54 gauge for a low B, am I finally losing it...

[Shask]

I always hated referring to the high string as the reference for the set, never made sense to me. 9's? 9 to what? 9-42 or 9-49, that's a major difference. 10-46 or 10-52? Again, a hell of a difference. Back in "the day" I guess it always meant 9-42 or 10-46, but I never really used those sets or knew anybody that did. But Ohio is weird.

Here in Indiana, you just said pink, yellow, or purple, lol.

For the Ernie Ball 9s, 10s, or 11s.

 

[DECEMBER]

I used to like 11-54. The gauges vary so wildly, you're right. But in my ole drop C metal band I was the guy that played most of the cleans. Hated the 22 (or 24in the 12-56 set) that came as a G cause it was so dull and lifeless. There was a D Addario set I would always snag but rarely saw. 11-15-19-30-42-54 was the best compromise. I'm all NYXL now cause I'm a lazy caveman that changes his strings 3-4 times a year, I should see if they come in that.

That's close, but the 42 and 30 are way too big for drop-D, and I need a wound G, but no more than 20w. I never understood the light-top/heavy-bottom set... are we just drop-tuning the 3 bottom strings?! It's usually just the one lowest (drop-D) or all of them.
The closest set to mine is D'Addario 49 38 28 21w 14 11, but only in XL, not NYXL. Since I have to buy the 54 separately anyway, and the 21w and 14 are a compromise, I have to build sets from singles. It ends up costing twice as much per set as a pack, even if I get the 5-packs of D'Addario XL singles. And you don't get any of the Player's Circle points.
I've been getting the Optima gold-plated plain 15 and 11, they aren't as harsh, sound really nice. I got a set of Curt Mangan stainless steel for the 4 wound strings to try next, and a Stringjoy set.
I really don't like plain strings and would use all wounds if they made them small enough. I have a 27" baritone in drop-A with only one plain string (68 49 37 26 19w 13.5).
I'm also tuning down to A=432Hz (about 1/3 of one semitone), so that's why they're heavier gauges than usual, and I don't like loose and twangy, and I never bend.

 

[Edika]

When started down tuning I followed the advice for string gauges from the forum here and the string tension calculators. Yes tension was good and intonation was better (still some warble on the thick strings) but the guitars sounded like a boomy, muddy mess. There was not much edge to the sound. Most of my guitars had floating bridges so it was difficult to experiment.

Many guitars later and several packs of strings and it depends on the guitar lol. But most benefit in terms of sound and attack at gauges below what is recommended. I have two 25.5" 7 strings in 10-59 with one in B and the other in B flat. One 7 string at 25.5" at B with 9-54. Any D standard guitar, either 24.75" or 25.5" with either 11-49 or 11-50 balanced set, C standard at 12-56, but also have a 25.5" at B standard with a 12-56. The last one is a bit floppy feeling but sounds good. Maybe could benefit from a 12-60, but I haven't liked that set at all. I run it on C in the past and B and sounded like crap.
I have two 27" strings in A (one is fixed bridge so I can drop it to G) with a 11-49 and a 64 and 66 on the other for the low A. They sound clear, even better than my 25.5" 7 strings. So I'm even thinking of dropping a gauge on the low note for them lol.
I've down tuned for a but some of my 6 string 24.75" with the 11-50 down to B and they sounded so clear. They were floppy but so clean sounding and aggressive. But that's a bit too light lol.

 

[Lemonbaby]

....or am I just growing old

IDK man I've been having RIDICULOUS fun going from a 60 to 54 on low B. It's much tighter, but somehow chunkier?

Let me guess: once you start playing, that string sounds like a C. But seriously, 54 isn't ridiculously light.

 

[Shask]

That's close, but the 42 and 30 are way too big for drop-D, and I need a wound G, but no more than 20w. I never understood the light-top/heavy-bottom set... are we just drop-tuning the 3 bottom strings?! It's usually just the one lowest (drop-D) or all of them.

These days I normally use the light top / heavy bottom type sets. Since the wound strings feel a bit more slinky than the plain strings, I feel like these types of sets actually feel more balanced from top to bottom, regardless of what calculators say.

I tried some of the DAddario Balanced Tension sets, and I was not a fan. The plain strings felt much tighter than the wound strings.

 

[BabUShka]

No, you just finally saw the light lol

I started lowering my gauges about 10 years ago and never looked back. Plus I can actually bend my strings lol

I was watching a rig rundown with Scott Ian and he said the same thing. He would go up to 11s in standard D#,. Butdecided to go back to 9s and his tone just got so much better. It was pretty horrible when he was running 11s.

Edit: hell I actually went a lighter gauge on some guitars as well just recently. I went down to 8 - 42 in standard and 9 - 46 in d#

Just saw an interesting interview with Jason Richardson about this on Ernie Ball channel where he explains why he prefers as light gauge as possible. Main reason is that the strings are vibrating more (higher frequency) resulting in a more tone.

