Who here uses light gauge strings on their SG?

[Daveso]

Yeah- I need to find a good Luthier… bought my guitars from Sweetwater and I'm not super confident in GCs. Just to have someone give it a good look over. Sweetwater is great IMO but they don't "optimize" each guitar they send out.. just check it for problems.

 

[Biddlin]

... Sweetwater is great IMO but they don't "optimize" each guitar they send out.. just check it for problems.

Both of the guitars I've received from AMS could have been gigged out of the box. I have no idea whether they "optimize" them or if I just got lucky.
;>)/

 

[dbb]

Even when playing bass guitar, the lightest possible touch needed to yield the desired result is my aim....

The wide range of gauges and materials available is remarkable to someone who bought Black Diamond

God, I remember Black Diamond strings, also available at hardware stores and other odd places in the distant past.

 

[ypnos]

i use .011,but i tune my guitar in D, all chords are tuned one step down!!!
light gauge string fell sooo light to me

 

[Tobacco Worm]

I remember buying Black Diamonds at a feed store in town off the rez and also in the drug store. Ahhhhhh, those were the days???

 

[dbb]

I remember buying Black Diamonds at a feed store in town off the rez and also in the drug store. Ahhhhhh, those were the days???

Feed store! They sold Black Diamond and the even older Bell Brand strings at feed stores and at a lot of bait and tackle shops in rural South Louisiana when I was a kid.

 

[Heket]

I don't know how to tell if my nut is too high.

As David said, check the intonation on the lower frets, when fretting gently. I had nightmares with my Strat when I couldn't figure out why changing the saddles wasn't helping my intonation when I realised that it was going sharp all the way from fret 1. A little bit of advice (from here!) and a little bit of filing later and it improved. That was my project guitar though, so I didn't mind so much if it went a bit off.

I do have a very strong fretting hand from decades of playing string bass as a teen and young adult and have remained an electric bassist to this day, so what you may call a steel cable on guitar is nothing compared to a bass string; but it's all about getting just the right amount of pressure on the strings, no more, no less, than is needed to do what you want.

Biddlin, you play bass....you know how big those telephone cables are!

Hmm, now I've started playing bass maybe I can go back to 10s again? I currently use 9.5s. My bass has super slinkies, 45-100, which are thicker than guitar strings but not the thickest bass strings you can buy by a long shot. Oddly I find bass strings easier to fret than guitar strings. Wonder why that is

 

[58pit]

Dean Markley Blue Steel 9's here.

 

[angusyoung jr.]

I use .008s on my SG. Mostly because I broke one of my fingers and it never really recovered to be strong enough to bend.

.007 on my Strat.

Biddlin, where do you even FIND .007s?!?

 

[KoA]

I've got hybrid Slinkies on mine (9-46) because they were out of 9's at the neighborhood store and I couldn't wait, and I like them a lot.

 

[Biddlin]

I use .008s on my SG. Mostly because I broke one of my fingers and it never really recovered to be strong enough to bend.

Biddlin, where do you even FIND .007s?!?

Dunlop Reverend Willy's Electric Guitar String Set - Extra Light | Musician's Friend

Dunlop introduces REV. WILLY'S MEXICAN LOTTERY BRAND (UK)
;>)/

 

[58pit]

Dunlop Reverend Willy's Electric Guitar String Set - Extra Light | Musician's Friend

Dunlop introduces REV. WILLY'S MEXICAN LOTTERY BRAND (UK)
;>)/

If you win the Mexican Lottery , they pay you in strings. COOL!

 

[58pit]

if you win the mexican lottery , they pay you in strings. Cool!

and they are safe too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dcwave]

10-52s here. GHS and EBs
Tried 9s, tried a regular set of 10s... It just felt wrong.

My basses are all big fat cables 55-120. When I played bass professionally, I was always breaking my E string. So I get the 5 string set and toss the G out.

 

[mdubya]

I have a light touch.



Seriously, I preferred 10's when I was younger and newer at playing. They provided more stability and I liked the resistance.

Switched to 9's a few years back. Much easier on the ol' fingers and they allow me to play longer and more often. I seriously prefer the tone, too.

I used to run down to one cow. Now I walk down to them all. :)

 

[dbb]

Hmm, now I've started playing bass maybe I can go back to 10s again? I currently use 9.5s.
....Oddly I find bass strings easier to fret than guitar strings. Wonder why that is

I found 9.5's to be so close to 10's that there is just a wee bit of difference.

The bass strings are a wider target and don't feel like cheesecutter wire.

If you win the Mexican Lottery , they pay you in strings. COOL!

And it's safe and cheap.

I never understood the "safe" part.

 

[Rusty Chops]

OK, dragging this thread up from the bin to share a revelation:

I just put 0.009" - 0.042" strings on my 50th Anniversary (Pete Townsend) SG w P-90's (I just brought it back from a store today where I had been trying to sell it on consignment), and it has absolutely MADE this guitar into a tone machine!

I had been bummed because my LP Special with P-90's sounded so much better than the SG with P-90's.

Going down from 10 - 46 sets (nickel wrap GHS Rockers) to nickel plated steel wrap D'addarios has hit the mark. Now it at last sounds as good as my LP Special (my favorite sounding guitar, apart from the hum) which has the 10's and sounds fine as-is.

Previously, after noticing this thread last week some time I put some 9's on my LP Standard and couldn't really feel or hear much difference.

This guitar either really likes nickel plated steel sets, OR this gauge string at THIS setup height (more experiments to come)!

An old dog has learned a new trick, and kept me from trying to peddle (again) my perfectly fine (but previously kind of disappointing sounding) White SG:

 

[alans sg]

Hi after using 10's on all my guitars for the last 30 odd years i might have to hand in my man card to Wade , i've been having trouble with my left arm for a number of years now ( i slipped a disc in my neck and it's never been the same) and the 10's are starting to cause my arm to cramp up , i play lead in a covers band , Hendrix , cream , Gallagher , Zz top ect
So this morning i put a set of 9's on my sg400 custom and one of my epi Lps , i only played for about 15 mins but i noticed the difference , no tensing fore arm , i'll see how it goes for a few weeks and if it works i'll probably swap all my guits over to 9's ,
I might get special dispensation to keep my man card seeing as it's on medical grounds , cheers
Alan

 

[Black]

I've switched back and forth between 9s and 10s for years and finally settled with 10s because they're more comfortable.

 

[Tobacco Worm]

I can't play anything heavier than .005" to .022" on this monster!

Disclaimer: Not being rude, just having fun.:)