Differentiating my Strats - what would you do?

professorben

Route the rosewood one out for a Floyd, relic the finish, slap a Dimarzio PafPro in the bridge and a SD lil'59 in the neck, buy a leather jacket with tassels and stone wash jeans a size too small. 

Throw the other one away. 

Mullet optional. 


Who is SRV???

Richardj

Leave the strings be, have one with vintage wind pickups and the other with something a bit hotter. That way you can have one that has chime and twang and another to rock out with.

normula1

Up the action a touch, tune to open G or E and use it for slide

DannyP

I think there has been widespread misunderstanding of my question.

I have 2 strats and one set of 11s. Alls I'm asking is, in that situation, which guitar gets the 11s?

I have made no mention, nor do I have any intention of, selling a guitar, changing pickups, changing tunings, buying a guitar, changing the neck, rewiring a guitar, sticking one up my arse or any variation thereof.

At the end of the process I'll have 2 fairly standard strats, one with 9s and one with 11s and I'll be perfectly happy with that state of affairs!

A5D5E5

Plug one into a Dual Rectifier and the other one into a JC 120?

Richardj

Ah...... the rosewood 'board one then, just because.  

Voxman

I don't think it would make any difference which one.  But I still don't understand WHY you want to use heavier gauge strings on one Strat rather than the other. You use the word 'differentiate'  - which is kind of vague and perhaps why folk are misunderstanding you? 

String gauge should fit your playing style.  Whichever you prefer 9's or 11's, in my view you should put whatever best suits you on both guitars.  It won't really change your tone, just how the guitar feels to play.  11's on one Strat might make sense if for example you were drop tuning that Strat down a tone or half tone, but I don't think that applies to you.  

Sorry, I'm honestly not trying to be obtuse here, but I'm just not following you - unless (nothing to do with tone) its the mere fact that 11's will make you play that guitar differently (because it will be harder to play) and that's what you're after ie the playing feel differential?  

Veganic

Changing one to 11s is stupid. 
Change both or none.




(IMHO)


Edit: I see this has just been put more eloquently just above. 

streethawk

DannyP said:

I think there has been widespread misunderstanding of my question.

I have 2 strats and one set of 11s. Alls I'm asking is, in that situation, which guitar gets the 11s?

I have made no mention, nor do I have any intention of, selling a guitar, changing pickups, changing tunings, buying a guitar, changing the neck, rewiring a guitar, sticking one up my arse or any variation thereof.

At the end of the process I'll have 2 fairly standard strats, one with 9s and one with 11s and I'll be perfectly happy with that state of affairs!

I think some people are doubting your solution is in fact a solution. So they can't answer one or the other.  

Voxman

streethawk said:

DannyP said:

I think there has been widespread misunderstanding of my question.

I have 2 strats and one set of 11s. Alls I'm asking is, in that situation, which guitar gets the 11s?

I have made no mention, nor do I have any intention of, selling a guitar, changing pickups, changing tunings, buying a guitar, changing the neck, rewiring a guitar, sticking one up my arse or any variation thereof.

At the end of the process I'll have 2 fairly standard strats, one with 9s and one with 11s and I'll be perfectly happy with that state of affairs!

I think some people are doubting your solution is in fact a solution. So they can't answer one or the other.  

More than that, I don't think the OP is making it clear as to exactly what his 'problem' is - and that's why a range of different 'solutions' are being offered because most folk (including myself) were assuming this was tone related? 

DannyP

DannyP said:

They're both home guitars rather than work guitars, I suppose I'm after a different EXPERIENCE from each. A reason why I'm pulling this one off the wall rather than that one.

Voxman said:

I don't think it would make any difference which one.  But I still don't understand WHY you want to use heavier gauge strings on one Strat rather than the other. You use the word 'differentiate'  - which is kind of vague and perhaps why folk are misunderstanding you? 

String gauge should fit your playing style.  Whichever you prefer 9's or 11's, in my view you should put whatever best suits you on both guitars.  It won't really change your tone, just how the guitar feels to play.  11's on one Strat might make sense if for example you were drop tuning that Strat down a tone or half tone, but I don't think that applies to you.  

Sorry, I'm honestly not trying to be obtuse here, but I'm just not following you - unless (nothing to do with tone) its the mere fact that 11's will make you play that guitar differently (because it will be harder to play) and that's what you're after ie the playing feel differential?  

I'd refer you to my earlier comment, I suppose.

