[Jeebo]

Hey guys, currently I'm using .11, .14, .18, .28, .38, .48, .70 on my C7 hellraiser in standard tuning. I love the feel and tone I get out of them but bending is a huge problem for any string beyond the high B and E strings. I've broken god knows how many G-strings trying merely to do a full step bend and it's really pissing me off (I guess it's all that tension with the 26.5" scale). Will switching to 10s add a bit more give to the strings? I really hate 9s and don't want to resort to those.

[soldierkahn]

Try this gauge for B Standard. Use Dadarrio 10-59s. I absolutely love this gauge. As long as your not doing triplets in Drop A, this will be your best sounding gauge, it gives you plenty of beef and just enough treble so you dont pinch your ears. Just give em a try and let me know if you like em. If in fact you think the top string to too much for ya, you can lighten that one up by switch to Ernie Ball 10-56s. All the strings are the same except the low B is a 56 instead of a 59, but i warn you, i felt that a 56 was a little lose for B, but give em a try. I think youll love the Daddarrio set, i know i do.

[metalfiend666]

I used the Ernie Ball 10-56 set on my Blackjack and it suits me fine. String gauge is a personal thing though, so you might need to try a few different sets.

[kmanick]

I've got D'Addarios 10 -56 on my Hellraiser 7 tuned to E Flat and they feel great. Playing lead is no problem at all (well besides my lead playing limitations that have nothing to do with the guitar )

[WarriorOfMetal]

Originally Posted by soldierkahn

Try this gauge for B Standard. Use Dadarrio 10-59s. I absolutely love this gauge. As long as your not doing triplets in Drop A, this will be your best sounding gauge, it gives you plenty of beef and just enough treble so you dont pinch your ears.

what if you're playing triplets in A?

[D-EJ915]

you're having trouble? I can easily bend up over 2 steps on my 14 gauge in B on my baritone and it's longer scale than yours...hmm...at max I get like 7 notes up

well bending will only be improved by lowering the gauge...but as for breaking strings, get your bridge and nut filed, it sounds like you might have a light burr or something.

[zimbloth]

Yeah 11-70 in B w/ 26.5 is massively tight. I dont think the strings should break unless the nut is shoddy, but yeah going to 10's should help out a bit.

PS: To that guy above, I use 10-59 in A and triplets sound just fine to me

[7StringofAblicK]

You have some crazy tension going on there. bending must hurt like hell lol. I agree, lowering to 10's will definitely help. a light guage will lessen some of the grip you have on the strings but you will achieve more knarl (IMO) and more 'bounce.' I prefer this because i like a low b that kinda bounces for fast single note melodies because there is a tad more treble response and the strings kind of ricochet off the fret board (that knarl i said above). for thick powerchord rhythm, the thicker strings will probably suit you more. But for leads, the 10's will definitely give you some room to bend.

[Jeebo]

So as far as the strings breaking, I've really only broken the G string if memory serves me right...I've broken a shit ton of them and the weird thing is they snap pretty much in the middle of the string, not at the neck or bridge and when it snaps like thin fibers are showing so I'm wondering if they're just really shitty strings. I use the bulk strings from juststrings.com so I don't know how durable they truly are. A guitar tech in my dorm suggested that I might have a sharp end of a fret cutting the string too, but I've run my fingers across all the frets and they seem smooth. So could it be the string quality perhaps?

[7StringofAblicK]

Definitely. But it seems odd that every single G string is shitty

It might be something with the saddle; have you tried intonating?