[Prometheus]

Well, went out to the store and bought some strings. 9-42 set, with a loose 44, and a 56 and a 59, so I could experiment with the lowest string. Strung it up, tuned it, and prepared to unleash the fooking fury. And, amazingly enough, I did! Sounds GREAT! I stuck the 59 on, and it actually felt a bit clunky, so I put it the 56 on, and it's FANTASTIC! My guitar sounds and feels better than what it ever has. Totally awesome

So, 9-56. I never, ever thought I'd be playing such wimpy gauges But, honestly, wish I had done this years ago. To power!

[JJ Rodriguez]

I just can't get used to tiny strings. I use 11-70 tuned B standard on my 7, and I love it. I do admit that for fast chromatic type stuff my arm starts burning like a motherfucker, but picking wise the heavy strings own.

[Vision]

I think the standard strings that come on Ibanez's are 9-54's. I went to an 11-59 set for about a week, and then switched back because it was muddy and hard to play. Plus it started making my neck bow...

I can only imagine the guys that put a 70 on... that would be like trying to play with a towing cable.

[darren]

Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is widely regarded as having great tone, and apparently he uses 8s.

[JJ Rodriguez]

Well it just depends what tone you're going for. You get way more attack with thinner strings, but you get more low end with thicker strings. I use thick ass strings and I get enough attack, even though I don't consider myself a heavy picker at all.

[budda]

I just dont like how thinner strings feel on even a 25.5 scale. 10-52's on my les paul is amazing - drop D is good, standard is good, and the strings feel good under my fingers. I like the tone that thicker strings produce. i have 10-52's for D standard on my 25.5 scale, the feel is pretty good - gonna raise the action a hair though.

have you thought about 10-46 with a 54 low B? i've tuned down to B w/ 10-52 on my LP, it was wobly wobly but it sounded ok lol

[Randy]

I was an avid "thicker" string user, until I went to GC and tuned down a 6er with the stock strings to D standard; and found the guitar a lot more "playable" and I liked the tone much better.

It definitely comes down to preference, overall, but I must say... I used heavier strings for the last 6 years, and switching to the lighter gauge felt much more natural. But again, that's just me.

[sakeido]

I had the same epiphany not long ago, I would string my COWs with 11-68s. Then I played a brand new guitar with 10-46s from the factory in D standard and loved it, drop C and loved it... then I figured the strings were too heavy on my other guitars so now I play 10-52s on my 6ers (but only because I ran out of 10-46s)and 10-56s on my 7s

[Drew]

It's not better or worse, but rather "different."

Thicker strings are a bit more compressed than thinner ones, which gives you a "darker" sound (as the attack is less pronounced). for some situations that's good, for others, less so. A strat, for example, should never have anything lighter than 10's on it, I feel - especially with a maple board, it's a very snappy, "attack" driven tone, and really the whole point of thw guitar is that explosiveness. You want to be able to put some weight into your picking hand to play up the bend, rake, and scream aspect of the strat tone, as well as tame the presence a little, and thicker strings kick ass for this.

For a basswood bodied 7 with a rosewood board... Eh, honestly it'd probably make more sense for me to be playing lighter strings than I do, but I've found that I tend to phrase better on heavier strings, where I have to fight a little more. So, for me, it's worth it.

[ledzep4eva]

The whole heavy strings thing is a bit like a penis-length competition thing on this site. I also think people buy heavier strings just because everyone else on here tells them to.

I love light strings. Better attack, and I feel more in control.