Looks like there are a few guitarists on here, so thought it was worth a try posting.
I’m a newbie to guitars and only got my first (electric) in August. As I’ve been progressing better than I expected, I treated myself to a semi-hollow Ibanez a couple of weeks ago, and am loving the tone of it. (My OH has bought me a second hand distortion pedal, so I can (try) and get all Kyuss/Qotsa fuzziness 😄)
Only thing is that the strings on the Ibanez are much thicker than my cheapie strat-style (10-52 OE vs 9-42 slinky’s) I thought I was past the sore fingers stage, but they’re feeling a bit shredded after a couple of weeks with the heavier strings. In fairness, I guess the hollow body could do with new strings anyway, as they look and feel a bit coarse and tarnished. I wondered about putting slightly thinner ‘slinkier’ strings on (10-46?), but wondered if this would radically alter the tone. I like the tone now in standard tuning, but the low E string really is deep - which is why I wondered if it’d be able to go a wee bit higher without sounding s***e.
If I don’t like the sound of the 10-46’s, I guess I could use the for a few weeks to get my fingers used to heavier strings, then put a nice quality set of 10-52’s.
Argh, I dunno - which is why I’m asking I guess!
Go skinny. 9-42s sound fine. Bit less of a muddy bass IMO.
Thinner strings will sound fine. You might need to adjust the truss rod to take some tension out of it as you might get some buzzing if the neck relief reduces too much because the thinner strings have less tension for the truss rod to counteract.
10-46 is "standard" for a set of 10's. 10-52 gives a slightly heavier bottom end - I kinda like this, and they're generally my default gauges. Are both guitars the same scale length? That can make a difference to string tension, and you might find you prefer different string gauges depending on the scale length - "Fender" derived guitars are typically 25.5" scale (apart from Jaguars and a few models that were historically deemed "student models"), "Gibson" derived guitars are generally 24.75".
I'm not sure changing form 10-52 to 10-46 would make a huge amount of difference as I generally find that if my fingers are getting shredded, it's the high strings that are doing it. That said, I've been playing for many more years than i care to recall so guess my fingers should be toughened up by now.
As per @hopkinsgm, I also like a heavy bottom (ooh err) as a good balance between being able to hammer them a bit, but also be able to play the thing for more than 30mins at a time!
I find the lower strings are less likely to cause sore fingers as I’m fair less likely to be bending them compared to the higher half.
Blimey I hadn’t thought about truss rod adjustment...or scale length (Glad I asked). The scale lengths are different, the Ibanez is 3/4” shorter. In typical fashion, I think I prefer the body and neck shape/length on the Ibanez hollow body - er...maybe I should trade my strat style of a Les Paul style?! My goodness, I can see this guitar business getting as expensive as mountain biking😬
Well for a start you'll need a spare guitar tuned down to B or C to play Kyuss songs. What strings will you put on that one?
Hmmm, good point with the thinner strings. I’ve just tried the higher strings on both guitars, and newish EB Slinky 9-42’s feel like they’re smoother and rounder than the 10-52’s on the hollow body. Now I’ve had a really close look at the plain wire strings on the HB, there are black patches here and there - Maybe a bit of corrosion/tarnishing perhaps(?) - I guess this isn’t going to make them feel very nice?
FWIW, the guitar was a ‘last years colour’ one that was on offer, so guess it had sat around in a warehouse for a while.
As expensive as mountain biking? Wait until you start looking at pedals and valve amps, then sell them to go digital, then sell the digital for pedals and valves amps ...
I've got 10-52s on all by guitars. Back in my gigging days I was playing a tele with 12s on it, must have been mad. Amp & pedal settings will have a much bigger impact than the strings so just get a set your comfortable with. And don't put 12s on tele.
Well for a start you’ll need a spare guitar tuned down to B or C to play Kyuss songs. What strings will you put on that one?
The guy in the shop dropped the hollow body down to D with the distortion pedal and it sounded frikkin’ awesome! I like such a range of music that I think I’d like to use the hollow body for a range of stuff like blues, blues-rock (Black Crowes, Faces) indie. Then stick the distortion pedal in for just larking around with power chords and grunge-ey stuff. I’m my dreams, I’d be able to play like Jerry Cantrell 😂 What is they say, 10k hours of practice - I’m 60 next year, so had better get my a**e into gear eh?!
Now I’ve had a really close look at the plain wire strings on the HB, there are black patches here and there – Maybe a bit of corrosion/tarnishing perhaps(?) – I guess this isn’t going to make them feel very nice?
Yep, sounds like a bit of corrosion on old strings - fresh strings of same gauge may well be the answer. Re: scale length, accepted wisdom is heavier gauges for shorter scales - tho whether that's a particular issue between 25.5" and 24.75"... I just run Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottoms on everything (apart from the acoustic)
I'm a 11s 12s kind of a guy.
I also prefer singlespeed.
These may be linked...
I’m my dreams, I’d be able to play like Jerry Cantrell 😂
I had a similar conversation with a riding buddy last night. I concluded that in reality I play guitar like Dave Lister from Red Dwarf. 😀
Back in my gigging days I was playing a tele with 12s on it, must have been mad.
Ditto! The Tele is now sat here with 9’s on. In a previous life I’d have felt a little shame!
I concluded that in reality I play guitar like Dave Lister from Red Dwarf. 😀
Hi Dave, my name is Phoebe from friends.
10-52 should be fine to go down to D or drop C on a 24/34 if you aren’t too heavy handed. However, if you change about with gauges, it will impact neck adjustment and intonation. A lot of fixed bridges you seem to get away with maybe 1 gauge before the tools come out, won’t be spot on but close enough for bedroom fun. Also, if the nut is cut well for a 52, if you go down to a 42 you may get a bit of nut buzz as the string vibrates in the slot
Do you really want to stop at 9-32 when the Reverend Willy G uses 7-38?
uponthedowns
Free Member
Do you really want to stop at 9-32 when the Reverend Willy G uses 7-38?
**** that would feel like floppy rubber bands. 😆
Only thing is that the strings on the Ibanez are much thicker than my cheapie strat-style
Strings aside, the two guitars are likely to have very different necks which is probably having more of an impact on the fingers. I know that even after 30+ years of playing, if I've been on one guitar for a sustained period, if I switch to another I'll get some finger discomfort. For example I've been playing my strat non stop for months and on the past couple of weeks I've been playing my Duo Sonic and I've noticed some finger pain in the tips despite the same gauge on both
Strings aside, the two guitars are likely to have very different necks which is probably having more of an impact on the fingers.
Hmm, thanks for info - I hadn’t considered that. Both my guitars are Ibanez, but the Strat style has a thinner/shallower neck than the hollow body. I think the fret board might also be a bit flatter on the Strat style (reviews describe it as having a very fast neck.....which I guess might be irrelevant to an old newbie!
I notice someone above had mentioned the bridge, neck and intonation. My hollow body has a Bigsby and floating bridge with rollers, so given the comments in the thread, I’m tempted to stick with the same gauge strings, but put some in really nice quality ones on it. Am think about Ernie Ball 10-52’s but any other recommendations are welcome.
