbed them just to see what they were all about. I knew lead guys who, for years, would buy multiple sets of strings, in different gauges, to create "richer lows" without sacrificing the benefits of smaller gauge "highs". Maybe this option has been available for a long time, but I had never noticed it. I have not decided what guitar to put them on yet, and I wondered if anyone has experience with them, or with "stringing" in this particular way. (this may sound stupid, but I am wondering a bit about how this string gauge set up may/could cause neck tension/torque issues.) Let me know what you think.     

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I have used mixed sets for custom gauge sizes, but not those. I can see it might raise the string tension a few ft.lbs

I have used full heavier gauge sets though. The heaviest I've used were 13-56 flatwounds. The original set were 10-46. That's a big step up in size but In my case I didn't need to adjust the truss rod at all. 

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1 hour ago, Murph said:

I learned a new word...

 

19 minutes ago, merciful-evans said:

I recommend you unlearn it and replace it with 'iconicity' which is the correct one.

Also, 'iconicicity' is too hard to pronounce. 

Unlearn both of those words. "Inconsistency" is the word, meaning not consistent and/or irregular.

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1 hour ago, Sheepdog1969 said:

 

Unlearn both of those words. "Inconsistency" is the word, meaning not consistent and/or irregular.

I figured that since I don't see what THIS has to do with guitar strings....  [wink]

 

iconicity
noun [ U ]
 
UK 
 
 /ˌaɪ.kəˈnɪs.ə.ti/ US 
 
 /ˌaɪ.kəˈnɪs.ə.t̬i/
 
LANGUAGE   specialized
the relationship between the form of a sign, such as a word or symbol, and its meaning:
Iconicity is central to the study of literary uses of language, such as prose and poetry.
 
Whitefang
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For years I bought separates and used 12/15/17p/30/40/50 on my archtop which gave me the opportunity to play some lead as well as drive the rhythm.

These days I can't be bothered and just buy DR Handmade Blues 11 to 48 or for 10s a 3-pack of Fender pure nickel.  I have one guitar with tapewounds - Thomastik Infeld 11 -47.

 

Fun fact;  Jimi Hendrix's preferred gauges were 10/13/15/26/32/38.   In his day you could buy a Fender set with those gauges, Super Bullets 3150R.

🎸[thumbup]

Edited by jdgm
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I have been experimenting using lighter & lighter gauge strings on my large archtop. I began with 13-56 and am now down to 10-44. The sound is unchanged, but the feel is very different. I'll probably move back up to 11-47 again and stick with those. They are Thomastic Infeld flatwounds.  

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