Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marty O on July 11, 2011 at 5:18pm

I have always found electric strings easier to fret than acoustic strings due to them being lighter.

Permalink Reply by Jarmo Katajisto on July 11, 2011 at 7:06pm

 

" There is no rules "    by  Shane Speal

 

if it´s work and sound good to you, use it :)

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 11, 2011 at 8:52pm

Mike,

 

Your buddy is essentially correct, because "standard" Electric string gauges are thinner than "standard" Acoustics.

 

However:

 

Electric and Acoustic guitar strings, as you are probably aware, come in a wide variety of string gauges.

 

I have / use lots of different sets of electric and acoustic strings on my various 6-string commercially manufactured guitars, that range from ".009's," the .009 referring to the gauge thickness, in thousandths of an inch, of E1, the 1st (lightest) string in a standard electric 6-stringer set (they may be called Lights or Superlights by various manufacturers - the entire set is often referred to by the gauge of the lightest E string, so ".008s," "009s.", "010s" and so on) to ".013's," which is what Stevie Ray Vaughan ultimately used, tuned down to E-flat to fit his voice and make string bending easier (these may be termed Boomers or Heavies by various manufacturers.).

 

I am currently playing a set of .012s on my Strat, and they are a bear to bend and fret in standard tuning; but the thicker string gauge gives a deeper heavier sound, which is what I want for rock and electric blues - No Pain, No Gain!. On my acoustics, I usually put Mediums or Medium Lights, with the E1 string being .012 or .011. Or even .0115

 

The thing that's probably killing your buddy's fingers is the wound acoustic strings, especially if he's using the middle 3 strings from an acoustic set of strings, either ADG or DGb; there is normally a wound G in a set of Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Mediums. The "old" electric blues players would often replace this with an unwound G, which gave that string a brighter sound, and facilitated string bending.

 

Here are some links that explain string gauges:

 

http://www.guitarstringguide.com/drupal/content/guitar-string-gauges-0

http://www.ehow.com/about_6642099_difference-light-heavy-guitar-str...

 

And of course, Wikipedia has a nice set of generalized tables showing the different gauges for acoustics and electrics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strings_(music)

 

Hope this helps,

Oily

 

 

Permalink Reply by Mike Whisenhunt on July 12, 2011 at 10:39am

Great info, Oily. I think you have it right, he's using the ADG in the set and they are wound. I will pass this info along to him.

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 12, 2011 at 8:05pm

Mike,

 

Glad I could be of some help, being a noob here. I just thought of something (well, three or more things, actually):

 

1) Keni Lee Burgess can probably give you the perfect steer on string gauges and tuning. Check with him on the "How To Play..." Forum

2) Have your bud try using the Gbe from his acoustic set, leaving the wound G. Keni Lee will undoubtedly have a tuning recommendation for that. The wound G will still give you some dirty, if playing acoustic or amplified, but reduces the finger pain to just one string.

3) Have him go to GC or some such local music emporium, and ask for an unwound G,

4) He could then go the Gbe route and retune.

 

I bet Blind Lemon Jefferson or Robert Johnson had no clue as to what their screen door wire gauge was:-)

Mike Whisenhunt said:

Great info, Oily. I think you have it right, he's using the ADG in the set and they are wound. I will pass this info along to him.

Permalink Reply by Mike Izzo on July 13, 2011 at 3:14pm

How about this question - if you play slide on your CBG, do you have any recommendations for sting gauge or type?  I tend to think heavier gauges work and sound better with a slide, but I'm wondering if there are strings that are better at reducing the slide noise or that just generally work better for slide.  Martin makes a "Bluegrass - resonator " guitar string - has anyone tried these?

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on July 13, 2011 at 5:45pm

Mike,
Wound strings, based on my occasionally playing slide on 6-stringers using different string sets, seem to give you a dirtier sound. Since the wound strings are nearly always your heavier strings, your thoughts seem to be in line with my experience. An interesting, if expensive, experiment, is to put a set of ground or flat wounds on your guitar, and try your slide on those. I've actually done this, and as might be expected, the slide is somewhat easier to manipulate, because there is less friction due to the string windings being flat. But I found the sound unsatisfying and too clean.

Another aspect to consider for what makes a good bluesy slide sound is the material the slide is made from. When I was in college playing for beer, I tried several different types of slide: copper tubing, a cut-off piece of chromed steel bicycle handlebar (which I used for several years until losing it to someone who "borrowed it"), a broken longneck bottleneck, brass instrument tubing...Never played with a bone slide, and wish I'd thought to use Shane's brilliant idea of a
socket...anyway, I now use either a stainless steel slide for brighter sound, and a fake Coricidin glass bottle, which gives a nice compromise between the slickness of chrome or steel, but with the grab of the copper tubing.I feel I got the best grit with the copper tubing. My problem with that is the copper being softer, grabbed the string windings more, and meant I went through wound strings a lot faster.

For those with the time, money, and scientific bent, buying a bunch of string sets, and using a bunch of different slide materials, on a variety of guitars, with a variety of pickups, could be an interesting sonic adventure. Hmmmm. Even better would be to record video / audio of same, and post it here for all to enjoy. Hmmmmm...