I am the proud new owner of my first Strat. What are the best strings to use? I use 10 to 46 but I was told it was best to use 9 to 42. Just wondering if I can use the heavier gauge. The guitar has been set up by a certified Fender tech. and plays like a dream. If I go to a heavier gauge will this screw it all up?

Thanks,

Kimmo

was it setup for 9's? if so then putting the 10's on there may raise the action a bit. so far as what gauge to use, I would say use 10's if you feel comfortable with them. no one can really tell you what gauge to use, there is no right or wrong answer to that, it is about what feels best.

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Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

i use these in a pure nickel 9.5---awesome strings and a great price

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2011 PRS 25th SAS
2008 Eric Clapton Custom Antigua Strat
2012 PRS Artist Package Studio Special Order

it depends on what music you want to play, for lead wit hlots of bends and runs up and down, the lighter guage strings will be easier, if you are planning on playing rythem or general music the 10's are the way to go, or you could get fancy and use different gauges of strings... ligter G,B,E strings and heavier E,A,D strings give a nice feel... but thats jut me... the lighter strings will be easier to play and easier on your fingers while you might like the chunkier feel of the 10's...

what the strings are made of also contributes to sound... weather you use nickel or stainless is up to your personal preferance...

a good general purpose set of strings would be the 10's...

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blues - its a religion...

It depends on nothing more than what you prefer. Try both.

Your trem may need adjusting if you go to .010's, if it's set to float and the guitar has .009's on it now. If it has .010's on it now with the trem set to float and you put .009's on it, you may have to raise the saddles to get the same string height.
But atleast you'll know which you prefer.
Personaly I use Fender Bullet .010's on everything now, even my Tele and LP copy. I just can't be bothered with buying different strings for different applications and found one string that does everything well.

That.

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Bill

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. More than any other part of your guitar, what strings to use are pretty much down to personal preference.

Brian May used 8's, SRV used 13's - those are 2 extremes of course.

Personally I have used 11's on Fender guitars for a good 5 or 6 years now, but as I said above, that's personal preference and I'm a blues player so find that having to work that little bit harder gives me the feel I'm looking for.

If you're happy with 10's I'd stick with them, your guitar may need setting up properly for them, but then any guitar tech/shop worth his salt would ask what gauge you use before doing a setup, not set the guitar up and then tell you that you should use what they set it up for - is it brand new? I never buy a brand new guitar without getting the shop to set it up for my prefered gauge of strings (and you'd better believe they use the brand I prefer as well). You're their customer and they are there to service your needs.

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How did it sound to you?

You can use any strings you want. I personally use Fender Bullets 10-48 on 2 pod my Strats and Fender Bullets 9-46 on another. If you feel comfortable with minor adjustments you can set it up yourself. With a heavier guage, you may need to adjust the neck relief, re-intonate, and adjust your bridge a little. If you do not feel comfortable with that, buy the strings you want to use and have it professionally set up again.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Thanks everyone. My question has been answered. I will use 10's and make the minor adjustments myself.

Cheers,

Kimmo

Hi Kimmo.

Even switching from 9's to 10's, it is best to have the guitar set-up professionally so it will play it's best.
I do my own, but I have decades of practice at it.

As to strings, I like the D'Addario XL120 in the 9.5 set.

BUT if price is not a problem, the the Optima/Maxima gold string have the best tone I have ever played, I would suggest the 10 set.



Here's a link to get some....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

There 32.95 +4 buck shipping.

Thus the reason I practice with the D'Addario strings.

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Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

£12.50 a set when you buy 3 sets.

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/983-optima_gold_electric_strings

Brings em nearer the DR/Elixir price at $20 odd a set. Rather than $33. Always worth shopping around.

Welcome to Stratdom and the forum Kimmo.String preference is purely subjective.I've been using D'Addarios for many years as I've found that stay in tune and keep their brightness longer than most other brands.I also use 8-38s because I do extreme bending in the Buddy Guy,Albert King,Hendrix vein and I have smaller hands.
Going up one gauge shouldn't affect the intonation if your bridge is decked(flush to the body)and stays that way after changing the strings but otherwise if it's a floating bridge it may well need adjustment to the spring tension and the intonation.

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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.

That certainly is a personal preference,

I've been using Ernie Ball Super Slinky's since the 70's. I've tried a lot of others but seem to go back to the Ball's 9-42. Also use Elixir's on the one's I don't play as much.

It's more better to set up your own stuff...and much easyer than some think.

Everything worked out great. I put on my 10's and I just had to do a minor intonation adjustment. Gave me more bottom end as well. Thanks everyone for all the great advice. This is a great site.

Rock On'

Kimmo

Why mess with a dream?

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!