Going to heavier strings

[ksdaddy]

For the last couple years I've been playing acoustic almost exclusively. I've never been a talented player with electric, I like old surf instrumental stuff and I jokingly attempt some of Roy Buchanan's tricks. With acoustic I felt... I dunno... more connected with the music, regardless of how simple it might be. I hit a note, it comes out the box, no processing or electronic devices. And I guess to some degree I had developed a reverse snobbery toward electrics, in that, yeah sure, you can do all that snazzy stuff but if someone kicks the cord out of the wall, you're done. Which is not a real nice way of looking at things but we can't always control what's in our heads.

 

In the past couple months I've pulled the Tele off the wall and plugged it in. It's like, what is this thing I'm holding? What am I supposed to do with it? It seems so wimpy and delicate. (I've had it for 31 years so it's not like it's unfamiliar to me!) Ditto for any other electric in the herd. When Les died, I revisited some old videos off youtube, stuff he did on his old TV show with Mary Ford. Jeez, I've got an old gold top but I can't even begin to capture a shadow of the sound he got. I'm not saying I'm fit to call myself a player compared to him, but there's just some major disconnect there. And if I stuck to (any) electric for a few days, my hands would get all weak and out of shape.

 

Odd how things happen. I was going through some old 45s and playing them on a retired Audiotronics school record player. I listened to the Fendermen doing Muleskinner Blues and though, my GOD how are they getting that huge sound? It's not fancy or technically difficult, it's just HUGE. Yeah, they may have been playing through old blonde Bassmans with outboard reverb units or some such, but it went deeper than that. It was more at the source, rather than something produced through tubes, caps and cones.

 

Then I pondered, what did they have for strings?

 

I came of age in the 70s when the mindset was to use the tiniest strings in the world. I considered 9s 'medium' and 8s 'light'. As I went on, I settled on 10s because of the tuning nightmare those angel hair strings had. Been using 10s for about 25 years.

 

I know Stevie Ray used some ungodly caveman things, 14 to 60 or some such, but Stevie wasn't human.

 

Today I put a set of 12-52 on the Tele. Wow. It's a real guitar now. I can dig into it and not have it turn to mush. I'm not saying I'm going to restring all the electrics as such, but it's always an option.

 

Funny how some stupid little thing will make the difference in a guitar being enjoyed or hanging on the wall.

[ShredAstaire]

I like fat strings....they do feel nice....i'm with you!

[DAS44]

I'm with the whole bigger string debate.

 

I hate the feel of anythin smaller than 11s and even they're starting to feel too small. Might move it up to 12s on my next setup.

 

I remember playing a strat that had 9s on it, felt way too easy, I need some resistance.

[L5Larry]

I've been carrying the "bigger is better" banner around here by myself for years. I'm glad to see others recently discovering the advantages of thicker strings.

 

I've always played 11's on my solid bodies and thinlines, and I play 14's on my archtops. Since I play way more archtop these days, the 11's on the 345 are feeling kind of flimsy. I'm going to take ksdaddy's advise and string it up with 12's next string change. Good idea.

 

One unforeseen advantage of playing piano wires on your guitar, it keeps the idiots from wanting to play it.

[ksdaddy]

I had D'Addario 12s (round wound) on my Epi Emperor and splurged on a set of Thomastik flats for it. The D'Addarios only had an hour's play on them so those are the ones I put on the Tele. The high e was barely long enough but I made do. I have a couple more new sets, I just wanted to test the water. I'm glad I have a couple extra sets now.

 

I had made a new nut for the Tele back in '93 or so. I had to widen the slots just a tish without making them deeper. High pucker factor for a few minutes.

 

And of course the truss rod had to have a tweak, but 1/4 turn or so did it.

 

Bends are a little stiffer but by God, when you bend it now, you mean it!

[Shnate McDuanus]

I've always felt that thin strings were far too flimsy and uncontrollable for me. I don't feel the same sort of resistance (for obvious reasons) from thin strings, and that's why I hate using 'em. My SG's been sitting in my case for weeks now because I put 9s on there (a local store was going out of business a few months ago, and when I went there that was all they had) and I'm too damn lazy to go out and buy new strings. But I generally use 12s on acoustic and electric, and I try to avoid gauges thinner than 10. You play better when you have to put up a bit of a fight, anyway.

[surfpup]

I agree. The acoustic guitar builds strong hands. With strings lighter than 11, I will often play out of tune because I will push the strings sharp. I haven't gone above 11's on my electrics though, so I can't say what that's like.

[LPguitarman]

I switched from 9's to 10's on my electric.

[Shnate McDuanus]

With strings lighter than 11' date=' I will often play out of tune because I will push the strings sharp.[/quote']

 

Yep, that'll happen.

 

When I first got my electric, I thought that there was something wrong with the guitar because I thought it couldn't keep its tune.

[pippy]

I went to 12's a year or so ago and love them.

 

Haven't regretted it a day.

 

Well, except for having to make my fingertips bulletproof........

 

It might make it harder for others to just pick-up-and-play my guitar, though.