9’s or 10’s for Strat? (2024)

For me it's Hybrid Slinky 9-46 - IME slightly lighter tends to sound a little better, more overtones vs. fundamentals - with a lighter touch.
Of course it's all out the window if you overplay them with a heavy hand. Or something like that - YMMV.

Interesting in-depth analysis here:

Sparque said:

Somewhere in between always works for me.

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Same here! I use the Mega Slinky 10.5-48, down from the 12-56 I was using. Playing is more enjoyable now lol.

After 20 years on 10s and even 11s for a bit, I went back to 9s recently. Old age. Too many years of playing a lot of guitar.

I liked the tone on 10s better. I play clean a lot. If you play with distortion, you won't really notice a dif. 11s sounded great but by the end of a gig, my hands were wore out.

9s are easier to bend but I noticed with 10s my vibrato with bends smoothed out in a way I like. Fortunately, I have kept that since going back to 9s, but I have to stay aware. I didn't have any issues bending 10s until recently.

On string breaking - 9s, I could get two gigs out of, if I pushed it past that, I'd break the high E. Pain, as I was changing strings 2-3 times a week, but I also notice they would be going dead by then anyway. Didn't matter what guitar. I'm not crazy hard on them, but I also am not delicate with them. I rarely break 10s.

Experiment, play what you like, really.

Bob the builder said:

I'm using 10-52
Started on 9's
tried 11's and got major hand cramps.

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I’ve found that 10-52 is the perfect string gauge for a strat. I tried 8s once… that lasted all of 15 minutes.

uncle daddy said:

I just tried 9s out on my hardtail, and it wouldn't really stay in tune that well, especially holding chords up the dusty end. I swapped them for 10s and thing are much better. I have 6105 style frets, so I think squeezing the neck was pushing the lighter strings to the fretboard.

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I prefer 10's, post above... but if the 9's won't stay in tune, that's likely a setup issue with whatever components you have installed. I mean, it's possible that your neck just needs the tension of 10's to stay in position - wood is wood and it varies. But, I would be surprised if it couldn't be tuned out.

Mega-Gazz said:

I know someone is gonna say personal preference, but I guess I don’t know enough to have one yet… I’m gonna get my strat set up (first setup, relatively new guitar), and I was thinking of moving up to 10s (11s?) from the 9s that came with it. Two reasons: (a) I find that with 9s the high e string is so light I don’t feel it sometimes, and (b) I tried to teach myself bending using Justin Guitar’s videos and broke a string. While that may be normal, I figure having 10s (11s?) would reduce the frequency of breaking?

On the other hand, I’ve heard that 9s are nice for bending because they’re easier/require less force to bend, and that they’re easier on the fingers for learning chords.

Any thoughts or advice?

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From a technical standpoint, I go with 10s on Strats and Tele's, 9s on L.P. It's the mechanics of the build. The 2 Fenders have a longer scale length, which equates to a bigger elliptical motion of the string. Therefor, you can use a heavier string. For that reason, 9s on a Les Paul work out great. No sore fingers on either.

dvto2 said:

So many posts here already I don't have time to go through them all to see if this has been posted before but watching Rick Beato's video on string size was a game changer for me. I was working my way up from 10's, to 11's to 12's, wanting to be like "Stevie" (haha) when I saw this and how 9's, and maybe even 8's will give a clearer tone. I am using 9's on most of my guitars now. Not to mention that they are much easier to bend and let's face it, legato is much of what's appealing about electric guitar. Rick is a very accomplished session artist and educator. The video is well worth watching.

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This video (and the one by Rhett Shull that followed) made me go back to 9s after years of 10s, but...
It depends on a lot of factors and no one can explain it better than Pete Thorn (not sure if someone has already posted it). It is all part of your formula: SRV used mid scooped amps with tubescreamers (that cut out bass) and had a very heavy right hand and low output pickups - of course a heavier gauge was better for him, with his setup and way of playing.
I decided that with my thin fingers and wrists I am good with 9s even if I tune a half step down!
As John Mayer also put it once: anything you can bend!

For years I used 10-50 and 11-52 GHS Nickel Rockers, which are higher tension being semi-flatwound - in years past I had gone as high as 12-56.

Recently I have been downsizing to reduce pain in my hands and elbow - been playing standard 10-46 over the past year.

