Floyd Rose - What guage strings?

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duotoneduotone Frets: 972
Took all the strings off & gave my old Ibanez a good overdue clean.  

Have got new packs of 8 (Ernie Ball), 9 (Ernie Ball) & 10 (Fender) guage strings & just wondered what guage you use & why?
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  • I use 9-42s on 25.5 inch scale whether it's a Floyd or not.  
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  • John_PJohn_P Frets: 2744
    Use whatever you like the feel of.    
    I use 9 - 46 but regular 9 or 10 are ok - just adjust the claw to suit the tension of the strings when you find a gauge you like and you’re good to go. 
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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782
    I always use hybrid 10 gauge wound 9 gauge plain strings. 9s make bends easier and 10s give a thicker tone on the strings you don’t normally bend.
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  • StevepageStevepage Frets: 3038
    10 - 46 Or 9 -46 in E standard usually.

    13 - 62 tuned down to B if I'm playing with my band.
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  • GoldenEraGuitarsGoldenEraGuitars Frets: 8820
    tFB Trader
    I used standard 12s the last time I owned a floyd. And yes, that was tuned to standard. I know Phil collen used/uses 13s and I was attempting to work my way up through the gauges to see how much of the sound was in the strings themselves. It was a pleasing sound to my ears through the Marshall I had.
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  • I don't make a special case of a guitar with a Floyd and stick with 10-46, the same gauge as the others. 
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    9-46 for my Ibanez RG
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  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    10-52 on my Fender Strat and LTD EC401. 
    11-52 on my PRS, Explorer and Firebird. 
    All in standard tuning. 

    If I still had a Floyd Rose guitar it wouldn’t make any difference to the gauge I use, it would still be whatever suits the scale length. When I did have one I used 10-52 on those Ibanez guitars. 

    I use the heavier gauge sets because I tend to be quite heavy handed and use a thick pick. I like the strong tone I get from the heavier 3 wound strings, there’s less string excursion when I’m playing something fast on the wound strings and there’s almost no “Wolf tones” from them. The top 3 are the same as any set of 10’s or 11’s. 

    I cant play 9’s on anything. I find them just too “Twangy” and like elastic bands. I’ve been using heavier strings for over 20 years. 
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  • duotoneduotone Frets: 972
    Cheers for the replies everyone.

    Its a 25.5 inch scale length, I’ll string it up with the 9-42 Ernie Balls I have.

    Out of interest will the 8’s feel wrong on a 
    25.5 inch?
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    duotone said:
    Cheers for the replies everyone.

    Its a 25.5 inch scale length, I’ll string it up with the 9-42 Ernie Balls I have.

    Out of interest will the 8’s feel wrong on a 25.5 inch?
    9's for me with my FR. 

    Have you ever tried 8's before? I'd say they feel wrong on everything! they feel incredibly weird. I tried them once and took them off the same day. I you are going to try them I'd recommend with something other than an FR guitar personally.
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  • duotoneduotone Frets: 972
    Yeah I have tried 8's before a couple times in the past & they felt fine, once I got used to them.
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  • I use what set is comfortable, ie 9-42, and am thinking of going down to 8s.   What does the type of bridge have to do with anything?
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    clarkefan said:
    I use what set is comfortable, ie 9-42, and am thinking of going down to 8s.   What does the type of bridge have to do with anything?
    Well, my feeling was that the 8 seemed rather skinny for the kind of abuse that one would possibly give it with an FR trem - I could be wrong there, maybe someone knows better.

    Also, I have noted over the years that 8's are not that popular at all generally. It is a big faff to alter the setup of an FR trem - so to not like them and then go to 9s would be a double faff! 

    Just my opinion of course, I'm happy to bow to the experience of others
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  • DefaultMDefaultM Frets: 7271
    The floyd rose makes the strings feel a bit tenser because it's pulling back when you bend etc. So 9s on a floyd feel more like 10s would on a fixed bridge. 
    As a result I usually go a gauge down from what I'm currently using on fixed bridge.
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  • clarkefanclarkefan Frets: 808
    DefaultM said:
    The floyd rose makes the strings feel a bit tenser because it's pulling back when you bend etc. So 9s on a floyd feel more like 10s would on a fixed bridge. 
    As a result I usually go a gauge down from what I'm currently using on fixed bridge.
    I'm not following you, sorry.  When I bend up on a Floyd the Floyd rises, moves upwards.  

