9’s or 10’s for Strat? (2024)

Try and let your fingers and you playing style decide. Which gauge seems to be easier to play on, move around the fret board, bends, hammer ons, pull offs, etc.? which gauge lets you do more creative playing that inspires you to play more? Don't forget about playing style while deciding.

Trial and error. You may want to start with a lighter gauge, 9's, with the correct setup (important) and see how it works and move up from there. Good luck on this!

CB91710 said:

See Also

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Personal preference

I used to run 10's on everything, but as I got older, my fingers became more sensitive, so I dropped to 9s.
But on the shorter Gibson scale, 9s tend to get too "floppy" when tuned to DADGAD or drop-D, so I went back up to 10s.

Now I run hybrid 9-46 on everything except the jazz box.

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What do you use on the jazz box? 13-59 for me.

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.

I use 9s. I like the feel of them. B.B. said once " you're working to hard" referring to a heavier string gage. Some guitars I have like them and some don't. I still sound like me. Try and experiment, it's the cheapest "up grade" you can do.

Cheers,
Seb

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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See Also

9’s or 10’s for Strat?

My thought is kinda specific. Ymmv.

I find 9s super comfortable but the actual high E is so plinky that I buy packs of individual E 10s and use those instead of the 9 that come in a set. The high E is not the hard one for me to bend.

Kinda specific, I know but, since you mentioned the feel of the high E.....

As far as breaking strings, I rarely do. Have your repair guy look for burrs on your saddles. If those are files down, you should have a reduction in string breakage.

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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My problem with this Beato vid is all about the word "better." Lighter strings tend brighter/thinner/clearer/more brittle, while heavier strings tend darker/thicker/beefier/fuller/richer/more powerful--and his video makes that very clear. But instead of "brighter," he says "better." A moped sounds brighter than a Harley, does that mean a moped sounds better? I don't think so. A piccolo sounds brighter than a tuba, but there is probably room for both in the orchestra. Yes it's possible for the guitar to have too much bass for the mix and it gets muddy and indistinct. Other times the guitar needs to provide a sonic foundation or a wall of distortion. It's all about context.

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?

Click to expand...

I've rarely broken a string, period. OTOH, I do change strings fairly often. Old strings are far more susceptible to breakage, in any gauge.

I use 9's on strats.

SalvorHardin said:

What do you use on the jazz box? 13-59 for me.

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Chromes in 11.
I love the tone and feel of heavier strings, but my fingers just can't tolerate them anymore.

dirocyn said:

Back in Leo's day, 13s were regular strings. Fender didn't offer anything lighter than 13s until 1957 when they started selling flatwound 12s. Fender didn't start selling light strings (meaning 10s) until 1964--the year Leo sold the company.

I have found some guitars dramatically change their sound and body resonance when you change string gauge. Heavier strings tend to produce more body resonance. I have a couple of Gibson-scale guitars that woke up when I switched up to 11s. On a Fender scale, 10s feel about like 11s do on those other guitars--which is part of why I generally prefer 10s on Fenders. Also, I can get a wound G in a set of 10s, which I very much prefer.

If you can't feel 9s and break them too easily, those are too light for you. Go with 10s. You can always switch back later.

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Amen.

I use 10-46 on my 70 and my Vintera 70’s strat, and I use 10-46 on one of my Kramer’s that I have set up for E flat.

On my six Super Strats I use 9-46, and on my LP I use 10-46.

‘Most of my guitars are strung with Ernie Ball Cobalt sets, Including my 7 string with Cobalt 10-60.

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?

Click to expand...

I used 8s way back when I started. Too thin and tinny sounding. It was a cheap guitar though. I since have been playing a 12 string acoustic most of the time and if I use 10s on my electric, I tend to bend strings so I use EB 11s. I also like the more mellow sound of the heavier strings for chords. They ring differently on my solid electric and the even heavier flat wound jazz strings have a totally different sound on a semi hollow Dot Studio. Try them all and decide based on the type of playing you do and the final sound (tone) you want.