@@jakeseitz problem with that set is that the A string is a .48 gauge. It kinda just sucks cause for stuff like drop A#, the tension on the low A# is arguably fine at like 16 pounds, whereas the F is terrible at 25 pounds of tension, which is horrible to play in any context. And if you go down to drop A or drop G# to get better tension on that string, the lowest string's tension as well as the other ones just go to hell. Ernie ball strings just arent optimal for drop tuning imo, same with 90% of other big brand name strings.
I've been using Ernie Ball Power slinky for both 6 and 7 string between E standard, Eb, and D. Beefy Slknkys for C# standard. I have Mammoth Slinkys for C standard. The Mammoth gauge were made originally for Ryan "Fluff" Bruce, I think.
EB or D'addario 10-52 here…went for D standard almost 3 years now, planning to move into Drop C, tho guitar tech is suggesting me adding a 54 to the lower. I see lot’s going 11-56 but in my experience C with a 56 gets really tight. Really like light feel 👌🏽
Anything over 52 or 54 is way too thick and stiff. I like the 48, 50 or 52s. I like a little floppiness to the top string. try staying with the 10-52 before you switch it up
I use 11-56 on Gibson scale in D standard-drop C & sometimes drop the 56 to A.. not really ideal but I get 3 tunings out of 1 guitar. Pretty tight in D but works for me..
I've always preferred lighter gauge strings, just feels better to play on in my opinion especially for lead stuff and, from my experience, it brightens the tone a bit compared to heavier gauge strings. I use .10-.48 sets for Drop C on 25.5 inch scale guitars, and .10-.56 on my 26.5 scale 7 string tuned to Drop G. Really light, I know, but it just feels and sounds better to me and I'm still able to keep the action super low without buzzing.
Sounds like you would really love some of he newer slinky sets that are hybrids of hybrid-sets. Their turbo slinky 9.5-46 and ultra slinky 10-48 are my go-to sets for Eb and D-std tunings. There are several of these newer sets that are just perfect for those who like very light plains and medium-light wounds.
I tend to use Dunlop Heavy Core 10-60's and DR DDT's in 10-60. I find 10-60 to be perfect for heavy palm muting on a Strat, SG or Les Paul for rhythm without feeling fatigued when soloing in dropped tunings.
For me I can grab those pinches on light or heavy but those Zakk Wylde screaming pinch harmonics on the bottom strings sound way better on thick strings . That 60 in drop c really screams with the pinches. I've been going lighter lately tho. Appreciate the vid brother man.
I specifically built a set for my 25.5-27.5" multiscale 8 string for extremely evenly dispersed tension, if you use a normal 8 string set like 10-74 on a multiscale some of the thinner wound strings have nearly double the tension of the rest, nearly 30lb. My custom set is 8, 11, 14, 22, 30, 42, 56, 80 and is perfect for standard and drop E
I love drop A# In my opinion it's one if the hardest tunings to find good gauges for, and stringjoy's 12-64 set is absolutely perfect for it, from low A# to high C at a 25.5" scale it gives you tensions of 17-20-20-15-14-14, which is perfect for me. Stringjoy and The String Source just have the perfect sets for drop tuning; might I add the string source already has sets preconfigured for a bunch of alternate tunings such as dadgad, Drop C with a low G, drop B with a low F#, and much more.
Bro you read my mind with this video. I was just thinking about this after thinking about the video you made about why you don’t need a baritone and then you upload this lol
I love lighter gauges for 25.5 scale as I feel it is the easiest for me. I like 10-52 for drop c, 11-54 for drop B, 12-56 for A#, and whatever the mammoth is for A. I just go down the beefy lines of Ernie ball.
I normally use a drop tune pedal to get lower than Drop B, but the strings I use for standard down to Drop B are 11-52s so Ernie Ball Burly Slinky or the Daddario NYXL Medium Top Heavy Bottom. At first I just went with a string gauge that got me everything from Standard to Drop A, where I built a custom set that went 11, 15, 19, 36, 46, 58.
