Strings

[JJ Rodriguez]

I just ordered a set of strings from Stringjoy to see how those are. I balanced the tensions a bit better than the 9 gauge set of strings I was using from Elixir, got looking at their tensions while coming up with a set and saw this to my horror:



That's a pretty bad balance as far as tensions go. I know balanced tension sets were all the rage years ago on SS, kind of got away from it because it was a bit of a pain in the ass. With the current Elixir shortage I decided to try something new, I had Chris send me 3 sets of Nanoweb 9s and I've only used 1 of them and both of the other sets are useless now since I had to use the high E from both of the other sets and the D from one other.

This is what I'm going to be running with the Stringjoy set I put together:



I know, I know, that's pretty fucking light. I figure the low B I'm using now (well, B flat) is probably only 13 lbs or so of tension given that the Elixir calculation is based on 27" scale tuned standard, and might as well be from a 8 gauge set given how horribly balanced the Elixirs are.

So, upping the tension on the low B slightly, lowering it on the low E, we'll see how that goes.

Anyone else run really light strings? I've created a group for us.

https://www.metalmusicians.org/clever-nonsense/bitch-pickers-not-so-anonymous

[Ken]

Those were the gauges on the Universes when they came out. I can still remember raiding local music stores for their single .052s to be able to change my strings.

I still use those gauges today because, well, I'm old and don't really give a fuck.

[JJ Rodriguez]

Yeah, honestly I wouldn't bother with this if I could get a 9 and 24 in singles, but essentially I've paid at least $60 in strings for 1 set because of what I'm assuming are burrs on my tuners.

I really like coated strings because of how long they last, even if these sound better I'd sacrifice a little bit of tone for the longevity. These would have to sound a metric fuck ton better for me to switch permanently. Can't hurt to try something new though, figured while I was having to specify every string gauge for this set I might as well balance it out. I wonder how long it will take for bending my high E up like 10 whole steps to get old?

[Ken]

I wonder how long it will take for bending my high E up like 10 whole steps to get old?

Oh, don't worry. Between the light gauge and the burrs, that .008 will break long before you get to the pitch you want.

[JJ Rodriguez]

Well this is going on another guitar for when my BKPs come in, so hopefully that won't be an issue. When I go to swap over the other guitar I'll probably do a bit of light filing on the tuner.

[Chris]

I go the other direction with Stringjoy strings (they're on my baritone) but I really like them.

[Naren]

I've never bought Stringjoy strings before, but I have used their tension calculator to check tension before buying strings.

It's actually kind of ironic how I totally did overkill on my 8 string. Back when I bought an 8 string in 2010 or so, my biggest problem was that I couldn't get the low F# to sound good. It was a 26.5" scale 8, which was shorter scale than the 27" scale 7 I had at the time, and I think it came stock with 60 or 62 gauge strings for the F# (plus, buying individual strings was very expensive at the time and difficult to find). So after only owning my 8 for about 2 years or so, I sold it. In early 2020 when I bought my next 8, I wanted to make sure that I didn't have the same issue, so I bought an 8 string with a 28.65" scale and then I put 80 gauge strings for the F#. As a result, the F# sounds fucking amazing. Just mindblowingly awesome. But it results in the irony of me having WAY more tension on the low F# than I have on any other string on my 25.5" scale 7 string or my 27" scale 7 string. It also results in me having more tension on the F# than on several of the other strings on my 28.65" scale 8 string (but not all of them). It doesn't really bother me since it sounds awesome, but it does strike me as kind of funny (and for reference, 80 gauge on a 28.65" scale tuned to F# is 21.1 pounds of tension). It's also ironic because I use a 59 gauge for B on my 25.5" scale 7, but I use a 60 gauge for B on my 28.65" scale 8.

While I do tend to use heavier strings than most metal guitarists, I never really go into the insane heavy stuff. For example, I've used a 10-59 gauge set for my 7s for about 14 years now.

[Nick]

String sets are something they really need to look at, I assume its the same with most other related stuff and "it's like that because it's always been like that" but stuff like no major manufacturers making a set that is actually made for any drop d variant tuning is crazy.

Like for drop d just make a standard set of 10s and replace the 46 with a 52 or 54, I don't need my a string to magically have double the tension just because I'm lowering the e string to d...

