String Size

[klutina]

Good morning all, I'm in Alaska so it's still morning time. Anybody use 10-13-17-30-42-52 sized strings or something close on their 750XL. I use these Ernie Balls on all my other guitars, but they seem kinda tight on the 750XL; I recently got my 750 so I'm in the experimental mode trying to get the right balance on action/ string feel with this guitar. I've got my bridge on three springs and its level with the body, according to the Floyd-Rose website setup. My neck is adjusted to .008". The fine tuners were adjusted halfway when I pretuned with the keys before locking the nut to allow proper adjustment range after locking. She just seems too tight for my tastes. Would droping a string size lower be a solution to get a looser action on the strings. Thanks for any input and Happy Holidays.

[klutina]

Re: String Size

I guess my post needs some clarification; I'm not a big locking/floating Floyd Rose player namely tune-o-matic Les Pauls and so forth. My post might sound sophomoric in that I'm becoming familiar with the quirks on these type bridges but I'm still middle of the road in the learning curve. Here in Alaska, central that is, the temps in winter can vary 50-60 degrees in 24 hours; I'm talking +30 to -30 degrees farenheit. These extremes even with all the humdifiers/climate control systems in the world, still wreak havoc on contraction and expansion of guitar wood namely the neck. It's a constant struggle to keep your guitar in tune from one day to the next let alone your string height, intonation, whatever. Anyhow this guitar is a cross between a LP with the 24 3/4" scale and of course a strat, I own both styles and use 10-52 ernies on both, but just curious about what other owners may use and get the best results with. I've setup my own guitars plenty so this isn't a case of fat fingering the setup, I think I've been pretty methodical and cautious in setting up my 750, I'm just not that familiar with any trade nuisances on this outstanding guitar.

Regards

[1trussell]

Re: String Size

Well, I use 11's on all of my guitars. The short scale ones like my 750's are tuned to standard while my 25.5" scale guitars are tuned 1/2 step down. As far as getting a looser feel on a guitar, using a lighter guage string or tuning down will accomplish that. I've got no experience with temperature changes to that extreme. But living in the midwest, I get to deal with extreme changes in humidity. The only advice I can give besides keeping the climate as controlled as possible where you keep your guitars is to perform very regular maintenance and set-ups on them to keep them in optimum form and function. But it sounds like you're already doing just that.

[skorb]

Re: String Size

I play with 9's on all my electrics and 10's on my acoustics.

I think whatever tone, if any, that is sacrificed by the lighter strings is made up for by my feeling much more comfortable with bendable strings cause I play that way a lot. I can handle 10's on some electrics, I may switch those in on one of mine here at some point.

[Sunbane]

Re: String Size

While it's undoubtedly true that thinner strings are more comfortable to bend, I've also found that using thicker strings has done wonders for my vibrato. I have more finger strength now, and that gives me much more control over bends and stuff. I used regular .009s for ages, but went to .010 a few years back.

But - different guitars may require different string guages. Some guitars are just notoriously hard to bend on, so in such cases a lighter gauge would make sense. I have an old Vantage that I have to tune down to D for it to be playable at all...

My 750XL is easy to bend in comparison to all my other guitars. The Model 6 is a little heavier due to the longer scale length.

[klutina]

Re: String Size

Thanks everyone one for your input, I just want my 750 as butter as a Tokai LS-70 I had. I used 10-52 strings and tuned to standard E it had string bends like a dream. Smooth as silk, this 750 is every bit and more a quality guitar as the LS-70 so I know the potentials there for that kind of setup. I get the fact that a floating bridge especially a F/R is a challenge to get used to adjusting. maybe just need to break in the strings and stretch em' with a whammy bar; need to find one on EBay as mine didn't come with it off the auction. Ah well Christmas vacation is a good time to get more familiar with my Charvel.

Thanks happy holidays

[slayer]

Re: String Size

Wow, 10-46 strings feel like tree truncks to me, especially on 25.5 scale guitars. I can deal with 9-46 on some short scale guitars, but I mainly go with 9-42 or 8-38 on any scale, I prefer the light slinky feel. 9-46 is very cool for Drop D though on short scale guitars. Jack.

[klutina]

Re: String Size

I picked up some Ernie ball 9's yesterday, I'm dreading have to re-setup my Schaler F/R when I put em' on though.

[scaristei]

Re: String Size

I used to use 9's on all my guitars because I could bend them all over the place....playing was a lot of fun, but the "tone" just was not there ! Finally, I was shamed into changing to heavier strings by a bunch of great musicians from Chicago....and a guy named Jimmy Petrick (It's all your fault - Jimmy) - And now I use 12 - 56 (tuned a whole step lower) and I have "TONE" to spare ! Give it a try...Once you hear those 11's or 12's, you will never go back !

[klutina]

Re: String Size

Hello, I think I've figured out the tightness problem with the tens, as I mentioned before the temps up here in central Alaska range from cold to real damn cold and it plays hell on a guitars tuning, action etc. Lately we've had what locals call a chinook wind or indian summer breeze ie, it's been 40-50 degrees warmer than usual. My strings have loosened up a lot and are about how I like em normally probably the increase in humidity helped a bunch. My music room is small to medium sized room with a good sized window, so, though the rooms warm the humdity change with the temperature fluctuations are drastic. The colder it gets outside and the lower the humidty gets accordingly the tighter my strings are. What's the solution, there isn't one; I don't have a basement and everyroom in my house has a window save the closets so the windows allow for the ridiculous variations in humidity with the temps. My neck adjustment changed .002" when the temps increased from
-18 to +45 in two days. I'm leaving Alaska this summer back to the east coast, with mild winters, steady humidity and a lot less ice. What can you do, it's an Arctic thing I guess.