I play mostly 9's an 10's and I like flatwounds.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Sorry, not clear there. Making ref. to a general frequently heard statement.

Well, my Strat came set up with 9s, so that's what I use on that one. My Tele and Jazzmaster came set up with 10s, so that's what I use on them.

But now that I know this...


...I'm switchin' to 12s!

_________________
I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

That also happens if you wear hai karate aftershave on your genitals, grow a Magnum PI moustache and fill the router holes of your guitar body with fly agarick mushroom pulp.

_________________
No no and no

I've used nothing but 8-38s since the early 70s and 10-46 on my acoustics. I just like the flexability and bendability of 8s(I went to the Buddy Guy school of string bending lol).String gauge has nothing to do with manliness or virility although I've had guys say I use wimp strings but I just laugh it off because I look at them the same way I see guys with their trucks with tractor tires or 130 decibel exhaust systems just trying to make up for inadequacies in other departments.

_________________
'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

For me, I always splash on some Brut before practice or a gig...

Bet thats some show to see. The guitarist doing "The dance of the burning nether region" onstaqe and play guitar at the same time.

_________________
No no and no

[quote="nikininja"]I find the whole concept of tone change through string gauge a complete joke. The feel of the guitar changes, tone changes not one iota.

Well mate. Here we go down again a road well traveled. don't we.

To summarize where we have been before, a nod again to the 'company store', 10's were the strings with which Fender equipped guitars built during what we call the early vintage period...50's/60's. Therefore, anything they build, either factory, CS, or Masterbuilt with specs of that era will be fitted with 10's. 9's are fitted to the more contemporary instruments. The company describes them, in their own words, as a more 'generic' gauge, more easily played by the masses. If you have any doubts, go argue with management. The info came directly from consumer affairs on a thread dealing with the same issue, well over a year ago.

In the maddening pursuit of tone, I would bet that more than half the idol worshippers out there would smear their strings with guano from the Galapagos if some guitar god attributed their tone to such. (Witness the SRV madness referred to in these discussions.)

Bottom line is....what ever works for you.....in your hands, and what ever you think you hear that's pleasant to your ear.

Niki makes an engineering point which is well worth considering, and might be the reason for the hybrid sets being used by some artists and others yet unknown.

Anyone know what Bonamassa strings his JB Gibson's with? Notwithstanding, he appears to use that bridge pickup exclusively. That, and the enormity of his signal chain, has likely more to do with his tone, than the gauge of his strings. Ditto for SRV, with all that Cesar Diaz engineering.

Doc.

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"

if noting else....at least now i know how to pick up the ladies.....

Bigger strings just may be for overcompensating short comings elsewhere.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

[quote="nikininja"]. Note the unwound G string sounds slightly muted or square waved until you get down to a .014. I'm convinced that string shouldn't be unwound unless you go to a .007" gauge.

If memory is correct, that unwound 3rd string gig is Jimmy Burton's who, back in the day, waaaaay back, I'm afraid to say, substituted a banjo string for the traditionally wound 3rd in order to get a sound he was looking for.

What the gauge of that string was, no se Jose, but just like guano wrap, it started a ball rolling that hasn't stopped yet.

Doc.

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"

Whilst making use of your new found knowledge, be alert to exactly what you're picking up, and what string you're pulling as you pluck your magic twanger.

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"

I play .11 on both of my guitars. I'm just not enough of a man yet to get to .12s yet >_>

_________________
I traded my car in for a microphone.

So it was Jim Burton, I always attributed it to EC. Now I know who to blame. I'm stuck at the point of never playing open E minor primarily because of the bad open G. I cant abide the notion of bending a .022 wound G though. Its driving me absolutely crazy. Its like the hanging pictureframe that you can never get level. When you do get it level you see the door jamb is out of plumb.

I wonder whats causing it? Compare a open G to a open B on any guitar the B rings out better.

_________________
No no and no

[I wonder whats causing it? Compare a open G to a open B on any guitar the B rings out better.[/quote]

Do you observe that regardless of pickup design? i.e. staggered polepieces, flat, hotrails, Lace sensors, quarter pounders and the lot.

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"