The case for 11 guage strings

[onewilyfool]

I've put on some 11's on my guitar, and I've been a long time user of 12's, but I find that I don't lose much volume and I can bend strings and bend chords (especially for blues) MUCH more easily than with the 12's. Maybe I'm getting old, but less hand pain, and more playing enjoyment are a big plus for me. Any of you using lighter guage strings???

[Versatile]

I've had similar experience...my collection has guitars with 9's,10's,11's and 12's

I gave up on 13's a while back

I tend to go for either 12's for the resonance on an archtop

Or plain 3rd 10's or 9's on solids for bends

The 11's for me are a bit transient, but for many would be an ideal MOR string set

 

V

 

[ponty]

I recently put 11s on my J-45. I posted that they were too light for that guitar. However, they are still on there.

They work very good for finger style not so good with strumming, but that is probably down to my set up.

On the whole I like 11s. 12s are good 13s gave up years ago!!

[BigKahune]

On my six strings, 12s for me, I like the way they hold up under aggressive strumming.

 

But my 12string has light strings and they work just fine, even under aggressive strumming.

 

Hadn't really thought about that before.

 

Hmmmm . . . . Maybe I'll give a set of 11s a try on one of my six strings.

[fretplay]

I've used 11s for years, they are as fine as you can go without loosing volume. I think it is good to use the same gauge strings on all your guitars therefore giving you a continuity of playing pressure. 11s are fine on short scale too. I even use them on my J 45.

 

10s are fun on a 12 fret but then the volume will not hold its own with fellow players. Solo stuff only.

[retrorod]

As a rule, I don,t go lighter than 12's or heavier than 13's on my acoustics.

I like to vary on the bass E string..52-56 depending on the guitar.

I usually stick with 10's on my electrics though...

Rod