Strings and Nuts...

[ted s]

Hey folks, me new Tele came with "Fender super 250's", .009 > .042.
How much wiggle room do you think there is if you fatten up before having to think about the tweaking the nut ?

TIA

edit.. I just realized I left the door open for some funny responses

 

[duhvoodooman]

Hey folks, me new Tele came with "Fender super 250's", .009 > .042.
How much wiggle room do you think there is if you fatten up before having to think about the tweaking the nut ?

TIA

edit.. I just realized I left the door open for some funny responses

I'll bet anything past "10's" are likely to give significant binding.

Funny responses? How so??

 

[ted s]

Thanks DVM..
tweak... nut..... I hate that !

 

[SuperSwede]

I can think of a few responses...

Ah well, I think that all guitars should come with 010 strings. They give a much better sound and feeling, and actually raises the output of the guitar. More fat and not much wiggling ye olde nut required on a tele. Sure, there will be more tension but its definately worth it imho.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I can think of a few responses...

Ah well, I think that all guitars should come with 010 strings. They give a much better sound and feeling, and actually raises the output of the guitar. More fat and not much wiggling ye olde nut required on a tele. Sure, there will be more tension but its definately worth it imho.

I am used to heavier strings anyway from my acoustic, so I think I will give it a try when I re-string my strat. It has what it came with on now. (I don't even know what they are). It seems like a little more tension would help me rather than hurt me with control for tremelo and bending.Any suggestions on a set to buy? I am sure everyone has their favorites.

 

[SuperSwede]

Most strats seems to come with 009 sets, which is really sad. A Strat needs at least 010 to sound its best.

Favorite strings? Elixir´s works great for me because I am lazy and want my strings to stay fresh for a long time. I hate changing strings.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

I agree....10s or fatter on Strats and Teles. 10s are fine for Les Pauls. Ernie Balls.

 

[t_ross33]

009s belong on the Hello Kitty strats 010s seem right to me on Strats and Teles - 011s get pretty beefy, and from my experience you would need to make adjustments to the nut to accomodate. There may be some issues going back to a lighter guage once you have the nut carved out to accept larger dia strings. SRV is reported to have played 012s or 013s

011s RAWK on my HB-30 though! :R But I don't like the wound G string on the set I have on now.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I currently have 10's on my strat like Godin SD & 11s on my chambered Godin Radiator. They both used to have 9s.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Well, I've gone and done it. Broke my first string. Coincidentally spoke to the prior owner of my guitar who told me that it has Ernie Ball "10s" on it. Well, after ski coaching tomorrow it is into the guitar shop. Gotta get a new string on so I can play that new amp the rest of the weekend!

 

[SuperSwede]

Steve, you should probably replace the entire set. God knows how long the 10´s have been on your guitar. Get a pack of Elixir 10´s and you will never go back to regular strings again.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

What SS said. I'd replace the entire set.

 

[Hogfullofblues]

More good info for us newbies so I read a little on Elixirs. Need to be ready when I finally have to change a set.
SS, do you use the Elixirs with the poly coating or nano coating?

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Ideally I would replace all with Elixir 10s to try them. The local shop does not carry the electric Elixirs, just EBs, and D'Addarios and a couple others, so either I'll do a whole set of the D'Addarios for now, or just throw a new EB D string on for today, and order a set of Elixirs.

 

[marnold]

Well, I'm going to totally disagree with earlier posters. My (standard-tuned) Fender has a set of GHS .009-.046. Granted, it's a single humbucker so it's not a "traditional" Strat. When I first started playing I heard all the comments that you needed at least .010s on your guitar to get "tone." All it got me was sore fingers and it kept me from playing with any consistency. If that's the case, then what's the point? Besides that, it is my understanding that Billy Gibbons uses 008s.

I do have a set of .010-.052 D'Addarios on my '51, but that's because I tuned it down to Eb. The .009s were so flabby when tuned down that it was almost impossible to play without fret buzz or fretting notes sharp. That set tuned down gives me roughly the same feel as the .009-.046 set tuned standard.

I'm sure that SRV did a lot to perpetuate the "big strings / better tone" argument. Just because he played .013s (or higher) tuned to Eb doesn't mean that any other sane person should feel obligated to do the same. I can't imagine what I'd have to tune down to. Also, a lot of the NuMetalers and others used huge strings, but you need to when you tune to Drop-D two steps down. You'll also note that NuMetalers very rarely reached for the higher strings.

There was a nice interview with Walter Trout in the January GuitarOne. He said, "By the way, I've always thought it was a myth that you need gigantic strings to get good tone. I got so sick of that myth that I started telling people that I get the skinniest strings available and tune up to F. But that was just to mess with them--I actually use Rotosound .009s and tune standard."

