Jyates
Strat-Talk Member
- Feb 4, 2019
- 85
- Eugene Oregon
- Sep 10, 2021
- #101
I played 9s for years, bought a pack of 10’s by mistake and love them. I am a heavy handed player so the 10’s make things less squishy plus I think they should fuller. It is a personal choice, many pros play 9’s and some 11’s. Find what works for your style and enjoy
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Scott Baxendale
Dr. Stratster
Silver Member
- May 20, 2020
- 11,165
- Sante Fe, NM
- Sep 10, 2021
- #102
I like .010’s on a Strat and .011’s on a Tele.
jad547
New Member!
- May 12, 2019
- 4
- United States
- Sep 10, 2021
- #103
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!
C
CountCoyote
New Member!
- Jul 31, 2021
- 1
- San Diego
- Sep 10, 2021
- #104
Split the difference, I like 9.5s. I play Strat or Tele 90% of time. But if you're switching between Fender scale length and Gibson scale length frequently, the the 9.5s on your Fender will have the same slinkability as 10s on your Gibson.
SatinNeck81
Strat-Talker
- Jun 6, 2020
- 207
- Upstate NY
- Sep 10, 2021
- #105
I just had my strat set up to be tuned down a 1/2 step, and they changed the strings to 10s. Not liking the 10s. I'd rather have the light strings be super slinky as I can control my bends well and part of the fun in de-tuning a bit is the ability to do monster bends. With the 10s, and the floating trem, its just feels like it did when I had 9s, but with thicker strings that sound fine, but don't feel as good to me. Floating trems are a balancing act, which makes sense. Tuning a hardtail guitar down a 1/2 step with 10s feels great to me, but with strats I prefer 9s and I'll probably have him adjust unless someone knows an easy fix.
S
SalvorHardin
Senior Stratmaster
- Dec 1, 2020
- 1,263
- Windsor Ontario
- Sep 10, 2021
- #106
CB91710 said:
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.
What do you use on the jazz box? 13-59 for me.
H
HUD1
New Member!
- Aug 21, 2017
- 7
- Tuscaloosa
- Sep 10, 2021
- #107
Don’t forget to tune down half a tone (E flat) and bend bend bend!
D
dvto2
Strat-Talk Member
- Feb 21, 2018
- 29
- CT, USA
- Sep 10, 2021
- #108
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.
T
Tremdaddy
Strat-Talker
- Sep 18, 2020
- 322
- North Hollywood, California
- Sep 10, 2021
- #109
Depending on your neck radius and fret size 10's will stay in tune better if you're using a standard floating 3 spring trem setup. If the high strings feel too stiff for bending you can always use a hybrid set - .009 thru .046. A couple of my Strats work better with that, the other 5 seem good with .010's. That's with regular nickel silver frets, if you go to stainless steel frets then .010's will feel pretty slinky.
SeBRoCs
New Member!
- Apr 17, 2012
- 7
- Earth
- Sep 10, 2021
- #110
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
amstratnut
Peace thru Music.
- Dec 1, 2009
- 23,822
- My house.
- Sep 10, 2021
- #111
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?
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.
bldwndp
Strat-Talker
- Jul 29, 2013
- 144
- California
- Sep 10, 2021
- #112
I've switched all of my electric guitars to 9s over the past year. Easier on my arthritis for sure, but I also find that it makes me be a bit lighter touch and release my death grip to avoid pushing everything sharp. So I like how it makes me relax and take it easy in my fretting style.
dirocyn
Most Honored Senior Member
- Jan 20, 2018
- 9,860
- Murfreesboro, TN
- Sep 10, 2021
- #113
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.
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.
D
dspellman
Senior Stratmaster
- Mar 24, 2013
- 1,963
- Los Angeles
- Sep 10, 2021
- #114
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?
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.
CB91710
No GAS shortage here
- Feb 24, 2019
- 11,771
- SoCal
- Sep 10, 2021
- #115
SalvorHardin said:
What do you use on the jazz box? 13-59 for me.
Chromes in 11.
I love the tone and feel of heavier strings, but my fingers just can't tolerate them anymore.
Strangher11
Strat-Talk Member
- Jul 6, 2014
- 76
- carlsbad ca
- Sep 10, 2021
- #116
Pick up another strat and try both, I have ....
A
AxlOz
New Member!
- Jan 21, 2018
- 8
- Sydney, Australia
- Sep 10, 2021
- #117
11's all the way with strats. Actually I play 11's on teles and LP as well. I find the heavier guage just makes it jangle bigger. I'm a bit of a rhythmic/percussive player though, I like to have a 'heated discussion' with my guitars when I play them. 11's means they can talk back real good
Esg877
Strat-Talker
- Sep 27, 2015
- 393
- Brazil
- Sep 10, 2021
- #118
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.
Amen.
3bolt79
Dr. Stratster
- Oct 16, 2018
- 19,402
- Oregon
- Sep 10, 2021
- #119
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.
B
bmikultyak
Strat-Talker
- Feb 28, 2020
- 195
- NJ
- Sep 10, 2021
- #120
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?
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.