[Chris]

I've never bought Stringjoy strings before, but I have used their tension calculator to check tension before buying strings.

It's actually kind of ironic how I totally did overkill on my 8 string. Back when I bought an 8 string in 2010 or so, my biggest problem was that I couldn't get the low F# to sound good. It was a 26.5" scale 8,

This is mostly because low F# never sounds good anyway.

Source: Owned a few 8 strings.

[Naren]

This is mostly because low F# never sounds good anyway.

Source: Owned a few 8 strings.

I think that down to about B or Bb, you can get away with lighter strings and still sound good (though the lower you go, the more careful you have to be with your picking so it doesn't go out of tune - the guitarist in my old band used a 52 for B and it sounded great for him, but was way too floppy for me, so I always used a 58, 59, or 60 -- and I know some bands even use a 50 or 48 for B, which is kind of crazy).

But I think around F#, even though there are some bands out there who can sound good with lighter strings, I honestly can't get it to sound good unless there's a decent amount of tension. With enough tension, though, I think 8 strings can sound pretty sweet (assuming they have decent pickups, that is).

Then again, I was able to get my 7 string baritone down to G with a 59 gauge and it not "sound like a pile of crap" (and that's only half a step above F# and only half an inch longer in scale), so...

[RevDrucifer]

I’ve been getting my bass strings from them because I keep it tuned to CGCG or CGCF. They didn’t blow me away sound wise, but the tension was perfect thanks to that string calculator. It’s not that they sounded bad in any way, I just got a lot more, tonally, out of NYXL’s or DR’s.

Looking forward to getting a baritone this year and I imagine I’ll end up ordering strings from them. For the most, I’m good with the available sets and mainly just use 10-52 NYXL’s because I’m in Drop C 90% of the time. I might try a custom set for my JEM, which I keep in standard….can’t seem to figure out if I prefer 10’s or 9’s and I’ve been curious about those 9.5 sets.

[Iron1]

I think that down to about B or Bb, you can get away with lighter strings and still sound good (though the lower you go, the more careful you have to be with your picking so it doesn't go out of tune - the guitarist in my old band used a 52... -- and I know some bands even use a 50 or 48 for B, which is kind of crazy...

I still just buy D'Addarrios 'cause whenever I get away from them I regret it and go right back. The .54 B string does feel light, can't even imagine using a .48... I was grabbing .62 B singles for a while, but like Ken said above, I'm old and don't care enough to bother anymore.

[Toshiro]

9s aren't that bad; you just need to bump the 11 to 12, and 42 to 46.

[Shawn]

I've always been a D'Addario guy, too....all my guitars have 9s except for my ESP, which has 10s.

I've never had a problem with my F string on my 8 not sounding good, too....

[Naren]

I still just buy D'Addarrios 'cause whenever I get away from them I regret it and go right back. The .54 B string does feel light, can't even imagine using a .48... I was grabbing .62 B singles for a while, but like Ken said above, I'm old and don't care enough to bother anymore.

Same. I've been using D'Addarios exclusively for at least 13 years now, probably more like 14 or 15 years. There are a few other strings that also sound good but that are too expensive (such as Elixir) or that sound good at first but sound crappy pretty quickly (such as Ernie Ball). I think D'Addarios sound and feel the best all the way through. The only guitar I use NYXLs on is my 8 string, and that's mainly for the reasons I described a few posts up about how the 8 string I bought in 2010 (the only Schecter I've ever owned) sounded crappy on the low F#, so when I got my new one, I made sure it had all the chances to make it sound good. I do think that the NYXLs are better than the regular D'Addarios, but not enough to justify putting them on my main 7s (and to be honest, I think some aspects of the sound differences are debatable). I just get the 10-59 D'Addario 7 string set all the time.

[Iron1]

Same. I've been using D'Addarios exclusively for at least 13 years now, probably more like 14 or 15 years. There are a few other strings that also sound good but that are too expensive (such as Elixir) or that sound good at first but sound crappy pretty quickly (such as Ernie Ball). I think D'Addarios sound and feel the best all the way through.