 

[SuperSwede]

More good info for us newbies so I read a little on Elixirs. Need to be ready when I finally have to change a set.
SS, do you use the Elixirs with the poly coating or nano coating?

I use the nano. 010 - 046 works very good with my guitar, but I am thinking about trying a set of 010 - 052.

 

[t_ross33]

Since playing (and purchasing ) with more consistancy this past year, I am discovering that I have much to learn - even after 25 odd years playing.

Not only will different size stings affect the sound of your guitar, but different brands will sound different on different guitars. And obviously the way they "feel" is personal preference. Unlike Marnold, I find 009s too "slinky" (for lack of a better word) - likely because of my background with bass and acoustic guitars. I'm probably a bit heavy handed and like to dig-in too much, but 011s get pretty tough to bend. So 010s it is for me.

I'm not entirely sold on Elixirs. My favorite set (right now) for Ol' Hartley is EB Hybrid-Slinkys. I'm going to try EB 011s (without the wound G string) on Cherry and see what happens. I might go to 010s eventually.

Sorry for the ramble...I don't really know what I'm talking about

 

[Spudman]

Steve
Find out where the string broke before you shell out a daily lift ticket price for Elixers. If you have a burr on a bridge saddle then you surely want to attend to that before rupturing another more expensive and hard to replace string.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Steve
Find out where the string broke before you shell out a daily lift ticket price for Elixers. If you have a burr on a bridge saddle then you surely want to attend to that before rupturing another more expensive and hard to replace string.

It was definately down at the bridge. I had placed the meaty part of my hand down near the bridge and was re-positioning the guitar on my lap, when it went "sproing". I will look at it more closely now.

Marnold - Thanks for the different point of view. For me, as to size, my strat had 10s on there but I don't know if it was up to 046 or 052. The strings on there are not hard on my hands. I am more used to acoustic strings, and if anything, I am ham fisted fisted enough on my electric to bend the string out of tune when I fret the note or chord as a result. Obviously I need to clean that up, but I don't think I will go lighter in size at this point. Thanks guys.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Went in and Chip Booth, local monster player, checked out the bridge saddle for me, ok'd it, and gave me a re-stringing seminar with new D'Addarios, 010-046. Local legendary luthier Bozo Cardoza watched on and added his stringing tips, so I felt in very good hands. I may order a set of Elixir Nanos to try next time.

 

[marnold]

Marnold - Thanks for the different point of view. For me, as to size, my strat had 10s on there but I don't know if it was up to 046 or 052. The strings on there are not hard on my hands. I am more used to acoustic strings, and if anything, I am ham fisted fisted enough on my electric to bend the string out of tune when I fret the note or chord as a result. Obviously I need to clean that up, but I don't think I will go lighter in size at this point. Thanks guys.

The funny thing is that I was a bass player in a former life, so I'm used to huge strings. The problem is with bending the unwound ones. I would imagine if I could play more often (read: as often as I would like) I would eventually get to the same point you are and grip chords too tightly. I also get flashbacks to my early attempts to play acoustic which was painful and generally awful. Part of it was bigger strings. Part of it was the horrific action on my cheapo guitar. That made playing the guitar a chore and an exercise in frustration. Where's the fun in that?

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Steve
Find out where the string broke before you shell out a daily lift ticket price for Elixers. If you have a burr on a bridge saddle then you surely want to attend to that before rupturing another more expensive and hard to replace string.

Well I just broke the b-string at the bridge on my Godin Radiator. I only ever break the b or the g. I was doing some bass & strum rhythm work with a thick pick. I was probably hitting the treble strings too hard. I looked & couldn't see any burr. How would I polish up the saddle? Use steel wool? Sandpaper? Get a file?

Thanks!

 

[Spudman]

Try a little 1500 grit wet dry paper where the string touches the saddle.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Try a little 1500 grit wet dry paper where the string touches the saddle.

Thanks Spud. I'll do that today.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I just polished all the saddles on my Radiator with wet 1500 grit sandpaper as well as buffing up the rosewood fretboard with 0000 grade steel wool, & then I used a little Gerlitz guitar honey on the board.

I restrung it with 10's. It was the cleanest restring that I have ever done. New strings are always so sweet. I like the 10s better than 11s I had on there. I put the 11s on because at some point I plan to turn the radiator into my slide gitbox (tuned to open G). But that time isn't yet, so back to 10s I went.

Tomorrow I will top off the intonation. Thanks for the help.

 

[r_a_smith3530]

My G&L S-500 (strat) and my Peavey Reactor (tele) both wear/wore .010-.046 D'Addario XLs. I installed a set of Graph-Tech StringSaver Saddles on my Reactor and I have to say that I've never broken a string on it, and that's with numerous 1 1/2+ step bends.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Yeah, if I continue to break strings, then it'll be graph-techs for me too.