Hello guys.

I was wondering with which string gauge you guys play.
Nornally i play wit 010 but yesterday i was in a guitar shop and played on some guitars with 009.
Normally my vibrato isnt that good and i noticed it was far easier to play a solid vibrato on the 009.
However i also break a lot of strings so i don't know whats the right decision to make so i thought i ask youre opinion

BTW i sold my Es 335 an bought an ibanez az2402 ff. Really nice guitar.

Grtz tim

I switched to 8 gauge back in maybe 2015 - at least on my 6 string. 7 string is still 9's, but I'm tempted to try some 8's on that too.

I find that it definitely gives me more control over my vibrato, bends and playing. It sounds a bit "opposite" as it can at first feel very loose to play with 8's, but it requires a bit more finesse rather than strength. I played with 10's way back, but I never liked it that much. Then 9's and now 8's. I don't hear any real sound difference, but I feel it's given me something positive in terms of control, but it's one of those things where I don't think you feel the benefits instantly and probably need to give it some weeks, as it will feel like cooked spaghetti to begin with - even more so going from 10's, so I wouldn't go straight from 10's to 8's, but maybe consider it for the future - at least just to try it out.

It's a very different experience, in my opinion. It takes less strength and it feels less like I'm fighting the guitar when I'm playing. Some people will like that and some won't. I remember when one of my friends tried my guitar last year. He's used to 11's and a hardtail. Now imagine 8's, a relatively loose Ibanez edge tremolo system and action that makes you nearly able to play it just by looking at it....he was barely able to keep anything in tune. He's playing is still great though, but it was interesting to see as it was basically the complete opposite of what he was used to.

I've used NYXL 0838 for a while, then went to Optima Gold Strings (also 8 to 38), which was interesting and I quite liked them (after a while), but I've now gone back to the NYXL as I had a pack of those lying around. It's a nice change going back. Maybe trying different brands of strings isn't all that bad from time to time - string gauge change can be a bigger change, I'd say.

I love 09s since I mostly do lead stuff with lots of micro techniques that are so much easier with a thin gauge.

I have never tried 08s though

Come to the dark side! Or light side, rather. The thin, light side!



This post has been edited by Caelumamittendum: Feb 24 2022, 11:54 PM

Hehe

Dont know why, but I always considered them hard to get a hold of. But I guess it shouldn’t be a problem online

Check out the NYXL 0838 if you get the chance

This post has been edited by Caelumamittendum: Feb 25 2022, 12:26 AM

I think we may have made the switch to 8 gauge at roughly the same time as I remember us talking about the yngwie strings around that time? I LOVE 8 gauge sets. Especially the Yngwie sets that are a sort of hybrid with heavier lower strings and very light higher strings. They are simply more expressive imho than heavier gauge strings in the same way that shorter scale guitars can be more expressive more readily than longer scale simple due to tension on the neck. Lighter gauge high strings allow amazing control over bending and vibrato. Once I tried it just loved it and made my own 8 gauge set for my 7 string with a .9 gauge set low b.


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Ok thanks a lot guys. This helped a lot. I will give some 09,s a try in the future

Congratulations on the new guitar, Tim. I have been using these for ages.

those are what I used for years before I switched to .8 gauge.




.9 gauge is a good place to start! If you get used to them, maybe later try an .8 gauge set to see what you think. It can really open up your vibrato and your bending. The yngwie sets have heavier low strings than regular .8 sets which is what makes them so great. But every player is different.

10s on 25.5 scale and 11s on 24.75 scale for me

I've tried to go lighter but it really doesn't suit me

To each his own