[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by All_¥our_Bass

:s cream:OUCH!!:screa m:
For me an 11 (or higher) in E is painful to play. 10 is my max, I perfer a an 8 or 9.

Dick Dale goes up to .016.

[Naren]

No, they will not damage your fingers. I used to use 13, 14, and 15 gauge strings when I played on six strings IN STANDARD and I didn't stop bending or anything. When I switched back down to 10s from 15s, I had a problem where I would end up bending 2-3 steps when I was just trying to bend up a single or half step because I was used to so much tension.

Nowadays I prefer 10s or 11s. I CANNOT play 9s because I HATE the way they sound. Someone gave me a set of 8s because they weren't gonna use them and I tried them and they sounded EVEN worse than the 9s. I've heard other people using 9s and it sound great, but for me 9s have always sounded HORRIBLE on 4 different guitars I've tried them on. At 10s, it suddenly sounds good. 11s sound even better, but are harder to bend - especially on my 27" scale baritone, but I'm used to it now. In some of my band's songs, I bend as much as 1 and a half steps and I do that on my baritone as well, but it requires some effort.

[JBroll]

As with anything else, if something hurts you need to stop. If nothing hurts, you'll be fine.

I've been playing massive strings from the beginning, since I owe a lot to a jazz guy who probably taught me more than anyone else and who knew that I sounded and played better with bigger strings just because of my approach and technique. I like to play between 25 and 30 pounds per string of tension when possible (14-70 in C# is common) and have had no injuries yet. Getting that high took practice and work, but now that I'm used to it I have no problems.

Jeff

[MF_Kitten]

i prefer slightly thinner strings, and medium tension... .56 set was good in B for me when it came stock on my schecter.

i´m going for .52 on my baritone for B standard, on 28" scale.

but as people have explained earlier: if you like it, you do it.

[newamerikangospel]

Well it all has to do with scale length as well. 14s on my 24.75 lp copy would have about as much tension as my set on my 26.5 now. Some jazz guitars are 24 scale guitars as well.

[shadowgenesis]

Do you practice every day? The main issue with thicker strings is that you need more muscle to work em and missing a day or two of practice shows more of a difference than with other strings. You gotta keep your hands in shape better.

Jeff Beck played in flat tuning with an .18 for the high E flat at one point if i recall correctly. And that man can make strings dance.

i recently tried tuning my artcore down to E flat (i play it in F# standard) with 10's and was really comfortable playing, but at the same time i'm really skeptical of doing that permanently because i do much prefer the feel and sound of high string tension. It's kind of a trade off i guess.

[SchecterWhore]

I'd worry more about damaging your guitar's neck than your fingers. I played with .13's on my acoustic for about three months, bending and all, and I did experience some tenderness in my fingers, but I think it was more from the bronze alloy than the gauge. However, as soon as I went to change strings, the neck bowed on me, and now I have fret buzz in two places. Hopefully, your truss rod is set up alright. Provided that it is, and you're comfortable with the gauge, then stick with it.

Have you seen bassplayer shred on a regular 4-string
That's some fat strings being bended over there.

[M3RC1L3SS]

Well, I used to play on some D'addario 14's when I would tune down to Nile tuning... and my fingertips just had to get used to it... but it never actually did anything bad to them.

[JJ Rodriguez]

Thinner strings actually hurt my fingers more because they dig in and feel like they're cutting my finger tips.