Exploring the importance of string gauge, but more importantly how string gauge effects you as a guitar player.
As guitar players, we hear all about string size from blogs, guitar snobs, YouTubers and sometimes our favorite artists. Whether its Slash or SRV, string gauge is an ever popular topic with guitar players, but does it really matter? In short, yes. But the more important question to ask is what gauge are you comfortable with?
Disclosure:Before we get too deep within this controversial guitar topic, let me state that I only write from the perspective of my own experience. So this article is a culmination of my experiences over the years with different string sizes as both a musician, lover of guitars, and listener of live music.
Let us first delve into how different string sizes affects tone on your guitar. When I think of large string size, I think of the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan! His guitar tone is to die for! The reason I say “guitar tone” instead of “Strat tone” is because no matter what guitar that man set in his lap, the tone was amazing. Like many professional players, SRV used a hybrid of different gauges, the largest set I have learned was 13 gauge on his more commonly played Stratocasters. I have also heard that he had used up to a 17 gauge on some of his guitars, but more commonly 12 gauge and 13 gauge. Let’s talk tone! I have yet to hear someone get SRV’s exact tone…..other than SRV himself! His tone is very present and full of mid range. Cleans up so good and almost had a baritone guitar quality. Bigger strings give a thick rhythm sound that seem to cut through the mix extremely well. In my opinion, not many can make a Fender Stratocaster sound as good as SRV. Just listen to any live recording (especially live at El Mocambo), that tone! Oh man!
But what else was going into that tone? Stevie was known to play a range of different amplifiers from Marshall to Fenders to Dumble. Of course, we know that Fender amplifiers (Super Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Vibroverb, Vibrolux, the list goes on) give a great clean to slightly overdriven tone and seem to be the number one choice of many players who run multiple effects since they are a great base tone to stack pedals in front of. Without ranting about how great Fender, Marshall, and Dumble amplifiers are (so great!!), my point in mentioning the amplifiers is that the amp is just as much a part of great guitar tone, so know your amps and what you like! The pickups in his number one Strat were 1950s low output Strat pickups, I do not know the exact numbers of his pickups, but contrary to what many think, they were indeed low output pickups. They sounded hot because of the way Stevie played, which leads to his playing style. This is definitely the biggest aspect of his tone In terms of attack, Stevie played the guitar very aggressively! Legend has it that he played so hard that he would bloody the end of his fingers to the point of having to super glue them so he could finish his show…RESPECT!!!
So why do I digress about these things in an article about comparing string sizes? …because it goes to show the other aspects to guitar tone there is. It is not only or even primarily string size that goes into your tone. What if SRV used the exact same gear but played much lighter? Probably not possible with strings of that size, but the point is that his tone would be much different, and probably would not be as renowned as he is. What if he used a different amplifier combination? SRV’s tone was a combination of his amps, pedals, guitars, string size, and the most important…. the way he touched the strings.
Now to the flip side of that coin, smaller gauge strings. I will relate another couple of artists that come to mind who use small gauge strings. First off, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. He uses much smaller strings, around 7 gauge and 8 gauge from what I have read. But listen to that tone! He is usually playing a 59 Burst Gibson Les Paul through an old Fender tweed amp. I have heard from a guitar merchant connection who knows him says he has an entire warehouse of old fender tweed amps. Anyway, back to his strings..Everything about his tone is attitude! Creamy overdriven tube amps with a Les Paul pushing them hard! Pure blues rock tone, and in my humble opinion…also to die for! Then you have Jeff Beck! Jazzy, Fusion, Rock’n Roll, Blues all the way. He uses a Strat with Signature Noiseless Pickups, and usually through a Marshall half stack. String size… 8 gauge. Honestly though, when I really started to listen to Jeff Beck I thought for certain he played a larger string gauge because of that large tone he gets. Overdriven very sweetly, and cleans up like a bell when he wants them to. What does this all mean for the tone of your guitar though? It means that although string size is important for your tone, what is more important is how you actually play and control the sounds coming through your amplifier. Learning to use that strumming/picking hand to control your clean and overdriven sound and using your guitar’s tone and volume knobs in combination with your specific attack on the strings will do so much more for your tone than string size.
String size and playability/action
Now that we covered tone and string size, lets move on to how string size affects how your guitar plays. Specifically in reference to your guitar’s action and “slinky” feeling. Slinky meaning how loose and easy the strings are to bend. It goes without stating that the lighter the string gauge the more slinky your strings will feel and the lower you can set your action. I have personally tried 8 gauge, 9 gauge, 10 gauge, 11 gauge, and 12 gauge. I own a Les Paul and a Stratocaster. The 8 gauge strings feel very nice for the most part. Super easy to bend! So much so that you really have to listen to make sure you don’t over bend. the only thing I do not like about the 8 gauge strings is that my finger will actually touch the fret board when playing single note lines and bending, so this does make it more difficult to slide into notes as there is more drag from that friction. 9 gauge strings are also comfortable for me to play. 9 gauge retains the ease of bending and allows me to slide into notes more easily. 10 gauge strings are also a comfortable size to play on. There is even less friction from the fret board, which definitely makes it easier to slide. Though I find that quite a bit more effort is requires especially when play chords, more specifically….bar chords. So much so for me that my left-hand gets quite fatigued. Bends are a bit harder as well, but it gives a nice struggle which I feel is necessary. My most comfortable string gauge to play is a combination of 9s & 10s. I string my high E, B, and G-string from a set of 10s, then my low E, A, & D strings from a set of 9s. This solves my problem of sliding and also makes my chording more comfortable. Using a combination of 2 or more sets of strings is called, naturally, hybrid gauge. Most guitarist usually discover that a combination of different strings sets (sizes) works best for them.
11 gauge strings are a bit more stiff than 10’s. Though, I played 11’s on my Strat for quite a long time and was able to get used to them….somewhat. Bending is still quite difficult, and honestly 11 gauge is about the highest gauge I feel somewhat comfortable with. I definitely do not prefer them for songs that require much bending. Now we move on to 12 gauge. OK, so I mainly put 12 gauge strings on my Strat for the purpose of this article so that I could share my experience with you. I tuned up my Strat to standard E – E tuning, and bending was a huge challenge. If you cannot tell already, I love to bend my strings and with these 12’s my hands were not having it. So I thought to myself, Stevie tuned down to E flat….maybe that is the key!…literally. Nope, still could not bend! So, I took it a step further…or rather a whole step down to D – D tuning…still, no give! Then lastly down to C – C tuning, and still could not manage to play and bend the way I like. Again, this is only my experience. Maybe you have huge, strong ape hands like Stevie Ray Vaughn and larger strings do not bother you. My point in this article is that since I had decided that I can only sound like me and not SRV, I will play the string size that I am most comfortable with…and because I made that decision I have been able to progress much faster at my natural pace. I am not saying that large string gauges are bad, but I am also saying that if you just do not feel comfortable with huge strings do not think that you cannot get great tone with a smaller string size! There are so many that have proven this correct! Play what is comfortable to you, and your hands will thank you! Also realize that you are not your guitar hero, and your guitar hero is not you. So embrace that difference and find your own way. Adopting this mindset has enhanced my creative ability, lead playing ability, ability to write my own music and cover other people’s music, and progress faster as a musician overall.
In conclusion, know that every musician’s journey is different and that it is important to find your way, and the same rings true in the journey of string gauge. Experiment with different string gauges and hybrids of different gauges to find the most comfortable combination for your hands. Being proactive and taking action is going to be the best way to propel you forward in your guitar journey. So take chances, get out of your comfort zone and find your niche! Rock on my friends!