Holy Moley!! What a difference!!

[duhvoodooman***]

For quite a while, I'd thought that the tone of my Epi Elitist LP Standard was a bit bright and didn't have quite enough of that low-to-midrange "girth" that I associate with a classic LP sound. The other night, I finally got around to a long-overdue string change on the guitar, since the old set was getting pretty dull sounding on the bottom strings. The guitar originally came with 9's on it, and that's what I'd been using up to now, though I use 10's on all my other electric guitars. But this time, I decided to put a set of D'Addario XL 10's (nickel wound) on it. WOW!!! What a difference! I expected something a lot more subtle, but this is very noticeable, and the guitar has a much richer, thicker tone now. While I expected that this change would be a move in the right direction, I didn't expect this degree of impact. Not sure what the key factors are--I would guess things like pickup sensitivity characteristics, wood resonance properties, and who knows what else--but a simple change to slightly heavier strings sure made a significant and positive tonal impact!

Just wondered if any of you experienced similar results with heavier strings?

[Tone2TheBone]

Yup.

I change my strings every other month whether they need them changed or not. I love that tone you're hearing on your guitar...all the time. I also use 10s on all my electrics (Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys).

[Brian Krashpad]

Yup.

I change my strings every other month whether they need them changed or not.

If I did that on all my guitars I'd be broke. Of course, that's kinda a good problem to have.

I do use at least 10's, and prefer 11's on Fender-scale, if I can find them.

[guitartist]

I usually play with 10s. My Washburn Oscar Schmidt 0E30 Delta King came with 9s on it, which sounded awful...based on some online reviews I read, I put 11s on it (instead of my usual 10s), and YOWZA, much better! I am thinking about switching over to 11s on all my electrics now. Its a bit rougher on my fingertips but they'll adjust.

About 10 years ago a friend talked me into putting either 11s or even 12s on my yamaha acoustic (my main acoustic at the time)...they sounded great, but it was REALLY difficult to bend strings (at the time I usually used 9s). I am really lazy about changing strings and usually don't bother to change them until they break; those superthick strings, the low E & A, sounded great on that acoustic for the first couple of weeks but quickly went dead-sounding ...so I wound up changing them back to lighter strings after a while (I doubt if those strings would've EVER have broken!...they were almost like bass strings)

But yeah, heavier strings definitely do make for better tone...at least while they are still fairly fresh.

[Plank_Spanker]

My strings get changed every two weeks or two gigs, whichever comes first. Fresh strings make a big difference in sound. I've been using 10's since dinosaurs once roamed the Earth.

[abraxas]

C'mon guys, strings are not that expensive, if you buy bulk quantities.

I change every 12-15 hours of playing, depending on the brand. Sometimes I'd leave them on for 20 hours if old age or boredom gets the better of me.

As someone said: "life is too short to have bad tone!". And strings play a huge part in getting good tone!

[Plank_Spanker]

I've never tried to count the hours of playing on a set, but I stick to my 2 gig string change. When our calendar starts filling up, I go through alot of strings.

[kerc]

Buy Webstrings. Pretty good sounding and only $2.50 per set, and you get free shipping with orders above $14.

[WackyT]

Buy Webstrings. Pretty good sounding and only $2.50 per set, and you get free shipping with orders above $14.

http://www.webstrings.com/electric_guitar_strings.html

[kerc]

Exactly. I use 009-042s myself...

[Brian Krashpad]

C'mon guys, strings are not that expensive, if you buy bulk quantities.

Uhh... how many guitars do you have?

Once you get to a certain point, the number of guitars you have to string is a factor, even at bulk rates:

[sunvalleylaw]

LOL!! I love how they are stacked against what looks like West reporters! Good use for those books, guitar holders!

[Brian Krashpad]

LOL!! I love how they are stacked against what looks like West reporters! Good use for those books, guitar holders!

Dang, good eyes.

Southern Reporter, first and second series.

[sunvalleylaw]

"Somewhere among all these dusty law books lies . . . . " ROCK AND ROLL!!

On an on topic note, I have not used any bulk strings yet. I like my D'Adarrios (10s) which were my first replacement set. Would like to stick with something that is similar if I went bulk.