I'm still experimenting with various string brands and gauges - I'm definitely someone who plays hard so 10-46 for anything below standard would be a mess for me lol I actually like pretty much all of the string brands I've tried, though Ernie Ball, DR, Blacksmith, SIT, GHS and Stringjoy are probably the ones I've dug the most. The heaviest I've gone is 13-65 for Drop A on a 25.5-scale, that works well for me so far
I’ve been using the Stringjoy baritone lights 12-58 with a wound third for Drop A on my 27” Jericho Fusion Evertune and Drop B on my Neil Westfall LTD. The wound third is better for me being more of a rhythm player. My PRS that I tune to standard and half step I use Ernie ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom 10-52. I love pinch harmonics also and they are definitely interesting on heavy gauge strings but I kind of dig how it’s a bit different tone wise. I’ve also found that with playing heavier strings for so long if I try to play a light set I fret a little too hard and knock my notes slightly out of tune.
I've been using the same stings for over 30 years I guess I'm a creature of habit I've never really tried any other strings , I use GHS 9s or 10s standard tuning 🎸🤘🎸🤘
I tune to Drop B and Drop A#(sometimes D Standard), and I always like to have a little more meaty and thick feel on my strings, while still having some slack, because I focus a lot on bending in my riffs, so I go with D'addario XL 12-54s, and they're amazing for what I do
I also really like lighter gauge strings! I’d rather go a little slinkier and more careful with my playing just to get that brighter tone and “pop”. Stringjoy’s custom set maker is a godsend for my purposes too
Im surprised you can make a .46 work in C#. I have to have a 54 at a bare minimum for C#, preferably even heavier. I don't like the sound of the low strings going sharp and then flat when I attack them. I like ordering singles of the daddario NYXL strings on strings by mail so that they'll last nice and long and I can get my custom gauges. 9.5-12-16-30-42-56 has been working well for me lately for standard and drop d but also sometimes d standard and drop c on the hard tail 25.5" mark Holcomb PRS. I have a PRS 7 string that is only 25" hard tail and to reach drop A I have to use a .85. it's a nice guitar though it just needs some thick ass strings. Stringjoy is great for getting any gauge string you can think of so on that guitar I'm using 9.5-12.5-16-32-46-62-85 custom stringjoys which is really bottom heavy but it works and sounds good even in drop A with some Seymour duncan black winter pickups I put in there. Would definitely recommend a longer scale length for a 7 string though.
Just tried a set of 10-60 Dunlop heavycore in C standard bit too Heavy for my taste. I prefer d'addario 10-56 for drop C but often have to buy a 7 string set to make it. Stupid music stores have 300 packs of 10-46 and only a handful of heavier stuff that usually comes with 13s which I hate.
I used to always play light top heavy bottom with a 52 or 54 but now I just play regular 9s I usually play standard or down a half step , back in high school my band played a few Korn and Slipknot songs and me and the other guitarist used a 7 string set on our second guitar dropping the high e completely off . I don’t remember the gauge of that set but I liked it because it felt proportional like a regular set and the tension was similar to standard. I would have thought you were playing some bass strings as low as you go . You must have a lighter touch than me. Without some decent tension tension on the ropes I’m pulling everything out of tune. Back when I started playing in the 90s we didn’t have the super tight high gain amps and I felt like I had to be really aggressive with my right hand and I still have a heavy string attack almost like drumming on the wrapped strings lol .
Question for ya brother! Would I be able to properly intonate a guitar in C Standard/Drop A# tuning on a 27” Fender Baritone Conversion Neck on a Strat? The people I’ve seen do the conversion online never get the low string intonated properly as they can’t move the saddle back enough- but they’re always tuning to B Standard/Drop A- and I’m wondering if the ½ step will make the difference. I’ve been checking out String Joy recently as well (wish they had a Canadian distributor)- they say that I can get an E Standard/25.5” Neck type tension on a 27” Neck/C Standard with only a .058 gauge low C - does that sound legit? Cheers.
A 27" would be perfect for C standard/ Drop A# - aswell as it is perfect for B standard/drop A. Any guitartech would could set your saddle to perfection with that request. The DR Strings Drop-Down Tuning DDT-13 would be perfect for C standard/ Drop A# on a 27"
Nice vid man, i like use heavy strings because i make a lot of machine gun playing and donwpicking but here is my question. What happends if a want put a .75 low A# string on a 6 string guitar with 25.5 scale for drop A#?
