That old "Scale vs String Guage" thing...

[charlie brown]

I love 10's, on most of my electric guitars...11's on some (Gretsch),

but lately, I seem to fight my Strat and Tele's a bit too much, when

bending. I think, really, that I always have...when using 10's, on

them. So, I'm thinking about going back, to 9's, on my Fender's. I

used to use 9's, on everything, when I was a "kid," back in the '60's,

then went to "Skinny Top, Heavy Bottom" Ernie Ball's, on some. Been

"heavier," ever since.

 

Any advice, experience, opinions, on this, from you all? I know a lot

of it is "personal preference," and so there's no such thing as a right

or wrong, answer. But I'm just curious, as to how many of you use lighter

strings on your Fender guitars (or, Fender-like scaled, other models)?

 

Thanks,

CB

[LarryUK]

I think it's down to the individual guitar. I've tried Les paul's with 10's and 9's and they've felt about the same tension wise.

I think you have to put the 9's on and try it. Sometimes doing that will weaken your fingers and changing guitars will make other's feel tight then.

In general Fender's are harder to play than Gibson's anyhow.

[charlie brown]

Yeah...lol...what I may need to do, is get my fingers in better shape (strength wise)?

Who knows. I will experiment, with the '9's, on my Fender models, and see what happens,

I guess? As long as I'm relaxed, I'm not very heavy handed...but, if tense or nervous,

that can change. So...???

 

CB

[BigKahune]

.

I generally try out the factory string spec and if I don't like it I make a change. My AD Strat came with 9s. All my other guitars have 10s and one has 11s, but I've stayed with the 9s on the Strat. To my feel they seem perfect for that guitar. My AV 52 Tele came with 10s and I haven't made a change yet. I thought I'd have trouble with bends on that vintage radius, but bending and finger vibratos are no problem. I might in the future put a set of 9s on the Tele just to see if I find a difference. I'm not sure if this is any help, but there ya go.

[Andre S]

I have 11's on my Les Paul (top wrapped) and its very comfortable.

 

On the 25" scale length LP replica I have I have 11's on it, but its slightly too difficult to play, so I am going to move down to 10's and if thats too much, I will be moving down to 9's as well.

[Searcy]

I've been playing 11's,12's and 13's for a long time. But recently a friend let be use his ParkerFly with 9's on it and I was sold. My Les Paul DC ans my SG are now sporting Super Slinkies. The others will follow soon.

[Silenced Fred]

I have 11s on my LP, 11s on my Strat and 13s on my acoustic. In all honesty, they feel about the same to me as I'm bashing out chords and riffs so I think that I'm either really screwed up or don't know what strings I bought

[bonzoboy]

Whereas I do really agressive bends that often go beyond 3 steps I only use D'Addario 8-38s on all my electrics and D'Addario 10-46 with the .018 wound G on all my acoustics.My buddy who is a real country chicken picker who plays in the Danny Gatton,Scotty Moore style uses nothing but 8-38s on his Teles and 9-42s on his other Fenders.

[EVOL!]

It depends on you picking style and can you get the tone you want with lighter strings. Finesse players (not me) with good and proper picking technique (not me) can tear it up with lighter gauges. Ham handed Neanderthals like me have to use 11s or I'd be breaking strings all over the place and bending them off the fretboard.

[milod]

Everything I have except three guitars wear 9-42, AE and various sorts of electrics.

 

The three exceptions are:

 

Guild S100c (SG clone from the early 1970s) wears 8-38 and has since new. I play anything on it that I can play on anything else.

 

Cheapy 12-string. Just the lightest non-silk and steel I can find which generally is roughly a 42-9 span.

 

Nylon string guitars. (duhh)

 

----

 

CB, you may note that the Elixir polyweb 9-42 do feel just a little heavier than, say, Ernies. I think there's also a little different with Ernie nickel plate and full nickel wound.

 

I'm not sure you could call me either a good or a finess player, but nowadays I very seldom play with any sort of pick. I like my action very low so actually I can do a lot of "classical" style left hand work where it's just hammering on or pulling off without doing anything with the right hand.

