I changed my strings a few months ago, might be time. Wound G has been on my radar for my semi. As BB said about heavy strings “Why you wanna work so hard?”
For me 9-46. I agree with you about g and b strings. With modern pickups typical g and b are ok but with some vintage sounding pickups sometimes I change them to 15 and 12 respectively. That's concerning sound,tension wise I don't mind either.
That whole SRV bridge cable thing really did an entire generation of guitar players a disservice. Once you're used to .009s for a while, try going to .008s and experience even more nuance, control and harmonic quality. Virtuoso violinists set up their violins for the minimum string pressure. A good lesson for us. Just a tip from me, try Optima, Pyramid, and/or Thomastik-Infeld strings. Tha kind of extreme quality is worth the extra price.
Definitely plan to try 8s at some point. I do pick a little bit on the hard side, so I feel like they may go sharp a little bit, but worth trying for sure!
@@andrewclarkeguitar As you know, using lighter strings means re-adjusting your playing to a lighter, more sensitive touch. This gives you better control and adds nuance such as when doing micro-tonic bends and subtle vibrato. You can virtually effortlessly make full step bends and more, pre-bends (ghost bends), vibrato during and/or at the top of a bend, double-stop bends. Everything that can be done with a string is easier when the strings are not fighting you. Speed can be increased when your fingers are doing less work to make each note. Hammering on and sliding is also easier when there is less string pressure. Playing hard on light strings doesn't work and is not necessary. You can get better tone with a lighter touch. Many players have tried lighter strings but did not alter their playing and hit them too hard. Sure enough, they didn't sound very good, and they gave up on them right away. Like with all good things, some time is required to get used to lighter strings, but it's worth it.
Went from .010s to .007s a couple years ago and will never go back. Some of my guitars have .008s and a few still have .007s and definitely makes a difference in my playing. The brand of string has a big impact. Ernie Ball .008s feel like .009s. Can use them on my shorter scale guitars, but even then I prefer the Dunlop Reverend Willys. Oddly I had more issues with strings breaking when I played .010s. Haven't broken a string on the light gauge strings.
Also, coated strings feel different than uncoated. The coated feel heavier. 9s on coated feels like 10s uncoated. 10s coated feels like 11s uncoated and so on. I always use 9s elixir. But when i tried 9s of other brand, its a bit too light for me
My main reason for using heavier strings is that I tend to mess up more when playing faster licks with bends with 9s or 10s. However, I do have to use a lot more force to get those full bends with 11s, which make them less expressive, as you touched on. It's a trade-off I guess. Might try 10s next time.
It depends on the guitar. My Squier jaguar lives when I use the skinny top/heavy bottom 010-052. Because it resonates. I don’t get that with other gauges. My strats have 10’s and I’ve them. However my Paul has 09’s on it.
Commented before I got to the end. yeah I would NYXL over SJ if I am being just a HAIR cheaper (usually don't have to pay shipping or can get local vs their price PLUS shipping fees) If I could get stringjoys local though it would be a different story OR if I needed 3 of the same sets at a time lol
@@andrewclarkeguitar i cant fond a solution to low string buzz other than thick strings. Less gauge gets too slack and floppy. (Due to wholetone drop) 🤷🏻♂️ I did put some 11s on my strat thanks to this vid Eb. Its pretty good still a little floppy on the low Eb
@@TRLgoodvibesdotcom Ah yeah, that makes sense. With lower tunings you won't be able to get away with such light strings. Your best bet is just to look for the right balance between playability and tension.
So every jazz player with their flatwound 12s has no dynamics and nuance to their playing? Dan Pantlansky with his hybrid 11/12 sets? SRV? No. I think you need to listen to some Julien Lage. And that Rick Beato video was so full of flaws, not to mention youtube compression, and ignoring feel. It's ok if you like 9s, use what works for you, but don't present them as OBJECTIVELY better, because it's simply not true. Advantages of heavier strings: tighter more precise feel, better intonation, tuning stability, better sustain, durability, higher magnetic output allowing for lowering the pickups which also helps with all of the above. Dan Pantlansky explains all this in a great short video about Strats.
ruclips.net/video/Al3tRlzOREg/видео.html Hear it straight from The Reverend himself ... Billy Gibbons uses 7s nowadays after B.B. King questioned him when they played a show together and swapped guitars for once and Billy had heavier strings on it. "Why you working so hard?". Brian May also plays 7s or 8s, and nobody can say that these 3 guys don't have amazing tone, right?
I changed my strings a few months ago, might be time. Wound G has been on my radar for my semi. As BB said about heavy strings “Why you wanna work so hard?”
Definitely thinking of putting a wound G on my Fano to help with tuning. Might be a bit of an adjustment though
@@andrewclarkeguitar Dragao makes a 9 Gauge string set w/ a 16 Gauge Wound G
For me 9-46. I agree with you about g and b strings. With modern pickups typical g and b are ok but with some vintage sounding pickups sometimes I change them to 15 and 12 respectively.
That's concerning sound,tension wise I don't mind either.
I would suggest changing those pickups.
That whole SRV bridge cable thing really did an entire generation of guitar players a disservice.
Once you're used to .009s for a while, try going to .008s and experience even more nuance, control and harmonic quality. Virtuoso violinists set up their violins for the minimum string pressure. A good lesson for us.