Who only wants ONE playing style, anyway? I have 11s on my Gretsch (as previously mentioned) because they sound and feel a certain way and make me play a certain way. So I'm going to try 11s on one of my strats too.

So you're right that I want it to 'feel' different I guess, though I don't find it 'harder' as you say necessarily other than some bends lower down the neck.

And the assertion that the tone won't change, is not an uncontroversial one, I'm sure you'll admit. I play from v. clean up to amp break-up,  some times up to medium sorts of gain, but never really high gain. I know I've heard a difference in tone on the Gretsch when I changed to 11s.

But hey, I didn't come here to debate or justify, just musing about which Strat to change up I suppose

DannyP

Voxman said:

streethawk said:

DannyP said:

I think there has been widespread misunderstanding of my question.

I have 2 strats and one set of 11s. Alls I'm asking is, in that situation, which guitar gets the 11s?

I have made no mention, nor do I have any intention of, selling a guitar, changing pickups, changing tunings, buying a guitar, changing the neck, rewiring a guitar, sticking one up my arse or any variation thereof.

At the end of the process I'll have 2 fairly standard strats, one with 9s and one with 11s and I'll be perfectly happy with that state of affairs!

I think some people are doubting your solution is in fact a solution. So they can't answer one or the other.  

More than that, I don't think the OP is making it clear as to exactly what his 'problem' is - and that's why a range of different 'solutions' are being offered because most folk (including myself) were assuming this was tone related? 

I don't have a 'problem' thanks - beyond deciding which Strat to restring

It's not purely tone related, as I made clear.

richardhomer

Do what you think best - then post to tell us you were right - would probably the best bet....

DannyP

richardhomer said:

Do what you think best - then post to tell us you were right - would probably the best bet....

I hope you don't think I'm being touchy or intractable, that's really not my intention.

I'm a bit taken aback by some of these responses to be honest

Different strings ARE different, after all. Isn't that why they make them? Wouldn't Dick Dale's Misirlou sound a bit different on a guitar strung with 8s?

@RichardHomer what would constitute 'right' or 'wrong'? I have 2 strats, and once I've decided which one I'm going to restring with 11s, I'm going to enjoy playing them both. I have honestly no axe to grind and no point to prove

streethawk

Bang some Texas specials in one, or convert to a HSS. We are all furious with this string changing malarky and demand restitution. 

sweepy

11's tuned to Eb or 10.5's in E, there, sorted for you 

AndyR

This is quite an amusing thread. I get where you're at. I personally have 11s on everything electric.

But I have been considering putting 10s on to at least one Fender (I wouldn't put 10s on a Gibson scale length, I just find them too floppy).

I've been wondering about doing it to a tele to get me a more "light touch" instrument for exploring more extreme double stopped bends etc.

I've also been wondering about doing it to a strat.

With the Nile vs SRV thing, one would have thought that putting the 11s on the rosewood MIJ would be a better bet. But, with mine here, a CIJ with rosewood board is kind of a smooth, warm sounding instrument. Ever since I put 11s on it years and years ago, I've been struggling to get top-end shimmer out of it. And I've only just been recognising that strings have something to do with it. Yes, in general, MIJ/CIJ Fenders don't seem to be as bright sounding as MIM or US Fenders (and I've got both strats and teles that bear this out) - but upping strings from 10s to 11s always adds body and weight to the tone for me, and LOSES some top-end shimmer.

Originally, I switched to 11s in the 90s because of the tone, but nowadays I do it for consistent feel. I use them on both because I want Fenders to feel tougher than Gibsons.

However, I am toying with putting 10s back on one of the strats - the darker CIJ in my case, to get some of that woody lightness back. I can't even IMAGINE 9s, though!! hehe (for me, they'd be unplayable on a strat).

Put the 11s on the maple board :-)

DannyP

Thanks for your help guys, maybe I'll be back on later with some conformation-biased conclusions to rock your worlds 

fandango

DannyP,

Nobody, but nobody, other than yourself has any idea how your guitars play. It's like trying to describe what number '7' smells like, and then asking how fast a Ferrari goes round your garden.

Therefore the answer is try both with 11s. Then leave the 11s on the best one and change the other back to 10s or 9s. That's your answer. Yes, I know it's going to cost you some new strings. 

You could also raise the action or use alternative tunings to give you a different feel. Doing this will still cost you some new strings.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

p90fool

You've already stated that your two Strats are too similar to one another, so it doesn't matter which one you change the strings on really.