 

The initial weakness to lighter strings, especially those 8-38, is that you really do have to be a good kid putting pressure on the string straight down or it bends up the fret far too easily. It kinda forces you to use good fretting technique.

 

m

[guitar dog]

I use 9's on my Fenders and PRS SE, 10's on the LPs and Casino. I have tried 10's on all and 9's on all, but came back to this setup based on feel. It doesn't make much difference on the way I sound - it's all pretty bad.

[saturn]

To me, Stats just feel more loose, even though they are tighter with the longer scale. 9s are just too skinny on a Strat for me. I think the added length gives more leverage (or the perception of more) when bending. A shorter scale Les Paul seems tighter and snaps back quicker after a bend. Again, maybe it's just my imagination.

[zigzag]

I think a lot has to do, not only with bending, but the sound you're after AND how high/low you like your action, how hard you play and your pick flexibility. I play with 10s on all my solid bodies and 11s on my hollow/semi-hollow bodies because I like a low action. I am not hard on my strings even though I play with a 1.35 mm Jazz III pick.

 

lashurst said: "In general Fender's are harder to play than Gibson's anyhow." I would agree with that in that I think you must be more precise in fretting up against the fret or you get a buzz or you're off-key, and like milod said, you must go straight on.

[Andy R]

I like the feel of 9's on a 25.5 scale tuned to standard pitch. I use 10's on 24.75 scale tuned standard pitch which pretty much evens them out. Then depending on the tuning I will go to 11's for half or hole step down. I just try to maintain a consistent feel so one guitar isn't totally out of whack with the rest concerning string tension...

[Bender 4 Life]

9s on Fender scale geets, 10s on Gibson scalers, 13s on acoustics.

Regular and Super Slinkys on electrics, D'Addario 80/20s on acoustics.

Scale length and string guage don't really change the "feel" for me because i've always pulled my bends instead of pushing them.

It gives me a lot more control, more sustain, a TON more accuracy on "bend & vibrato" sequences, and allows me to get really aggressive on the A& Low E bends...I sacrafice highE bends doing this, but have always replaced those with slides.

 

I tried "pushing" for a while when I started playing (in '74) and just couldn't get the hang of it for some reason, then I tried "pulling" and it was as natural as breathing to me.

Maybe it's because i'm a "retrained" lefty that was made to do everything righty in school? I dunno........

[Versatile]

I've stayed with 9's on my Strat...enjoying the light, easy playing feel

 

10's on my Texan Tele for country twang

 

10's on my Esquire, but very tempted to go for 9's next time for easier bends and Beck-ability

 

9's on my Gordon Smith Tele with the most amazing flat, fast neck

 

V

 

[cookieman15061]

You guys use strings??!!

[Searcy]

Actually.. I can't relate to all these wimps and their 12's I use barbed wire.

[Notes_Norton]

I use 9s on my Parker DF (Fender scale) and am happy.

 

I don't have any macho reason to go to heavier strings. I like the ability to use a light touch on the lighter strings, I play faster and cleaner that way.

 

In the second year of my guitar playing, I tried 10s and couldn't hear the difference, so I figured why sacrifice a little speed for something that is supposed to be better, but that I can't hear?

 

I'd suggest, use whatever is most comfortable to your hands, and don't worry about anything else, unless you can hear the difference.

 

Notes

[Searcy]

The first thing I noticed about a SG with the 9's was how much of a dream it was to play up past the 12th fret with the lighter strings. Bending is so much better with the light stuff.

[damian]

I like the feel of 9's on a 25.5 scale tuned to standard pitch. I use 10's on 24.75 scale tuned standard pitch which pretty much evens them out. Then depending on the tuning I will go to 11's for half or hole step down. I just try to maintain a consistent feel so one guitar isn't totally out of whack with the rest concerning string tension...

 

Same here....

[Namvet]

I pretty much go with what came on the guitar. 10s on the Les Paul, 9s on the Strat. I did change to Brite Wire 11s on my acoustic/electric. Makes it a whole lot easier to play.