Guitar players, what gauge strings do you use?

That’s it.

I’ve got 009s on the Ibanez (widdly guitar) and the Tele

010s on the Les Paul, PRS and the Fender Performer.

013s om the accoustic.

Don’t know what on the bass - medium I suppose.

All Rotosound.

The reason I ask is that I recently went to 010s on PRS and it transformed the guitar. With 009s it was a bit of a plank and I hardly ever played it, now it’s bright and lively and competes with the LP in the play me! play me! stakes. If my fingers can manage should I try moving up to 011s?

What’s your milage?

10s on my Strat, 11s on my ES335, 12s on my Takamine.

Standard-set .11’s (.11 - .48 or .49) on my Les Pauls and 335.
Beefy-set .11’s (.11 - .54) on my Strat
Lights (.12’s) on my acoustic, which I tend to play like an electric.

I am a firm believer in the Stevie Ray Vaughn school of “thicker gauge = better tone. Period” school. I play the heaviest gauge I can while still being able to bend aggressively. And I hear a dramatic difference in tone vs. lighter gauge. Also, you can’t do the patented Jimmy Page raking upstroke on a Les Paul with nearly the same tonal results if you use lighter-gauge strings…

.009’s or .010’s on my Strats, though I’ve gone through periods with thicker gauges. I agree with the notion that thicker = better tone, but thinner = more playable. The balance I want isn’t always the same.

Plus, I’m a string whore. If there’s a fantastic deal on something, I buy 'em, even if it’s a divergence from what I’m currently playing.

Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom ftw

10 13 17 30 42 52

I use them on my SG and my Les Paul

I experiment with different strings on my Strat.

I don’t play any of the other guitars enough to really care what I have on them, but most have the ST-HBs.

Curious, I thought Page used 009s (super slinkys).

I know about the SRV approach but he used something absurd like 014s which just scared me. I don’t know if I could fret those, let alone bend them. Even Pete Townshend stops at 012s (I think) for his hooliganism.

I play acoustic, and I prefer the Earthwood Silk and Steel:

EARTHWOOD 2043 SILK & STEEL ACOUSTIC GUITAR SET
Roundwound silk & steel, regular gauge, 013 017 026W 034W 046W 056W

I use Elixr medium on my Martin D18, and medium decent-brand-on-sale for my bass.

The heavier strings really gives you some volume when you are doing travis style picking, which is pretty much what I tend to do in my band.

9s on pretty much all of my electrics - Three Brian Moores and an Ernie Ball/MM VH model. I used to have 10s on my Strat Plus before I got rid of it. I like the tone of 10s, but I can’t bend aggressively or do the Steve Vai happy crap with heavier gauges.

Mine go to 11. [/Nigel Tufnel]

.011, that is. I play a Rickenbacker 330 and don’t play much lead, so I could probably bump it up to 12s or 13s, but I’m too lazy.

.012-.056 on the D28 and .010-.046 on the X175.

SRV played with .13’s on his beloved FirstWife - and according to the bio I read, would occasionally downgrade to .12’s at the end of tours when his fingers were just plain worn out.

Page, based on this book I got where they summarized all the “specs” of top players from Guitar Player magazine articles - DID/does still(?) use .09’s. Ah, but he is playing through big honkin’ Marshall stacks that go to 11 - huge influence on tone. Playing at ‘normal’ volumes through smaller amps - the heavier gauge strings make up (somewhat, and in a different way) for not having all that horsepower behind you. Also, let’s face it: Page is a fucking brilliant guitarist and can finesse whatever tone he wants out of whatever guitar he wants. I, OTOH, am an experienced hack - and having the heavier-gauged strings means the guitar is much more forgiving when I attempt the ol’ raking upstroke - it is much more likely to deliver a decent Pagey tone, for this hack anyway…

Hope this is clearer…

I’ve got .011s on the one guitar I have - a Les Paul Jr. Special.

Call me a wuss, but I use 8s on my Les Paul. Sometimes I even tune down a half step.

I don’t play so often any more, so my callouses are gone, and I can get better vibrato this way.

Another Earthwoods fan, always have them on my Fender acoustic. I use the medium lights (.12) because I break the .11’s waaaay too often. For whatever reason the actions on my acoustics are insanely high, and while I prefer the heavier strings sound quality, my poor fingers can’t take the strain.