[Nik]

Is it just me, or is the feel of 10s on a Floyd Rose guitar the same as the feel of 9s on a fixed bridge?

Because with the Floyd, the trem moves when you bend making bends easier. My 6 and my RG both ha e 10s, but this week I went back and played my 6 (fixed-bridge) for a while and it was kinda difficult...

[b3n]

I like 9s on my 7 but tend to favour 10s on my strat, mainly because the piezo sounds better that way.

9s = Ultra wide Vibrato =

[Drew]

You can definitely notice a change in feel between a fixed bridge and a floating bridge - my UV feels noticeably tighter with the Tremol-no locked down than when it's floating.

It's actually kinda cool.

[Vegetta]

Custom lights FTW

10 bottoms 9 tops

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Drew

I personally don't believe that the secret to a "thicker" tone is heavier strings - there are SO many factors in play that it's possible to get a thin tone with heavy strings and a thick tone without.

The biggest difference I hear is in the attack - 9's are a lot snappier and airier than 10's or 11's, which in comparison sound a bit more compressed (and thus generally fuller). So yes, a heavier string WILL sound fuller right off the bat relative to a thinner one, but still if you're playing a humbucker-equipped guitar into a dark, compressed amp, 9's can sound plenty thick, and the extra attack you get might actually sound better. Vice versa with a thin guitar into a bright, snappy amp - heavier strings will help tame it somewhat, but only somewhat. And let's not even get into pick guage and pick-hand attack. Really, it's finding the right balance for the rest of your gear.

Of course, the one thing you can't change anywhere else? The feel of the heavier strings. I play a fairly dark setup, so you'd think thinner strings would be nice for the additional attack, but quite simply I just like how heavier strings feel when you dig in. As such, I just keep the gain reasonably low (for a shred-y lead player, anyway) and use thick picks with a heavy picking hand, and I can still get pretty explosive when I want.

I basically agree with everything said above. There's a lot of myth. It's all about feel. You don't need Zakk Wylde strings with 90 gauge low B's to get a good sound.

[Vince]

9s are the only way to fly for the top 3 strings. IIRC, Satch, Vai, Petrucci, all use 9s for their top 3 strings.

Now, past the first 3 strings, I prefer a 10gauge pack. I love really tight Megadeth/Fear Factory style riffing, and a 42 E or a 54 B can be pulled a little too far when rhythm playing. It's a lot worse de-tuning. I prefer a 46 E and a 56 or 58 B.

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by desertdweller

9s are the only way to fly for the top 3 strings. IIRC, Satch, Vai, Petrucci, all use 9s for their top 3 strings.

Now, past the first 3 strings, I prefer a 10gauge pack. I love really tight Megadeth/Fear Factory style riffing, and a 42 E or a 54 B can be pulled a little too far when rhythm playing. It's a lot worse de-tuning. I prefer a 46 E and a 56 or 58 B.

I agree totally with everything you just said, I use the same gauges. That being said, I think it should be pointed out that Dino was using a 50 and 52 for his low B string. I think that style is easy to play regardless of the string gauge. Megadeth I think he uses like 10-52 tuned standard, which I think is way too tight.

[Mind Riot]

I use 10-52's tuned to standard on a 25 1/2" scale, and a custom 9-70 seven string set on my 26 1/2" scale Schecter. I was using .010's on the Schecter but I thought I'd give a 9-12-15 set for the unwound strings a try, and I like the looser feel on that scale. On a standard 25 1/2" scale, I can go either way, I would probably prefer .009's for the unwound strings, but they don't make a hybrid set that goes from .009 to a .052 low E, so I go with the 10-52's.

String preference is so personal, it's really pointless to say what is 'better'. It depends on so many factors, not only in the gear but in the person and how they play. One thing in particular I've noticed is that if your amp setup or what have you is running a really compressed sound, be it from your pickups, actual compression from outboard gear, or just the personality of the amp itself, you may tend to go for lighter strings because you don't have to hit them as hard to get the crunch or saturation you want.

On the other hand, I and some others use a less compressed sound for whatever reason. So if I want it to roar, I've got to smack those vines. And if they aren't thick and tense enough to take that without wowing out of tune, they got to be thicker. But I'm mostly talking about the wound strings, I for one don't hit the unwounds nearly as hard, so I prefer a light top/heavy bottom set, even if I have to go custom.

I also started out learning guitar years ago on a very old Yamaha dreadnought acoustic that I still have. I played on that thing for YEARS before I ever touched an electric, and once I got into electric I also got into bass, which I played as my primary instrument in a band for six years or so. So a large portion of my time over the years with stringed instruments have been with ones that require a heavier attack. I can imagine how someone who's played a lot of electric for a long time would develop the finesse and lighter touch to play on lighter strings, but it's still a preference thing.

I also agree with Drew, I think actual string thickness is not a huge factor in tone. Plenty of great and horrible sounding players out there using all manner of string sizes.

[distressed_romeo]

+1. SRV used 13s, Holdsworth uses 8s, other people spend ages trying to get tones like both of them. It's better to just get your guitar as comfortable as possible, and your tone'll start to sort itself out.

Pat Martino uses a 15 as his high E and tunes to standard. Eeek!

[jacksonplayer]

I use .008-.038 on my sevens with a .054 or .056 low B, and I either tune standard or a half step down. I used to use .009s tuned standard, but a couple of bouts of carpal tunnel syndrome convinced me not to do that anymore. On my sixes, I use .009-.042 tuned down a whole step. You get some awesome finger vibrato and string bending when you go with that, but you have to have a lot of control and use a light attack.