I used Fender 150 SLs (8-38)for years but switched over 20 yrs ago to D'Addario 8-38s because they were brighter and held their brightness longer.If you don't like too much brightness Fender 150 SLs or XLs(9-42)may work for you.I bend a lot and far so the light gauge allows for very deep bends.

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'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.

@guitslinger: Currently on Daddarios .09, very soft, too soft, and very bright. I´m looking for an alternative 4 tha .10 DR´s, lookin for thick strings that could be softer.

I used Fender 150SLs for years and switched to D'Addario 8-38s over 20 yrs ago.I find D'Addarios to be brighter,more flexible,stay in tune longer,and hold their new sound longer than others I've tried.You may find Fender 150 SLs or XLs(9-42)more to your liking as they are not quite as bright as D'Addarios but still let that Strat quack and sparkle show through.

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'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.

OOPs made a boo boo,my previous post didn't show up on my computer,it's been temperamental lately.

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'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.

I currently use the GHS Rockers Lo-Tune set. On my SRV strat I really didn't notice much of a tone change with different gauges, the Lo-Tunes just feel the best to me... however there was a significant tone difference between a set of 10's and the Lo-Tunes on my '78 Strat, the Low Tune set really makes her sing.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

I use D'Addario .10s (regular light gauge or light-top-heavy-bottom when I can find them) on my semi-hollow, and .11s (jazz/blues rock) on my Strat.

Still using the original .010's - Fender Original Bullets. Bought a pack of same for first string change. Hoping to worry more about playing the chords right and less about what tones I'm getting.

I'll get to the point of being able to finesse my setup some day, but I'm not there yet and I don't want to chase gremlins. Does that make sense to anyone besides me?

I haven't had that experience...if I want SRV tone, I change my attack and picking style, likewise for the Dire Straits tone. It doesn't matter what gauge string or type of axe (my Strat, Tele or G&L F-100) I'm using...

BTW, I use D'Addario XL .009-.042

I used to use GHS Boomers, but the last three sets of them that I used were really rough, almost "rusty" feeling; the D'Addarios were smoother feeling.

I also used to wrestle heavier gauges (usually .011s, but as thick as .012s on occasion!), with the logic of "heavier string, heavier tone"...then I read an interview with Billy Gibbons (one of my favorite guitarists of all time, and nobody can deny HIS heavy-osity!); he stated that he uses gauges as light as .008s!

BFG said he had previously used really heavy gauges (with the same reasoning as I used), but the King himself (BB, not Evv-vis) said, "If you want it thicker, there's a knob that says 'tone' on your amp...turn it toward the bass end."

I switched over to .009s, and was amazed at how easy it was to play...and I could get those squanky little pinch harmonics without beating the tar out of myself...pushed back the carpal tunnel problems at least two decades.

...and I didn't lose a bit of the girth, because BB was right; tweak that bass knob just a touch, and it comes right back!

PS--I keep the action extremely low on all my guitars, even though I play a lot of slide; I just have to adjust my left hand attack a bit.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

That's why I don't concern myself with tone and string gauge on electrics. There's so much going on at the other end of the guitar cable that can be used to modify the sound coming out of the speakers.

When I received my Tele last week, I strung it up with 9s and that's the first time in a long time I've put 9s in a 25.5" scale guitar. I did this because I knew that having lighter gauge strings would make it easier for me to pull off pedal steel country licks and it's worked out as predicted.

Makes sense to me.

Not only Gibbons, but my idol Mr Frank Zappa and other rockers use light gauges, , but.........those masters play Gisbson Sound with Marshall Overdrive/Distortion, nothing to do with clean Strat Tone, which is a place where string gauges and pickup positions do make a diff in sound more noticeably if you have a good ear.

Once you start with effects, racks and distortion pedals, then string gauges make less difference, with humbuckers and good dist the thicker the gauge, the louder it is and period, i don´t hear a real tonal change, as I do with Strats played clean. (Just my perception)

I agree it´s best to focus on playing correctly, the right chords, etc, than on the string gauge affecting tone but, one thing, very important to me is being comfortable with my instrument, feeling and sounding it right, when I do, I can focus on playing and sounding, more effectively, and i feel strings are primordial in that sense, because it´s what u play, It´s what u touch, it´s what resonates, how can it not affect tone and everything?

I use the GHS Nickel Rockers 10's, not because I think they sound so much better, but because I like their feel. They feel "grippier" to me, and when I tried them the first time I immediately liked them. I had, up to that point, pretty much tried everything out there. I found a single, lone pack of GHS Nickel Rockers all alone on the bottom shelf, pack torn and looked like it had set there for a year. Now that I purchased it, the store went and bought a bunch more.

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1999 Fender American Standard Stratocaster, Lake Placid Blue (with a little age this color gets beautiful)
Rio Grande DCSS Pickups
2007 Fender CyberTwin SE

I thought the exact same thing. I used Boomers for a while but when they are new they feel very slick and slip when bending but the Rockers feel like they're been broken in and you can get a good grip on them.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!