Guitar strings
 

I was reading an article by roger mayer a while back and he was saying that strings make a bigger difference on your tone than pickups do. I don't know if this is true but it's coming from a credible source for sure.

So, which strings do y'all use?

You do know that there are primarily 4 guitar string manufacturers, and the all the rest are sub-divisions and/or licensed by one of the four?

That said I go with my endorsement of DR's! They cost a bit more but they are GODLYKE!

Elixer >>> All other string brands.

None of the other coated string companies do it properly. They coat the wire. Elixer coats a complated string. They last for-EVER. They also feel pretty similar to D'addario's, so they're a nice smooth playing feel.

Thanks for the info. I was also talking about string size as well. What sizes do y'all use?

Size doesn't matter! :beer:
Personally, when I used to tour I used .11's now retired and home I stick with .10's

I have guitars with everything between 9s and 12s.

On electric, I prefer 11s. They're meaty and bluesy without being impossible to bend, or muddy. For acoustic I like 12s, just because they're done me fine for years and my particular guitar gets on really well with that tension.

I have the thinner strings on some guitars either for crazy shred tapping, or because some of the bridges don't have a lot of spring tension.

I guess experimenting is the only real way to find out what you like. Nothing has stood out to me and said "I love this strings". I think ive only tries nines and tens. I guess I'll get some elevens

Elixir Extra Lights.....I love everything about them!

http://www.drstrings.com/sites/defau...cus-Miller.jpg
I just started using the Marcus Miller "Fat Beams" 5 string Mediums. I used to use the heaviest strings I could find, but I do a lot of tapping now, so I had to go with something lighter.

So many people playin' dem light strings.


















Pussies.

I'm a D'Addario only kind of guy. One of these days I might try Elixir's but I've yet to be disappointed on either guitar or bass. I've tried Ernie Ball strings a few times as well and found they popped too easily.

For bass I'm all about the D'Addario Chromes, regular gauge, the ribbon wound style provides a really smooth touch to your fingers and a nice subtlety to your tone. For guitar it's mostly .10s, except for the guitar I keep tuned down to C which gets .13s

Guitar Strings Affect Tone
 

Finding a string that suits you, your guitar, your style and gives you the sound you want is a bit of a journey.

There are a lot of different guitar strings out there (Just take a look at guitarbitz.com's guitar strings page, we have 11 pages of guitar strings).
Just make sure that when you replace them you opt for the correct strings for your type of guitar.

Electric strings for electric guitars, acoustic strings for acoustic guitar, classical nylon strings for classical guitars and bass strings for bass guitars.

For Acoustic guitars, choose between Phosphor Bronze which give a mellow, rounded tone, or 80/20 Bronze which gives bright, crisp tones.

The gauge of the strings is related to the thinnest string. Gauge 12, aka 0.012, aka 12 thousandths of an inch, is the standard found on most acoustic guitars. Heavier gauge strings (e.g. 13, 14, etc) are harder to play as they have more tension but give more bass tones and volume. Lighter gauge strings (e.g. 11, 10, 9, etc) have less tension and therefore easier to play, but have more treble tones and less volume.

Try the different manufacturers D'Addario, Martin, Elixir, even Ernie Ball. They all make their strings slightly differently so will all produce slightly different tones.


For electric guitars, choose between the different string materials:
Pure Nickel will give soft, mellow tones and feel smooth to the touch;
Stainless Steel will give sharp, powerful tones but feel rough to the touch;
Nickel Plated Steel is a combination and gives the best of both with almost the sharp powerful tones of steel but with a smooth feel.

Again, try different gauges (lighter gauges give you more treble tones and are easier to play, heavier gauges give more powerful bass tones but are hearder to play). Or look at a hybrid set, light treble strings for easy bends with heavy bass strings for that power and bass.

There is a lot more to guitar strings than first meets the eye, there is a lot of science behind them nowadays, for example the shape of the core wire on wound strings, should it be round, square, hexagonal, etc, etc.

Just try a few different strings from different manufacturers and see which you like the best.


Now, shall we start a debate on the science of plectrums, they are just as complicated as guitar strings and they can give quite a difference in tone to your playing, but perhaps thats for another post.

What the actual crap?

Notsureifheretoadvertiseortoactuallybehelpfulwhatt hehellisgoingon

Nice spam, now what actual guitar strings do you use on your actual guitar(s)?

D'Addario 10's for some 20-30 years now.

Depending on my guitar I use different strings.

On the Les Paul I find D'addario gauge 10 work best.

On my strat, gauge 9 fender bullets give the best sound.

On my martin acoustic, as i dont play it that often i use elixir gauge 12 phosphor bronze nanoweb.

and on my encore strat copy (my first guitar that I have had for years) skinny top heavy bottom.

Fender super bullets are the purest throw that with a single coil pickup

elixir are decent for beginners or d'addarios are pretty decent

EJ 16s for my acoustic always.

Whatever strikes my mood for electrics...especially depending on what I need to play and/or what tone I'm trying to achieve.

Elixir Extra Lights Are Great... But expensive...
i personally used to play on dulop it was awsome... so

thers not much of a diffrance just take care of ur guitar and she will be kind to you too )

Roto strings (love the extra E string!:yeah:)

i use Gibson strings - they're relatively cheap and somehow "twangy"

acoustic - bronze .11s

electric - steel-coiled .9s (i'm a bit of a shredder)

use Gibson, instant C&W

D'Addario are good especially phosphorus wound.

Eddie Van Halen also used to play with a metal pick and supposedly boiled his strings to give them a different tone.....people will do some crazy **** just try to get a different sound. Honestly, when I was figuring out what kind of strings I liked, I tried a bunch, as well as different string gauges, and eventually fell into using both Elixer's and Dean Markley Blue Steel's, both gauged at .10. I play a very wide variety of styles, and the strings sound great for everything. Ive also found that playing .10's seems (to me) to be the perfect string gauge. When playing in dropped tunings / alternate tunings ( D standard, C standard), the thicker gauge helps keep some nice tone, and when playing in standard, the .10s might not bend AS far as .9's, but they will bend as far as is practically needed, and will also help you develop stronger fingers.

Just my thoughts

Yeah I like 9's for bending, but I know what you mean about the nice tone of the thicker guage - personal preference.