Any older players adopted lighter strings?

mattacjones

Don't know if any of you follow Tim Pierce on YT, but here  he is discussing string gauges. 
(5) Amateurs Always FORGET This Hendrix Pro TRICK - YouTube

fendergibson

Moved from 10 to 9 on Fenders over the last few yrs and much better. I like my Strats to have 2 way trem and with 9s I can still do ‘country’ bends without pulling the other strings out of tune…maybe a little but much easier to compensate for.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

I hesitate to call myself 'old' at 41, but I've moved to 9.5s on Gibson scale guitars, and 9s on Fender scale length. Did it after I injured my ring finger and was finding bending tough, so wanted a bit less of a fight.

Finger has fully recovered now, but never felt the need to go back up in gauge as I generally just feel more comfortable with these lighter strings now. Noticed zero difference in tone. 

Danny1969

I used 9's when I was younger but now use 10's for everything as I buy them in packs of 3. However there are differences that need to be considered. 

It's about the same force to bend a 10 up a tone on a Gibson scale guitar as a 9 on a Fender, due to to the scale length difference ... so I did use 10's on a Gibson and 9's on a Fender. 

If your band tunes down a semitone like so many do then a set of 10's will feel like 9's anyway IMO 

DavidRees

I'm very old but no longer do the 'boomer bends' so nothing more than a semitone bend below fret 12 but occasionally a tone on the plain strings above that [not that I venture there that often] ...

digitalkettle

mattacjones said:

Don't know if any of you follow Tim Pierce on YT, but here  he is discussing string gauges. 
(5) Amateurs Always FORGET This Hendrix Pro TRICK - YouTube

Jesus Tim...look at that vid title! I love the guy but had to unsubscribe after too much of this kind of thing.
I presume he's got an over-caffeinated media team knocking the content out for him ;-/

digitalkettle

Back to the thread...

Acoustics are 12s but tuned to Eb standard or DADGAD.

Electrics in standard tuning are a mix of 9-46 or 10-46 depending on scale length and vibrato systems.
(except for an Ibanez shred-beast in 9-42 and a Jag with 11-48)

Electrics in Eb standard tuning (usually for gigging) are all 10-46.

stratman3142

I've gone in the opposite direction. For about 50 years I was using 9s on my Fender scale length guitars. I been putting 10s on my Les Paul and PRS, for about 10 years.

I got an Ibanez AZ2402 (Fender scale length) just over 2 years ago which came with 10s as stock and liked the feel. I think high frets help as well with bends.

I'm left handed but play right handed and I think I have quite a bit of left hand finger strength. I had the bad habit of (unthinkingly) doing a lot of unsupported bends when using 9s, and occasionally I'd get painful splits under my finger nail. Going to 10s has forced me to think about supporting bends with my other fingers, and I haven't had that problem recently.

I quite like the slightly stiffer (less floppy) feel of 10s, especially for funk rhythm. Plus it's simpler to just use 10s on everything. But I wouldn't rule out going back to 9s at some point.

Bennyboy-UK

hollywoodrox said:

I’ve always used 9s so it’s hard to notice 

Yeah, I settled on 9-46 on everything in about 1992 and never changed.

maw4neu

I'm 61 now and I genuinely do have the odd issue with my joints, especially in my left hand, but I have 10's on my Tele, 10's on my Manson Evo and I'll be fitting 10's on my incoming Stratocaster when it lands on Monday  . . .  I tried a set of 9's on my Telecaster ages ago, and it just didnt feel right . . .  I didnt get the same " acoustic " ring from it . . .  Maybe I should try it again ! ! ! !

Grunfeld

To cope with a stubborn variant of lateral epicondylalgia which lasted 10 months I went down to 8-38 -- tuned a semitone down from standard for gigs.  They're pretty loose but at least I could keep playing. 

Recovered now but still kept the string gauge for my main gigging guitar: Jazzmaster

mudslide73

9s on everything and round core 9s on my Fenders. I changed back from 10s when I had some hand pain about 10 years ago. 

JCA2550

wrinkleygit said:

Round cores generally mean a lower tension, I use DR Veritas 9-46 on all my electrics, Newtone Heritage 11-49 or 12-51 on acoustic, both make life easier on my arthritic wrinkley fingers.

These are all lovely round core strings, if anyone hasn't tried them  defo give them a go folks?

I'm 60 and have chopped and changed gauges, and strap height for that matter ( now that's another post ). Mostly settled on 9 to 46 on Strats and Teles, 10 to 46 on LPs and SG types, 11s on acoustics 11 to 50 on the Jazzmaster which is down tuned to d.

axisus

I was 9s on everything most of my life. I tried 8s once and they were unplayable. Took them off the same day.

I've always had finger issues though, and after reading up on how many well known players used 8s (plus 'that' Rick Beato video), a few years ago I tried them again - and loved them! Now it's 8s all the way for me, I can get more feeling and nuance out of them and it's helped my finger issues.

Roland

maw4neu said:

I'm 61 now and I genuinely do have the odd issue with my joints, especially in my left hand, but I have 10's on my Tele, 10's on my Manson Evo and I'll be fitting 10's on my incoming Stratocaster when it lands on Monday  . . .  I tried a set of 9's on my Telecaster ages ago, and it just didnt feel right . . .  I didnt get the same " acoustic " ring from it . . .  Maybe I should try it again ! ! ! !

I’m 69. I’ve been using 10-52s for the last 50 years. I’m fully expecting to drop a gauge when my arthritis gets worse, but it hasn’t happened yet. 

Dominic

Some guitars /Bigsby set-ups just aren't playable when you get lower than 11 

Fishboy7

I'm the wrong side of 40 but happy with 11s on Fender and 12s on Gibson scales, and considering going heavier than that  I'm not doing loads of bending and vibrator though.  

axisus

Dominic said:

Some guitars /Bigsby set-ups just aren't playable when you get lower than 11 

I have two bigsby Tele's with 8s. No problemo.

exocet

I've dropped back down to 10 - 46 on all guitars after having played 11 - 49, 11 - 52 and 10 - 52 for a number of years but I can't hack that anymore.

stickyfiddle

axisus said:

Dominic said:

Some guitars /Bigsby set-ups just aren't playable when you get lower than 11 

I have two bigsby Tele's with 8s. No problemo.

Likewise I have 9s on a Jazzmaster, 10s on my bigsbied-ES-330 and considering 10s on my Jag. 

I played a Strat with 9s in D standard for 2 hours the other week. It was fine