10-46 standard
10-48 E flat
11-56 Drop C
12-60 Drop B
13-64 Standard A (27.5” scale)
For me 11 60 drop c
Any recommendations for Dropped C# on a Bass VI 30inch scale?
I'm a big fan of stringjoy as well man, never tried custom sets but their standard sets are pretty NOICE!! Great video buddy 🤘🤙
Hey Ray, since you prefer a 56 for drop B I’d recommend the D’Addario 11-56 set.
Hey thanks so much!
ernie hall also makes a 12-62 for low tunings!
@@jakeseitz problem with that set is that the A string is a .48 gauge. It kinda just sucks cause for stuff like drop A#, the tension on the low A# is arguably fine at like 16 pounds, whereas the F is terrible at 25 pounds of tension, which is horrible to play in any context. And if you go down to drop A or drop G# to get better tension on that string, the lowest string's tension as well as the other ones just go to hell. Ernie ball strings just arent optimal for drop tuning imo, same with 90% of other big brand name strings.
The green Ernie ball cobalts are great too 56-12 been using them for drop B for over a decade
I've been using Ernie Ball Power slinky for both 6 and 7 string between E standard, Eb, and D. Beefy Slknkys for C# standard. I have Mammoth Slinkys for C standard.
The Mammoth gauge were made originally for Ryan "Fluff" Bruce, I think.
Love stringjoy allowed me to really get exactly what I needed
I actually do wonder when I watch people play, what gauge strngs they are using. Good idea bro
EB or D'addario 10-52 here…went for D standard almost 3 years now, planning to move into Drop C, tho guitar tech is suggesting me adding a 54 to the lower. I see lot’s going 11-56 but in my experience C with a 56 gets really tight. Really like light feel 👌🏽
Anything over 52 or 54 is way too thick and stiff. I like the 48, 50 or 52s. I like a little floppiness to the top string. try staying with the 10-52 before you switch it up
I use 11-56 on Gibson scale in D standard-drop C & sometimes drop the 56 to A.. not really ideal but I get 3 tunings out of 1 guitar. Pretty tight in D but works for me..
Same- I use the EB 10-52 for standard D and drop C myself and very happy with it.
I've always preferred lighter gauge strings, just feels better to play on in my opinion especially for lead stuff and, from my experience, it brightens the tone a bit compared to heavier gauge strings. I use .10-.48 sets for Drop C on 25.5 inch scale guitars, and .10-.56 on my 26.5 scale 7 string tuned to Drop G. Really light, I know, but it just feels and sounds better to me and I'm still able to keep the action super low without buzzing.
Sounds like you would really love some of he newer slinky sets that are hybrids of hybrid-sets. Their turbo slinky 9.5-46 and ultra slinky 10-48 are my go-to sets for Eb and D-std tunings. There are several of these newer sets that are just perfect for those who like very light plains and medium-light wounds.
Dude this actually helped me with pinch harmonics! Drop C# on the 10-46s makes it easy! Thanks!
Hell yeah Stringjoy! I've used them for years now for everything and I love them and love the sound. Their balanced and husky sets feel really good.
I tend to use Dunlop Heavy Core 10-60's and DR DDT's in 10-60. I find 10-60 to be perfect for heavy palm muting on a Strat, SG or Les Paul for rhythm without feeling fatigued when soloing in dropped tunings.
For me I can grab those pinches on light or heavy but those Zakk Wylde screaming pinch harmonics on the bottom strings sound way better on thick strings . That 60 in drop c really screams with the pinches. I've been going lighter lately tho. Appreciate the vid brother man.
I totally custom gauge my Stringjoys.. been with them for a few yrs now... wont play any other string...👍🤘
Thank you for finally answering that question, Ray! 🤘🎸
I specifically built a set for my 25.5-27.5" multiscale 8 string for extremely evenly dispersed tension, if you use a normal 8 string set like 10-74 on a multiscale some of the thinner wound strings have nearly double the tension of the rest, nearly 30lb. My custom set is 8, 11, 14, 22, 30, 42, 56, 80 and is perfect for standard and drop E
I use the DR DDT 13-60s on my LTD Viper 24 3/4 scale for drop c.