Just a tip from me, try Optima, Pyramid, and/or Thomastik-Infeld strings. Tha kind of extreme quality is worth the extra price.
Definitely plan to try 8s at some point. I do pick a little bit on the hard side, so I feel like they may go sharp a little bit, but worth trying for sure!
@@andrewclarkeguitar As you know, using lighter strings means re-adjusting your playing to a lighter, more sensitive touch. This gives you better control and adds nuance such as when doing micro-tonic bends and subtle vibrato. You can virtually effortlessly make full step bends and more, pre-bends (ghost bends), vibrato during and/or at the top of a bend, double-stop bends. Everything that can be done with a string is easier when the strings are not fighting you.
Speed can be increased when your fingers are doing less work to make each note. Hammering on and sliding is also easier when there is less string pressure.
Playing hard on light strings doesn't work and is not necessary. You can get better tone with a lighter touch. Many players have tried lighter strings but did not alter their playing and hit them too hard. Sure enough, they didn't sound very good, and they gave up on them right away.
Like with all good things, some time is required to get used to lighter strings, but it's worth it.
9-42 have been home base for me for a few years now.
Good choice :)
Went from .010s to .007s a couple years ago and will never go back. Some of my guitars have .008s and a few still have .007s and definitely makes a difference in my playing. The brand of string has a big impact. Ernie Ball .008s feel like .009s. Can use them on my shorter scale guitars, but even then I prefer the Dunlop Reverend Willys. Oddly I had more issues with strings breaking when I played .010s. Haven't broken a string on the light gauge strings.
Also, coated strings feel different than uncoated. The coated feel heavier. 9s on coated feels like 10s uncoated. 10s coated feels like 11s uncoated and so on. I always use 9s elixir. But when i tried 9s of other brand, its a bit too light for me
That’s a great point! I can’t seem to like coated on electric for some reason. But love em on my acoustic!
My main reason for using heavier strings is that I tend to mess up more when playing faster licks with bends with 9s or 10s. However, I do have to use a lot more force to get those full bends with 11s, which make them less expressive, as you touched on. It's a trade-off I guess. Might try 10s next time.
That totally makes sense. At the end of the day, it's a preference thing. I just found that in my own playing it gave me some cool advantages.
The first time I tried 8s I struggled with pitch a lot. Took a while to get it under control.
The better I get at picking the thinner the strings I can use
Very interesting. I can definitely see how that would happen.
It depends on the guitar. My Squier jaguar lives when I use the skinny top/heavy bottom 010-052. Because it resonates. I don’t get that with other gauges. My strats have 10’s and I’ve them. However my Paul has 09’s on it.
Yup! Can definitely understand that.
I switched to NYXL 9s and never looked back. Longevity, tone, has everything i need. Easier to play and bend and staus in tune..
Andrew Clarke
Lighter strings work great on Guitars w/ longer scale lengths.
Lighter strings are also great for Musicians who have an injury in their fretting hand.
Commented before I got to the end. yeah I would NYXL over SJ if I am being just a HAIR cheaper (usually don't have to pay shipping or can get local vs their price PLUS shipping fees) If I could get stringjoys local though it would be a different story OR if I needed 3 of the same sets at a time lol
Great point! It can be a bit of a pain getting them out to Canada (where I live) as well with duties and stuff.
I used to play 11.s cause I thought I'll break them with my steel pick. Turns out nah, 9.5 /10 can take the beating well enough.
I play in DGCFAD with 14s
Oh wow, that's thick. Probably sounds sick though.
@@andrewclarkeguitar i cant fond a solution to low string buzz other than thick strings. Less gauge gets too slack and floppy. (Due to wholetone drop) 🤷🏻♂️
I did put some 11s on my strat thanks to this vid Eb. Its pretty good still a little floppy on the low Eb
@@TRLgoodvibesdotcom Ah yeah, that makes sense. With lower tunings you won't be able to get away with such light strings. Your best bet is just to look for the right balance between playability and tension.
BB., Angus, Billy, etc. cannot be wrong. 😉
So every jazz player with their flatwound 12s has no dynamics and nuance to their playing? Dan Pantlansky with his hybrid 11/12 sets? SRV? No. I think you need to listen to some Julien Lage.
And that Rick Beato video was so full of flaws, not to mention youtube compression, and ignoring feel.
It's ok if you like 9s, use what works for you, but don't present them as OBJECTIVELY better, because it's simply not true.
Advantages of heavier strings: tighter more precise feel, better intonation, tuning stability, better sustain, durability, higher magnetic output allowing for lowering the pickups which also helps with all of the above. Dan Pantlansky explains all this in a great short video about Strats.
Oh yeah, played 9s for 35 years. Various brands and occasional experiments with heavier, but nothing lasting.
9s are where it’s at 😎
ruclips.net/video/Al3tRlzOREg/видео.html
Hear it straight from The Reverend himself ...
Billy Gibbons uses 7s nowadays after B.B. King questioned him when they played a show together and swapped guitars for once and Billy had heavier strings on it. "Why you working so hard?". Brian May also plays 7s or 8s, and nobody can say that these 3 guys don't have amazing tone, right?
So true!