Had a revelation labor day weekend when I got to try out Yngwie's personal guitars - strung up with 8-46's and played like racecars - but more importantly, they sounded good too - even acoustically.

As a result, I have some bulk string sets on order from Juststrings.com - .008,.011,.014,.022,.032,.046 for 1/2 of my guitars and .009,.012,.016,.024,.034,.048 for my others - for my Gibson scale guitars I'm keeping the 10-46 for now.

rbspql said:

This video (and the one by Rhett Shull that followed) made me go back to 9s after years of 10s, but...
It depends on a lot of factors and no one can explain it better than Pete Thorn (not sure if someone has already posted it). It is all part of your formula: SRV used mid scooped amps with tubescreamers (that cut out bass) and had a very heavy right hand and low output pickups - of course a heavier gauge was better for him, with his setup and way of playing.
I decided that with my thin fingers and wrists I am good with 9s even if I tune a half step down!
As John Mayer also put it once: anything you can bend!

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See Also

9’s or 10’s for Strat?

The other thing about Stevie's strings is everyone talks about how they were "13-58" as if the whole set was heavy, but in reality, his set ranged from between and .011 and .013 on the high E, then .015, .019, .028, .038, .058 - so his middle strings were more like a medium set - it was really just the low E that was gargantuan.

kiedff2 said:

I may have to try these. The reason I go for 9.5 guage is 9s pitch drift too much playing hard on the lower strings (and are waaay to flappy for downtuning) and 10s make my poor bending technique (single fingers and rarely my strongest ones) too difficult

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These strings will do the job then for the reasons you stated. Same reasons I had. I've used these strings for over 12 years now and never looked back.........with one exception a Jazzmaster. Needed the hybrid 10-11 set.

I played 9s for about a decade. The RC Stratocaster came with Fender 10s, and when I changed them I put on 9s and the difference was very noticeable. So I bought a supply of Fender strings, 10s, and switched back.

It's just a matter of preference, what you hear and how comfortable it is. I play clean so I think the heavier strings sound better.

Jimi Lightning said:

9’s with a few exceptions that have 8’s.Not a fan of 10’s and have run 9’s pretty much exclusively.
Always used GHS Boomers but in the last couple years none of the shops carry them so have been trying other brands.
Not to derail but has anyone in other parts of the world found a lack of this brand???

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I've seen ebb and flow. I used to be able to get them everywhere (USA). Then they seemed out of favor for a few years. Back in favor until the pandemic. Spotty now but seem to be coming back again.

9.5!

It's not just about the left hand. In general, the heavier the string, the more stable, and the easier it is to pick fast. That's what I've found for me, at least.

I know this thread is 3 years old.....but if you're breaking a 9 while bending, going to a higher gauge won't help you....unless....there's something biting your string in two. Going to an 8 on the top will help you from breaking while bending, providing that there is nothing biting or chewing your string at the post or saddle.

BB King used a set of Gibson 10's with an 8 on top. After telling that to Billy Gibbons, Billy found a set of 7's and hasn't looked back. I'm sure we've all seen the video by now.

Rutnuttz said:

BB King used a set of Gibson 10's with an 8 on top. After telling that to Billy Gibbons, Billy found a set of 7's and hasn't looked back. I'm sure we've all seen the video by now.

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No, BB King played heavy bottom 10s. Billy Gibbons is not a reliable source of information about BB's string choice. There is a series of interviews BB did, he talks about his strings in detail. He was particular about his gauge, and he considered his 10s to be "very light."

Gibbons told that story as he was launching his own string brand. As far as I know, those strings (Rev. Willies) were the first to use a 0.007 string.

Mega-Gazz said:

I know someone is gonna say personal preference, but I guess I don’t know enough to have one yet… I’m gonna get my strat set up (first setup, relatively new guitar), and I was thinking of moving up to 10s (11s?) from the 9s that came with it. Two reasons: (a) I find that with 9s the high e string is so light I don’t feel it sometimes, and (b) I tried to teach myself bending using Justin Guitar’s videos and broke a string. While that may be normal, I figure having 10s (11s?) would reduce the frequency of breaking?

On the other hand, I’ve heard that 9s are nice for bending because they’re easier/require less force to bend, and that they’re easier on the fingers for learning chords.

Any thoughts or advice?

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.011’s are the best for me.