Dang! That's pretty thick.
I love drop A# In my opinion it's one if the hardest tunings to find good gauges for, and stringjoy's 12-64 set is absolutely perfect for it, from low A# to high C at a 25.5" scale it gives you tensions of 17-20-20-15-14-14, which is perfect for me. Stringjoy and The String Source just have the perfect sets for drop tuning; might I add the string source already has sets preconfigured for a bunch of alternate tunings such as dadgad, Drop C with a low G, drop B with a low F#, and much more.
Bro you read my mind with this video. I was just thinking about this after thinking about the video you made about why you don’t need a baritone and then you upload this lol
I was wondering if you ever considered this type of video. Thanks Ray!
Man I’m such a string nerd haha. Great vid as always Ray!
I love lighter gauges for 25.5 scale as I feel it is the easiest for me. I like 10-52 for drop c, 11-54 for drop B, 12-56 for A#, and whatever the mammoth is for A. I just go down the beefy lines of Ernie ball.
STRINGJOY FOR THE WIN. Haven’t used anything else (aside from the occasional Elixir set on my strat) since 2018
I normally use a drop tune pedal to get lower than Drop B, but the strings I use for standard down to Drop B are 11-52s so Ernie Ball Burly Slinky or the Daddario NYXL Medium Top Heavy Bottom. At first I just went with a string gauge that got me everything from Standard to Drop A, where I built a custom set that went 11, 15, 19, 36, 46, 58.
I'm still experimenting with various string brands and gauges - I'm definitely someone who plays hard so 10-46 for anything below standard would be a mess for me lol
I actually like pretty much all of the string brands I've tried, though Ernie Ball, DR, Blacksmith, SIT, GHS and Stringjoy are probably the ones I've dug the most. The heaviest I've gone is 13-65 for Drop A on a 25.5-scale, that works well for me so far
e standard 10-46
e flat 11-48
drop c 11-54
drop b 12-62
drop A 13 62 ( 27 inch scale)
I’ve been using the Stringjoy baritone lights 12-58 with a wound third for Drop A on my 27” Jericho Fusion Evertune and Drop B on my Neil Westfall LTD. The wound third is better for me being more of a rhythm player. My PRS that I tune to standard and half step I use Ernie ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom 10-52. I love pinch harmonics also and they are definitely interesting on heavy gauge strings but I kind of dig how it’s a bit different tone wise. I’ve also found that with playing heavier strings for so long if I try to play a light set I fret a little too hard and knock my notes slightly out of tune.
I love my EB Burlys and Skinny Top Heavy Bottoms. I play Drop C and Drop B
Do you think 11-52 or 10-52 would be good for C# standard On a Jackson Scale Length?
the madlad made a video on his most frequently asked question
The 72-11 set I used on my 7 was killer for g# standard. 25.5 inch scsle.
12-70 drop B 25,5 scale ibanez.. sound and feel tight for hard rifing and soloing 😁
D standard to drop C I use D'Addario 10-52
I've been using the same stings for over 30 years I guess I'm a creature of habit I've never really tried any other strings , I use GHS 9s or 10s standard tuning 🎸🤘🎸🤘
I tune to Drop B and Drop A#(sometimes D Standard), and I always like to have a little more meaty and thick feel on my strings, while still having some slack, because I focus a lot on bending in my riffs, so I go with D'addario XL 12-54s, and they're amazing for what I do
Love string joy custom sets for all my basses
For Drop B and B# I use the Power Slinky 7 set and use the 14 - 58.
I also really like lighter gauge strings! I’d rather go a little slinkier and more careful with my playing just to get that brighter tone and “pop”. Stringjoy’s custom set maker is a godsend for my purposes too
I use 11-52 with a 56 low e for drop c and d standard, a 56 in d is kinda tight but it chugs nearly nice and the top strings are still nice for lead
Try Curt mangan strings bro, right up there with string joy, the only brands I use
Roto-Sound baby, all day.
