[shadowgenesis]

Originally Posted by 7 Strings of Hate

i always found that big gauges dont have enough bite for me, i use .008 - .56, there is a definate twang with smaller strings.
I think it basically comes down to vibration, thin strings vibrate more than thicker ones, therefore you have to pick a little harder, but i think nick pretty much had it right on.

and while the nut issue may not have any effect on the muffled sound, i'm sure its not helping your playing with the string on top of the nut. and i'm no luither, but that might be playing havoc with the truss rod adjustment

* dAN cringes at the idea of having any twang in his tone

as far as the nut issue goes - i've played extensively on two detuned ibby 6's (first an SA220 and now my RGA121) where the nut was virtually flat (not sure what the deal is) and the heavy gauge strings practically just sit on top of it. As long as teh angle of the headstock (or a string tree) pulls down enough, it should be fine, as i've never had issues with intonation because of it.

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Battousai

well. its an ESP horizon nt-II... it has the standard duncan JB/59 set, and i have the DR Tite fit..

52 44 30 17 13 10.
thing is the top 3 soubd ok .. ...
what i was thinking they sound a bit whoomfy was because they dont sit nicely in the nut.. more like on top of the nut..... would that cause it to be muffled? or the strings i chose arent bright enough?

Okay well there's your problem bro. I'm your answer man. I had that guitar. A mahogany neck-thru guitar like that and a JB with its loose bass response is a match made in hell. If you want to use those gauges on that guitar, I'd recommend changing the bridge pickup to the Seymour Duncan SH-5 Custom model. Much tighter lows and crisper attack. The JB is really not a great match for that guitar, they sound best in brighter configurations.

If you want to keep the JB, I'd recommend going back to lighter gauges, or like Noodles & I have been talking about, go for a brighter brand like Elixir, DR, D'Addario, etc. Avoid Dean Markley, GHS, Ernie Ball, etc.

Also you mentioned you use DR Tite-Fits. Bro, those are very dark strings meant for warm/rounded tones. It even says so in their product literature. Switch to the DR Hi-Beam (or Dimebag ones), and that may fix your problem by itself. Tite-Fits + 7 string + JB in mahogany = recipe for muddiness.

PS: Guys, our opinions of heavy vs. low gauge preferences are irrelevant in this context, he's having a problem, there's a clear solution to which I and a few others alluded to, let's stick to the point and help him out.