timrocker Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I'm switching to .013's. As soon as I can find or make a set, that's a-what I'm a-gonna do. So I can go to places where guitar players congregate and turn every conversation to the subject of My String Gage Is Big and Your String Gage Is Wimpy. If I pick up someone else's axe, I'll say "These little .009's feel like Nothin' to me, 'cuz I Use .013's!" This is my sure fire way to corner the braggin' rights and be perceived as The Guitar Player Of Renown, without actually having to achieve anything. After All, It's All About Me. Idn't it? And if the cachet from that ever starts to get stale, I can go back to Montana and find me a length of barb wire fence from about 1886 with cow hair twisted into it and cut down a section to use for guitar strings. That oughta top anything for Real Man Strings Braggin'. Sheesh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I'm with you. Only I strung my guitar from old rails from the SOO Line track they tore up a half mile from here. That's for the bass strings. And I'm using real razor wire from the local penitentiary for the treble end. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesswing Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I read somewhere that John McLaughlin uses .009s or so if I remember correctly. Good for bending against scalloped fretboard I guess and he still sounds good. There is no direct correlation between the string gauge and popularity of the guitar player, or is there? Thicker strings are THERE where you expect them to be making them more predictable and they also sound better (my opinion). That is one reason why I anm now experiment with 011s, 012s and 013s to find the best set for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Shoot, I'm playing hawser line at this time and I'm gonna go with some frayed cable soon. The hawser line is just too wimpy. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMcGuitar Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Well... you know... I used to play a classical guitar. The strings were made out of cat gut. The cat was still attached... May all your thoughts be random! - Neil www.McFaddenArts.com www.MikesGarageRocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timrocker Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 And, I like my strings a good 3 to 4 inches off of the frets, too. This allows me to declare anywhere, anytime, that my tone is Vastly Superior. Because I read that in a magazine somewhere and it must be so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Thorne Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by timrocker: ...And if the cachet from that ever starts to get stale, I can go back to Montana and find me a length of barb wire fence... Except in Montana I think they pronounce that "bob wahr"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timrocker Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Did I say .013's? I meant .015's. Yeah, and I'll have to get the wound strings out of a bass pack, but it'll be worth it 'cuz then I can elbow my way into any conversation and tell people how much studlier I am than they are because My String Gage Is Huge. It's better than having actual achievements in life. Guitar playing is actually about boasting and turning every conversation to the Grand Subject Of Me. Which Is All That Matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funk Jazz Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by chad: Except in Montana I think they pronounce that "bob wahr"...didn't he play for the grateful dead? i think he used 18's on his geetar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwestenberg Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 ouch! Lyrics. Wasted space between solos. I can't tell you, but I can play it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I know what you mean, the whole "I use heavy strings for that heavy sound and I'm a very manly-man to do so, so much manlier than yew!" thing is kinda ridiculous... ...But, I happen to like heavier gauges, just because I do. Whatever works, works! And it's highly subjective. Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbach1 Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by daklander: Shoot, I'm playing hawser line at this time and I'm gonna go with some frayed cable soon. The hawser line is just too wimpy.I went to 2's for ease of playing. The only problem was slicing up my fingers and blood all over the place. I found that if I wear big thick leather lumber yard gloves I can play them without much finger damage. bbach Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicalhair Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 13's are a man's string: no doubt about it. I'm too hobbled with tendinitis but maybe I'll string up a guitar with them someday if I've feeling like a tough guy again. I'll stick to 11's till then. check out some comedy I've done: http://louhasspoken.tumblr.com/ My Unitarian Jihad Name: Brother Broadsword of Enlightened Compassion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by timrocker: I'm switching to .013's. As soon as I can find or make a set, that's a-what I'm a-gonna do. So I can go to places where guitar players congregate and turn every conversation to the subject of My String Gage Is Big and Your String Gage Is Wimpy. If I pick up someone else's axe, I'll say "These little .009's feel like Nothin' to me, 'cuz I Use .013's!" This is my sure fire way to corner the braggin' rights and be perceived as The Guitar Player Of Renown, without actually having to achieve anything. After All, It's All About Me. Idn't it? And if the cachet from that ever starts to get stale, I can go back to Montana and find me a length of barb wire fence from about 1886 with cow hair twisted into it and cut down a section to use for guitar strings. That oughta top anything for Real Man Strings Braggin'. Sheesh. Dang, what bit you? Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timrocker Posted October 4, 2004 Author Share Posted October 4, 2004 Okay, now the simple truth. I use .009's. Have for about 22 years. They work for me. I was on my way to a gig Saturday night and stopped to fuel up my truck. A guy that works at the station plays some guitar and I knew from before that he had just gotten a strat recently and was excited about his new purchase. So we were chatting while the fuel ran, and I got out my own strat and had him play a couple of notes on it. It was cool. His co-worker sees the guitar from across the lot, comes running over, and elbows his way into the conversation. Of course I hand him the guitar, it's the civil thing. He plays some stuff, clearly more than competent, and starts ragging on the narrowness of the string gage. Feels like nothing to him. Action's too low for him too. Prideful look in eye, tone of voice. Points to himself and says (just overflowing with that vanity that's the poison of all time) "I use .012's. These little strings don't feel like strings to me." I just raised my hands in supplication and started bowing before him. Oh, my God. Only let me bask in your Glowing Greatness. I swear, he was so self absorbed I don't think he ever "got" the sarcasm. Anyway, I put the strat back in the truck and headed off to the gig. It was tremendously revealing. I have all the respect for people who play on the string gage that works best for them. It was his entrance into the conversation uninvited and his Belief That The World Is Here For Him Only that irked me. Know what I mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funk Jazz Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 i've been that other guy i pretty much play acoustic strung with 12's, once in a while i'll pick up someones axe with 10's and they feel like nothing, all my touch goes away and i'm just hammering these poor strings. when i've mentioned it, it was more to cover my poor assed playing on smaller strings, NOT to emasculate the owner. in fact, i think i said something like that to Gabrielle E when i met him and got to play his PRS. d'oh!! hope you didn't take that the wrong way Gabe! sounds like this guy was an ass, even though i kind of sympathize with the string dilemma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel E. Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by SpookJazz: in fact, i think i said something like that to Gabrielle E when i met him and got to play his PRS. d'oh!! hope you didn't take that the wrong way Gabe!How else could I have taken it? It still hurts me to this day. . . "You never can vouch for your own consciousness." - Norman Mailer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funk Jazz Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Originally posted by Gabriel E. vil: How else could I have taken it? It still hurts me to this day. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 I've been that guy too, but only to a point; much more "tongue-in-cheek", and also just attempting to get more players to try out different gauges and actually set-up their guitars. Years ago, I once "rented" my flat-top acoustic to a (trustworthy) young guy for a few weeks, who asked me to put elevens or twelves on it for him while he was using it. He couldn't be persuaded to even try more than a couple of quickly strummed open-chords with my preferred brand 'n' gauges on it, and had little interest in my wanting to show him how different ways of picking the strings could vary the tone and attack; I guess he thought I was just trying to be a know-it-all, he-man sort of guy. He was steadfastly a light-strings 'n' thin-picks sort of guy. So, I restrung it, and off he went. Not long after he had returned the guitar, I was playing it on my porch, restrung 'n' set-up to my liking. He happened by, and actually asked me if it was really the same guitar! He also seemed to like, and commented that he was surprised at how similar to a "Strat with the neck-pickup" it sounded when I would use a light, brushing upstroke on the plain-strings over the end of the fretboard to get a sort of "Brit-Blues", Clapton/Green kinda tone. ___________________________________________________________ One of the benefits of using heavier gauges is that it's actually easier to get a low action with them. Since the heavier gauge strings have a higher amount of tension when tuned to standard/concert-pitch, they have a tighter excursion, that is, they swing and wobble over a smaller area as they vibrate. So, they can be lower without buzzing against the frets. Your action can be lower, and your truss-rod can be tightened to allow for a straighter neck with less relief required. Of course, they're also a little harder to bend, so the action and relief needed to give you the "elbow room" for smooth bends and vibrato- a very subjective, personal thing- may take you back to a smidgeon more relief with a slightly medium-low action, anyways! But, if you don't need that, and mainly want fast, low action for chording and runs, "Tens" and "Elevens" on an electric (and "Thirteens" and "Fourteens" for acoustics) can get it way down there for ya! ___________________________________________________________ Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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