    Do you mean pulling the bridge up means more work? If so there must be a compensating reduction in effort required because the bridge is now higher.  I think :)

    Sorry, not getting your point. 
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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782
    clarkefan said:
    DefaultM said:
    The floyd rose makes the strings feel a bit tenser because it's pulling back when you bend etc. So 9s on a floyd feel more like 10s would on a fixed bridge. 
    As a result I usually go a gauge down from what I'm currently using on fixed bridge.
    I'm not following you, sorry.  When I bend up on a Floyd the Floyd rises, moves upwards.  

    Do you mean pulling the bridge up means more work? If so there must be a compensating reduction in effort required because the bridge is now higher.  I think :)

    Sorry, not getting your point. 
    In my experience it’s harder to bend because you have to bend the string more, due to the give of the floating bridge. Bending more usually means you end up bending the adjacent string(s) more aswell, so the cumulative tension feels like more work on your fingers.
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  • drwiddlydrwiddly Frets: 911
    Maynehead said:
    clarkefan said:
    DefaultM said:
    The floyd rose makes the strings feel a bit tenser because it's pulling back when you bend etc. So 9s on a floyd feel more like 10s would on a fixed bridge. 
    As a result I usually go a gauge down from what I'm currently using on fixed bridge.
    I'm not following you, sorry.  When I bend up on a Floyd the Floyd rises, moves upwards.  

    Do you mean pulling the bridge up means more work? If so there must be a compensating reduction in effort required because the bridge is now higher.  I think :)

    Sorry, not getting your point. 
    In my experience it’s harder to bend because you have to bend the string more, due to the give of the floating bridge. Bending more usually means you end up bending the adjacent string(s) more aswell, so the cumulative tension feels like more work on your fingers.
    Not disagreeing but surely that would apply to any tremolo system, either locking or non-locking? However, a Floyd always feel like it has a bit more tension and I wonder if that's caused by the strings being locked down at the nut so the length of string between the nut and the machine head is taken out of the equation?
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  • drwiddly said:
    Maynehead said:
    clarkefan said:
    DefaultM said:
    The floyd rose makes the strings feel a bit tenser because it's pulling back when you bend etc. So 9s on a floyd feel more like 10s would on a fixed bridge. 
    As a result I usually go a gauge down from what I'm currently using on fixed bridge.
    I'm not following you, sorry.  When I bend up on a Floyd the Floyd rises, moves upwards.  

    Do you mean pulling the bridge up means more work? If so there must be a compensating reduction in effort required because the bridge is now higher.  I think :)

    Sorry, not getting your point. 
    In my experience it’s harder to bend because you have to bend the string more, due to the give of the floating bridge. Bending more usually means you end up bending the adjacent string(s) more aswell, so the cumulative tension feels like more work on your fingers.
    Not disagreeing but surely that would apply to any tremolo system, either locking or non-locking? However, a Floyd always feel like it has a bit more tension and I wonder if that's caused by the strings being locked down at the nut so the length of string between the nut and the machine head is taken out of the equation?
    I’ve always understood that the longer the string length the stiffer the feel. 
    Fender vs Gibson if you like. 
    " Why does it smell of bum?" Mrs Professorben.
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  • I think there might be a bit of an overall confusion regarding string tensions which I think is due to a sweeping generalisation I’m about to make. 

    Most guys that have floyd loaded guitars are rock/metal players, and therefore prob have fender scale floyds and Gibson scale Les Pauls. 

    Sweeping enough? 

    A 9 gauge string has the same tension to reach a specific pitch regardless of the method of anchoring, the thing that affects tension is string length, the natural ‘give’ in a trem will mean you have to bend further to reach a higher pitch than you would with a fixed bridge.

    Personally ive found that higher actions can feel easier to bend than super low, but I believe that’s to do with how much leverage your finger can get on the string. 
    " Why does it smell of bum?" Mrs Professorben.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    axisus said:

    It is a big faff to alter the setup of an FR trem - so to not like them and then go to 9s would be a double faff!
    Going from one string gauge to the next one up or down should only need the spring tension altering usually, which is dead easy.

    You might find the intonation is very marginally out, but you don't need to adjust that until you're absolutely sure you want to stick with the new string gauge.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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