NWB - Community Blog

You can change them?

Dammit, I was having to buy a new bass every 15 years!

;)

Andy - JTS

used Elixir 11-5x but they are 15 quid plus, so recently I bought 5 sets of beefy slinkies 11-53

...same thing, they snap. This time high E, sometimes the G

D'addario for the last 10 years at least. Ernie ball are too brittle and flat sounding for me. Wipe them down after every gig. I reckon I've snapped either 1 or 2 strings in the last 2 decades.

Just picked up 2 packs of 10 in Atlanta for £50 :oD

The best strings I ever used were DR 10-46. Awesome feel and tone. Have used Zakk Wylde Dunlops and they sound great and take a kickin', psycho bends and they still stay in tune!

James you must have aproblem with your saddles mate, they can get grooved and "bite" the sides of the strings, i bought some graphtech saddles and i have never broke one since.

Rob, I just put a set of 11-48s on my les paul and then took it to Ged Green in Cheadle, he skimmed the frets, set it all up, got rid of a helluva groove in the 2nd fret and let me tell you its the best £60 quid i have ever spent. I always thought I could set a guitar up until i got this back from Ged, different guitar, and liking the 11s

Always used ernie ball, tried daddarios but I find they "go off" quick

Tried Dean Markley Blue Steels they are quite good as are DRs but more expensive.

Thomastik also very good but i keep going back to EBs

Keith, interesting that. I found the same with EBs. Must be a skin contact thing?

Yeah there must be some weird stuff comes out of our mitts mick

Must try a set of those Neon DRs on me Black Fernandes Revolver, look a right tart!

Recently gone to 13's fer my electroacooostic coz of my heavy handedness, must admit the bleedin cheesewires take some gerrin used too but the tonal quality is improved as a result !!!

Yep agreetex, with heavier gauges, much more bollocks,take a bit of getting used to but when i play something now with 10s feels too light.

Billiy gibbons plays 7s!

Must admit Keith, it aint improved my playin but my segs have come on leaps n bounds ;-)

Cant beat a good chew on yer segs!

"# Posted by Keith - Kingpin - 29/09/2011, 21:42 (GMT)

Billiy gibbons plays 7s!"

To me the heavy string argument (light strings make you a pussy!) is an exerise in muscle strength. Billy Gibbons and Tommy Emmanuel are light string users. I personally can't handle heavy strings as I have OLD nerve damage in my left side. I get by. I don't call anyone beefcake for using heavy gauge strings. I can't remember the last time a guitar player kicked sand in my grid on the beach. ;o)

Think he plays 7-36 and it sounds immense but he has a very light touch apparently, his guitar tech says in all the year hes been with hime he has NEVER broken a string.Not bigging up 11s I just seem to prefer the tone I'm getting at the moment,

Keith-Kingpin

I'll take your point, my guitar has never been set up. It is a Gibson SG, so I assume it was set up when I got it new. I was 7.
Now that I'm actually earning money with it, perhaps it is necessary to have it set up professionally.
I also noticed that the micro adjusters on the bridge are really groved in multiple places.

Having said all that, I still believe buying online can be the cause. Less than £4 for a set of strings.... probably seconds....

I will pop in to say hello saturday night if I can.

Can you give me contact details for a good guitar tech?

I suppose the difference is Mr Gibbons will have his strings changed after every gig, although as a bassist 13's seem pretty damn light to me... :-D

#James Where abouts do you live? There are some great guitar techs in Promenade Music in Morecambe

Yes, I believe I need to get it set up, and buy some play faster grafite bits

Keith, are you guys in the Hendley Arms Saturday?

Hello! May be in my head but D'addario's sound brighter, and last better in some way to me than say Ernie Balls etc...Les Paul/V 10's, Strat far better as 9's.
Folks have said you can't switch, but IMHO the feel of 9's on a Strat is closest to 10's on an LP...

Back to comments above, would like to try something with Gibbons 7's on set up properly. It does seem odd how he gets such a big tone from them...and 'the world' seems to say (esp on his 59LP) that 10+ is the law...seems to go against logic...

There IS no law about strings.

.....unless you think you're Stevie Ray Vaughn....

Who tore his fingers apart but still got his ass handed to him by a blind Canadian.

Elixir defo they never die £10 a pack about every 4 gigs and they dont need changing then 10s on my les paul if i use rotor sound i change every 2 gigs

12s on acoustic

9.5s on electric

All D'Addarios as I've no problem with 'em and the Current keeps me supplied with multi packs for birthdays, xmas, valentines, easter, anniversaries etc etc

Had a major problem with Gibson acoustic ... breaking the G string every 5 minutes ... sorted with new Tusq saddle

Really want to try Elixirs but when i've seen/played 'em on other peeps guitars they seem a bit "soft" ... May take the plunge with 'em as not playing so much these days

Elixir 10-52 gauge strings and Elixir 45-105 bass strings all day long. In my opinion for tone and longevity they're far superior to the rest.

All the cheap brands last about a gig or two if I am lucky when playing rhythm etc, bass doesn't really matter as the set of Elixir's I have on at the moment have been on at least 7 or 8 months, ready for changing though.

The last bulk order of Elixir's was a couple of years ago, bought a box of 10 inc postage from LA (USA) for the staggering price of £55.00..............String busters do them for £8.75pp I think, bass strings are £30.00 or so, £42.00 in the shop!

Lee :)

tried elixir (9's) after a recommendation - no complaints! used fender bullets for years, never had any probs with those either.

buy in bulk at guitar fairs seems cheapest option

:0)

Live in Shaw, Oldham, Manchester if anyone knows a guitar tehch? Please ...

anything less than a set of 10's is cheating. i use EB's beefy 11's but even those arent heavy enough for me. top strings are fine but i would like a bit more girth on the bottom.

i play far too heavy handed. ive started to wear protection on my arm as the skin was starting to rub off a bit. it was agony by the end of a gig. probably could be solved quite easily if i didnt have such poor technique but hey ho it works for me and after about 10 years of playing i really dont see me changing anytime soon

its "horses for courses" obviously but i think you do get a "better" sound from heavier strings. diadarrio are nice but over priced. ernie balls seem to do the trick for me and "seem" to last longer for me.

..Ive used GHS Boomers 11-50 on my Ibanez'z & Gibson .... last about 6 months (tho my Les Paul not had a string change for yrs)...........even tho i have a string endorsement with another brand shh!!

James theres a guitar tech in Milnrow (ill try n get his number) or try Bonecat Music Drake St Rochdale ...you'll get new strings n set up for under £20 ..

13s ( Martin ) on my acoustics
12s (Ernie Ball Not even Slinkys) on my 335
11s ( Power slinky Ernie balls) on my Strat

I used to have a Firebird set up and strung with rotosound 13s- greys - Was ACE!!!!! Recorded all The Fabulous Eggs stuff with that- nearly all the solos troo!!

13s ( Martin ) on my acoustics
12s (Ernie Ball Not even Slinkys) on my 335
11s ( Power slinky Ernie balls) on my Strat

I used to have a Firebird set up and strung with rotosound 13s- greys - Was ACE!!!!! Recorded all The Fabulous Eggs stuff with that- nearly all the solos troo!!