Hi guys,

I have a strange question, I have a late 90's powerhouse Strat and the specs say to use
.009 to .042 strings. If I use .008 would it cause the string to sound dead or muffled when playing through the amp. E threw B are fine, just the .008?

Think I might be going crazy

Huh?!?! You say E and B are fine...are you using the .008 as a G string?

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Sounds like you have a bridge problem, or a bad string. Check the bridge, and replace the string. There is going to be less downward pressure on the bridge saddle with a .008 than with a .009. I never had a guitar that played well with .008's, but I heard a rumor Billy G with ZZTop plays 8's. I use 10's myself on all my guitars.

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The design of each element should be thought out in order to be easy to make and easy to repair.
Leo Fender

I've been using 8-38s exclusively for 40 years and have always managed to get really heavy tone from them.Don't fall for the old line that light strings are light on tone. Billy Gibbons,Tony Iommi,Brian May,Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon used the lightest of gauges but all got the heaviest of tones.There must be a problem with your nut or bridge saddle to give you that problem or it could quite simply be a dead string as I've opened packs with as many as 3 dead strings.

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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.

As I told the OP, "Sounds like you have a bridge problem, or a bad string." I didn't see the line in my advice anywhere that said "Don't fall for the old line that light strings are light on tone". I talked about the downward pressure of the string being less on 8's than 9's and that I have never owned a guitar that played well with 8's. Doesn't mean they don't exist. I used 9's for 27 years before I made the switch to 10's.

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The design of each element should be thought out in order to be easy to make and easy to repair.
Leo Fender

Thank you all for the advice as I don't have enough knowledge myself to figure out the problem. I did however change the string and put on another .008, but still the same problem. I guess next I might try a .010 and see if that helps with downward pressure. If the problem is still there I guess it might be the nut or saddle, but I,m curious as to what can cause this in a nut or saddle, just for my own knowledge, thank you all again.

Frank

Does the string sound muffled only when played open, or does it do it when fretted as well? If it only does it on open notes, it is likely the nut. If it does it everywhere on the neck, check the bridge and the pickups. Your pickup height could need tweaking.

thanks, it happens everywhere on the fretboard. But its that same on all pickup patterns, so could it be all the pickups? Sounds now like its a bridge problem, better take it to a pro I guess.