10's on a tele?

[stingx]

I use 10s on all my instruments sans a Floyd Rose. On those I use 9s.

 

[jtees4]

I put 10's on everything.

 

[Miami-Ace]

:danceWell, I think a lot of the desire for 10s is just macho stuff. I generally play pretty clean, so the slightly lighter tone of 9's is just fine for me. I also like the easier touch for bends and other legato moves. Now, if you want to bomb away with gain/distortion ... OK, I think 10s might be better ... but you're probably going to be doing that with a humbucker setup.:dance

 

[deeaa]

Played 11's with thicker lows for a decade. It does give a great unwavering rhythm sound. Swapped to tens for easier leads, but it wasn't so much easier and lows got lax. So now I have put a thick 11 set bottom end but 9's top end on everything and I love it. Strong chords but very light and lively to bend. Also swapped from thick jazz pics to regular .50 delrins...a bit playing style adjustment too...and been very happy since.

Too thick is too thick...I love a thick string low end so I can smack it hard without wobbles, but if Angus and gibbons can play 8's and sound huge, why torment them fingers.

 

[Photomike666]

I've got 11s (Ernie Ball Power Slinkys), love the sound & don't have any issues bending

 

[Tig]

:danceWell, I think a lot of the desire for 10s is just macho stuff. I generally play pretty clean, so the slightly lighter tone of 9's is just fine for me. I also like the easier touch for bends and other legato moves. Now, if you want to bomb away with gain/distortion ... OK, I think 10s might be better ... but you're probably going to be doing that with a humbucker setup.:dance

Good to see you back, Miami-Ace! :agree

 

[deeaa]

I've got 11s (Ernie Ball Power Slinkys), love the sound & don't have any issues bending

Really? Must have really strong fingers. I could not do it well. I mean, yeah, I can bend a step up but forget about 1,5 or two-step bends, and especially forget about applying a loose Angus-style vibrato at the height of the bend. Even when I used a heavy LP the string pull would be too much doing even a one-step bend without pushing the neck in the other direction simultaneously.

What I love about nines is I don't have to hold on to the neck when bending, but rather just lift the string with fingers and suspend the whole guitar basically by the bending fingers, then kinda move my whole arm for vibrato, and that just doesn't happen even with tens. Well maybe with tens on a LP etc. it is just OK, but even better with nines and especially lighter guitars which I prefer these days.

 

[Photomike666]

Ok, I'm not that good yet so no vibrato when bending, but I don't lack in finger strength. Maybe on the next set I'll try nines and see the difference

 

[riverrick]

+1 on the 10's!!!

 

[R_of_G]

:danceWell, I think a lot of the desire for 10s is just macho stuff. I generally play pretty clean, so the slightly lighter tone of 9's is just fine for me. I also like the easier touch for bends and other legato moves. Now, if you want to bomb away with gain/distortion ... OK, I think 10s might be better ... but you're probably going to be doing that with a humbucker setup.:dance

Interesting take on it Ace.

I never really thought about machismo entering into the picture but since we're talking about guitar players, I suspect you're probably right on the money.

Now the question becomes, when someone wants to move up to thicker strings is that "tone envy?"

 

[Perfect Stranger]

Try these on your tele. GHS Big Core Nickle Rockers 9.5 - 43
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/ghs-nickel-rockers-big-core-extra-light/h72616000000000

I use GHS Big Core 9.5-43's on my single coil guitars, and I use the GHS Big Core 10.5-48's on
all my humbucker guitars. I think you'll really like them.....and the sound. :AOK

 

[stingx]

LOL on the "macho stuff." I think people should just use what they like and works best for them. For me, 10s just sound better than lighter gauges. I never switched because so and so uses a particular gauge. I just experimented with different brands and gauges and kept buying/using what I found felt good to my fingers and sounded good to my ears.

 

[piebaldpython]

I like 11's on my Tele........primarily because I intersperse a lot of slide with fretting.....or just play mostly slide depending on the tune.

 

[deeaa]

I recommend everyone to once try a mixed set for highs and lows. Really, why stick with what the companies offer? It's just a price of a set and you might really like it.

Just take a .009 set and substitute the three low strings from a .11 set. It takes a few minutes to get used to bigger change over the mid strings, but it's very nice, really the best of both words.
I use 9,11,17 and then 30,40,49 or 50 or even 52 depending on guitar and what I find. Some guitars won't accept a .52 (can't intonate, the bridge doesn't go far enough back).

 

[BackwoodTele]

I use Ernie Ball Heavy Bottoms Light Tops (10 -52) on my Strat and my Tele.
I like that the top end is easy to bend and very usable in solos, and I love that the bottom end adds thickness and is great with overdrive/distortion

 

[Commodore 64]

I don't attribute my affinity for 10s to any type of macho motivation. I have big hands and tend to squeeze hard. That means I pull a lot of stuff sharp. 10s strike the balance for me, 8 and 9s I'm way outta tune, especially on chords and rhythm playing. 11s and 12s are too hard for me to chord around on, I'm talking particularly about Barre and partial chords further on up the neck.

 

[kuvash]

10's

I made the same observation myself "64" and it was especially evident on my JA90 Tele which has medium jumbo frets and a shorter scale length...I tend to apply a bit of pressure on chords and go sharp.So for me it was 10's and remember to "lighten up"
Honest folks...I wasn't trying to make mine bigger or go for more girth,no siree.

kuvash

 

[deeaa]

I'm still looking for balance, and I'm pretty happy with what I have now.

Instead of just putting same strings on every axe, I find it best to select a suitable set for each guitar.

Thus my Fender scale axes have sets that have .11 bottom end but .9 set top end - great tight chording but easy lead bends.
My Gibby scales seem to work fine with regular .10 set due to shorter scale - the chording is less tight but then again they're different guitars in every way anyhow & it's cool to have a clear difference.

I also keep one guitar strung with 09 superlights in case I want to record some crazy fast passage for instance, and my main studio/recording guitar is strung with .11 heavy set with wound G because when recording you can play again and again until you get it right even with thick strings, and the thickness really makes recorded sound so much clearer and punchier with less drive required.

 

[Duffy]

You might want to try the new "cobalt" strings. They are advertized to be more powerful and clear sounding. I found them to be louder and very nice. They made such a big difference in sound and tone that they reminded me of the difference you notice when you put some good new pickups in a guitar. I definitely like them. Whether they last longer I don't know but they do have a different sound them that some may find useful.

I still use D'darrio nines and tens, and Slinkys. The "cobalts" are just another option.

 

[Tig]

You might want to try the new "cobalt" strings.

I like the set I put on my Reverend (P-90's). I think they work really well on single coil guitars, especially when you are looking for a bright, clear, well defined sound. I bet they'll go nicely on my Hell No.2 (Tele style) and my Gretsch.

 

[Commodore 64]

I have recently converted to hybrid 9s. It's a 9 set on eGB and 10 set on EAD. I always figured i'd go up in gauge the longer I played, but that doesn't seem to be the case.