In the recent issue of Guitar Player, the one with Jeff Beck on the cover, there's an interview with Jeff where he talks about meeting Hendrix and hoping to impress him with his guitar set up with heavy gauge strings, 12's I believe. To paraphrase Jeff, Hendrix thought they were too light and compared them to rubber bands.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

He ain't a man anymore.....

Just to add a little more to the .13 string issue... Those strings very well might ruin a guitar.... I was thinking about an American Standard Guitar last night and found this on Musicians Friend...

"Sienna Sunburst, Rosewood Fretboard 889406222533 American Standard Stratocaster Electric Guitar - Used
Condition 3 - Good (what's this?)

This instrument is in good working... more

This instrument is in good working condition but has some incidental cosmetic issues that come with a guitar that's been played. It performs just as well as a Condition 1 or Condition 2 guitar. A great guitar if you're looking for performance and value and not as concerned with cosmetics. Specifically, this guitar was returned with .13 gauge strings on it and a warped neck. It was restored to factory specs but it would not play cleanly with low action, so it has been reset just a little higher than stock. less

$735.99"

Also, SRV played Eb tuning which takes some of the tension off... Some heavy metal type guitars also work in double flat tuning, also easy the tension off the neck.... Basically, Strats are not intended to handle such a heavy gauge. SRV could because his number 1 had a U shaped profile, much thicker then guitars of today...

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Thank you! I just couldn't believe it when someone said he used 13's to compensate for what was it? Weaker Fender amps or something? What a load of bullshit. He was able to use 13's because he played drop-tuned. Some of the crap you read on these forums these days. I swear it's getting worse every year. Because it's manly ... sheesh!

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

That's true when his first album came out....that was a 33 1/3,folks....I started playing along and thought what's wrong,oh yeah,he's tuned down.
It wasn't the first time and it wasn't because folks like him and Hendrix were manly....as a matter of fact,Hendrix didn't come off in a macho way even though he had been in the 101st Airborne,and making parachute jumps is a lot more manly than using heavy guitar strings.

As a former 101st Airborne Division member (B Co 501st Signal Battaltion, Communications Contingency Platoon, Team November 76!) I can agree some of what I done doesn't beat out using .13 strings...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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Total nonsense. Unless you're playing slide or rhythm guitar the tone gains are minimal. It's your hands, do what you want. If you don't widen the nut nut slots, the setup and tone suffers. Most people who use 13's and play lead a lot tune down a half step.

Absolute codswallop. If it gives such a great sound why does all SRV's guitar sounds sound wonky, thin and weak. Gibbons on the other hand uses .008's and sounds tremendous, as does BB King. It's a complete utter myth that heavy strings equal a good thick tone. It must have been dreamt up by the goon who came out with the remove your backplate nonsense.

If that size is comfortable for you play em. If not drop down a gauge or two. Clapton uses 9-42's, Hendrix used 10-38's. Your never going to hear anyone acheive a better strat sound than them pair.

You'll do a lot better to get a beefy tone by not scooping all the middle out of your eq and ditching those midscooped grandma wound pickups.

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No no and no

Well that's a first.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

I love all of this "Infallible Web Dogma"
Where is Martian when you need him?

+1 The whole scooped mid thing cracks me up. If you don't want to cut a mix and get buried, scoop the mids. You can crank an amp all day but if you scoop the mids, you'll never be heard. Actually tuning down a half step will make you sound a little fatter. More so than fat strings. Knowing how your rigs eq works is even a better idea.

+2!!!!

BB King doesn't use .008's. He has a hybrid set that uses some strings from the .10 and others going up to .12.... Just wanted to point that out...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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One thing I've always fought with Strats was the ice pick treble,to me that gets lost in the mix also...but by trying different pickups and amps I've gotten it alot better to my ears.
String guages do not fatten it up in my experience....ymmv.

I actually use a Boss GE-7 to boost the low's. I don't scoop the mids and I drop the high's just a little. I don't need the pedal for my humbucker Les Paul.

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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