Same, except I've been using them since the mid 90s. Had someone give me a few sets of Ernie Balls right when the Pandemic started and they didn't last 2 weeks. Like ya said, sounded great at first, then terrible quickly thereafter. I honestly remember thinking something was either wrong with my pickup or I'd somehow screwed up my signal chain/presets... then swapped the EBs for my normal D'Addarios and all was right once again.

[Naren]

Same, except I've been using them since the mid 90s. Had someone give me a few sets of Ernie Balls right when the Pandemic started and they didn't last 2 weeks. Like ya said, sounded great at first, then terrible quickly thereafter. I honestly remember thinking something was either wrong with my pickup or I'd somehow screwed up my signal chain/presets... then swapped the EBs for my normal D'Addarios and all was right once again.

Yeah, back before I could buy strings online, I'd sometimes just buy Ernie Ball because it was the only 7 string set in the store, but I learned pretty early on that they do not last long. Especially since my sweat has always been pretty corrosive (though it's nowhere even remotely near as bad as it was, say, 20 years ago when I'd put a pair of new strings on and they'd lose their silvery shine within a few hours).

[Phil]

I used 9-54s in Eb on my 27" 8 string RG and really liked them. I'd buy the 9-54 sets and add a single 74. The 11-16 transition is a bit weird, but otherwise they were relatively even tension.

I normally play 10s or 11s in standard on a regular guitar. The 9s down a half step on 27" felt a bit lighter, but I didn't have a big problem going back and forth.

I've been playing Elixir 10s and 11s for the past 5 years or so and always felt like the low E was a bit floppier than I like. My last string change I tried the D'Addario balanced tension sets and am not minding them so far. I do notice the slightly more even tension if I'm looking for it, but definitely prefer the feel of Elixirs.

Edit: I lied. My Gretch got a D'Addario balanced tension set of 11s. The SG got the EB 10-48s.

[Briansol]

Rhett / rick beato/ some other youtuber did a compare not too long ago of 8s through 12s i think on a variety of guitars.

honestly, the lighter strings sounded better. check it out.

Now, that won't bode well for chugging though, so i think style and playing/attack is a big factor.

You can gilmore all you want on 8s but only Iomoni can chug

[Leon]

Anyone else run really light strings? I've created a group for us.

https://www.metalmusicians.org/cleve...t-so-anonymous

I run 10-52 on a 24.75" neck tuned to Drop Bb, and 8-38 on most other guitars tuned anywhere from E Std to Drop C#.

My guitar setup for slide is probably the heaviest... 10-46 tuned to Open G.

Joined the club

[Leon]

Rhett / rick beato/ some other youtuber did a compare not too long ago of 8s through 12s i think on a variety of guitars.

honestly, the lighter strings sounded better. check it out.

Now, that won't bode well for chugging though, so i think style and playing/attack is a big factor.

You can gilmore all you want on 8s but only Iomoni can chug

That's a bunch of hogwash

Anyone can chug on any gauge of string. You just need to learn to do it properly. Chugging E on a 46 and chugging B on a 46 take really different techniques to get them to sound the same. It just takes time and patience to learn, of which I know most guitar players are already in short supply.

[jacksonplayer]

9-42 on a 25.5" scale is my default now. I'll go up to 9.5 or 10 on 24.75" scale.

It's detuning where things get interesting, or playing clean jazz. I like the Ernie Ball 10-48 set for Drop C, despite being a little slack. 10-44 is nice for clean jazz or fusion on a 24.75" guitar. I'm a non-thrash guy with no interest in bashing the strings, though.

8-38 is still great for legato fusion, but playing chords in tune is a bitch.

[Leon]

Here I am chugging on a 38 dropped to Bb (the rest of the guitar is in Eb). Second half of this "song"...

It was fucking ridiculously flappy, but goddamn did it slap

[Mike]

I still just buy D'Addarrios 'cause whenever I get away from them I regret it and go right back. The .54 B string does feel light, can't even imagine using a .48... I was grabbing .62 B singles for a while, but like Ken said above, I'm old and don't care enough to bother anymore.

I have zero problems with the .54 B string. I had zero problems with the .59 in the 10s set I used for a long time when we were down 1/2 step. It doesn't really seem to matter to me.

I do wonder if Floyd setup would be easier?

[Mike]

Oh, and I run 9s on my 7s in standard and I definitely do not bitchpick. This is worse than the volume knob complaints - learn to pick!