I use 12-56 drop d half step down in a 25.5
I totally have a different guage for everything
i use the slinky baritones... a# for a 25an a half inch scale... there has not been anything better for me
Im surprised you can make a .46 work in C#. I have to have a 54 at a bare minimum for C#, preferably even heavier. I don't like the sound of the low strings going sharp and then flat when I attack them.
I like ordering singles of the daddario NYXL strings on strings by mail so that they'll last nice and long and I can get my custom gauges. 9.5-12-16-30-42-56 has been working well for me lately for standard and drop d but also sometimes d standard and drop c on the hard tail 25.5" mark Holcomb PRS.
I have a PRS 7 string that is only 25" hard tail and to reach drop A I have to use a .85. it's a nice guitar though it just needs some thick ass strings. Stringjoy is great for getting any gauge string you can think of so on that guitar I'm using 9.5-12.5-16-32-46-62-85 custom stringjoys which is really bottom heavy but it works and sounds good even in drop A with some Seymour duncan black winter pickups I put in there. Would definitely recommend a longer scale length for a 7 string though.
🤏 Pinch harmonics just aren’t the same with out some bending or vibrato action
What about a les paul with 13-72? 🤔 Standard A?
What do you guys think would be the best gauges for Drop A?
Just tried a set of 10-60 Dunlop heavycore in C standard bit too Heavy for my taste. I prefer d'addario 10-56 for drop C but often have to buy a 7 string set to make it. Stupid music stores have 300 packs of 10-46 and only a handful of heavier stuff that usually comes with 13s which I hate.
Amazon
Which scale is your guitar?
I used to always play light top heavy bottom with a 52 or 54 but now I just play regular 9s I usually play standard or down a half step , back in high school my band played a few Korn and Slipknot songs and me and the other guitarist used a 7 string set on our second guitar dropping the high e completely off . I don’t remember the gauge of that set but I liked it because it felt proportional like a regular set and the tension was similar to standard. I would have thought you were playing some bass strings as low as you go . You must have a lighter touch than me. Without some decent tension tension on the ropes I’m pulling everything out of tune. Back when I started playing in the 90s we didn’t have the super tight high gain amps and I felt like I had to be really aggressive with my right hand and I still have a heavy string attack almost like drumming on the wrapped strings lol .
Shit I use an 80 gauge for my Drop G guitar and a 72 for my Drop A guitar, both guitars are baritone guitars
Did Edward Van Halen really boil his strings ? Why ?
Dang I use 10-49 for E standard 😅
Question for ya brother! Would I be able to properly intonate a guitar in C Standard/Drop A# tuning on a 27” Fender Baritone Conversion Neck on a Strat? The people I’ve seen do the conversion online never get the low string intonated properly as they can’t move the saddle back enough- but they’re always tuning to B Standard/Drop A- and I’m wondering if the ½ step will make the difference.
I’ve been checking out String Joy recently as well (wish they had a Canadian distributor)- they say that I can get an E Standard/25.5” Neck type tension on a 27” Neck/C Standard with only a .058 gauge low C - does that sound legit? Cheers.
A 27" would be perfect for C standard/ Drop A# - aswell as it is perfect for B standard/drop A. Any guitartech would could set your saddle to perfection with that request. The DR Strings Drop-Down Tuning DDT-13 would be perfect for C standard/ Drop A# on a 27"
Cheers! Thanks Brother! I Ended up taking a chance and it's been great! @@user-jf5rq3yh4n
Nice vid man, i like use heavy strings because i make a lot of machine gun playing and donwpicking but here is my question. What happends if a want put a .75 low A# string on a 6 string guitar with 25.5 scale for drop A#?
Pretty floppy...
@@jonborrmann3124 0.75 on low
Dude how do u keep Drop C# intonated? I use 10-52 just for Standard!
Do they have a 7 string set of the EB for drop F??
10 to 46 for drop C#? I dont get it. that's what I use for E standard. cant be the same for C# what the?? that's plain weird.
some people do things differently than you. That's the beauty of art.