Edit, it was a GC interview:

 

[DECEMBER]

These days I normally use the light top / heavy bottom type sets. Since the wound strings feel a bit more slinky than the plain strings, I feel like these types of sets actually feel more balanced from top to bottom, regardless of what calculators say.

I tried some of the DAddario Balanced Tension sets, and I was not a fan. The plain strings felt much tighter than the wound strings.

In what tuning? I've tried 42 and 30 for A and D on a 24.75", and even tuned down to A=432Hz they're way too stiff. 42 & 30 would be what I'd use for drop-C (G & C on those two strings), but then the low C would need to be at least a 56, and the FAD would need to be bigger than 17 13 10.
My 25" gets 52 37 26 20w 14 11 for drop-D, A=432Hz, and my 24.75" gets
54 38 28 20w 15 11 for the same tuning.

 

[Legion]

Let me guess: once you start playing, that string sounds like a C. But seriously, 54 isn't ridiculously light.

No? It... Sounds like a B? Because it's tuned to a B? I don't quite follow what you're trying to say, apologies

Just saw an interesting interview with Jason Richardson about this on Ernie Ball channel where he explains why he prefers as light gauge as possible. Main reason is that the strings are vibrating more (higher frequency) resulting in a more tone.

Edit, it was a GC interview:

"More vibration= more tone" is right up there with "fishman pickups have lower latency" when it comes to stupid statements famous musicians make.


Having played significantly lighter strings than usual for a decent stretch of time, what I can tell you is that the tone is much tighter because there less low end content to overwhelm your signal. I'm going to be sticking with these, possibly going a touch lighter even.

 

[op1e]

That's close, but the 42 and 30 are way too big for drop-D, and I need a wound G, but no more than 20w. I never understood the light-top/heavy-bottom set... are we just drop-tuning the 3 bottom strings?! It's usually just the one lowest (drop-D) or all of them.
The closest set to mine is D'Addario 49 38 28 21w 14 11, but only in XL, not NYXL. Since I have to buy the 54 separately anyway, and the 21w and 14 are a compromise, I have to build sets from singles. It ends up costing twice as much per set as a pack, even if I get the 5-packs of D'Addario XL singles. And you don't get any of the Player's Circle points.
I've been getting the Optima gold-plated plain 15 and 11, they aren't as harsh, sound really nice. I got a set of Curt Mangan stainless steel for the 4 wound strings to try next, and a Stringjoy set.
I really don't like plain strings and would use all wounds if they made them small enough. I have a 27" baritone in drop-A with only one plain string (68 49 37 26 19w 13.5).
I'm also tuning down to A=432Hz (about 1/3 of one semitone), so that's why they're heavier gauges than usual, and I don't like loose and twangy, and I never bend.

Well for drop D I can see why those would be a bit much. I was in D standard and drop C. The EB 8 string set I used to use for 7's was crazy when I was in standard with a Drop A, 10-54 for the first 6. I only got it cause i wanted the 74. But after a while I stopped being a caveman and went down to 70 then 68 with 10-52.

 

[Shask]

In what tuning? I've tried 42 and 30 for A and D on a 24.75", and even tuned down to A=432Hz they're way too stiff. 42 & 30 would be what I'd use for drop-C (G & C on those two strings), but then the low C would need to be at least a 56, and the FAD would need to be bigger than 17 13 10.
My 25" gets 52 37 26 20w 14 11 for drop-D, A=432Hz, and my 24.75" gets
54 38 28 20w 15 11 for the same tuning.

I Typically use 9-46 for E and Eb, 10-48 for D and C#, and sometimes 10-52 for C# on certain guitars.

I use 9-46+59 for my 7s.

 

[Grindspine]

I just can't. 54 for a B at 25.5 just feels too light to me. I cannot use light picks either. I don't want to brush the string, I want to feel the strings when I hit them.

.059 for a B at 25.5" is okay. .059 for Bb at 26.5" is okay too. I gotta move up to 11-64 to go down to A though.

 

[budda]

I just can't. 54 for a B at 25.5 just feels too light to me. I cannot use light picks either. I don't want to brush the string, I want to feel the strings when I hit them.

.059 for a B at 25.5" is okay. .059 for Bb at 26.5" is okay too. I gotta move up to 11-64 to go down to A though.

Didnt change my pick, just how hard I play and when.

 

[STRHelvete]

My main guitars are Gibson scale and I float from Drop D to Drop C# depending on mood. I'm still working on trying to find the right strings as for years I just used thick strings because in my head "thick strings = thick sound". Also, most of my guitar life was just me being chug monkey, slinging the guitar super low, and just doing rhythm. Now that I'm doing more leads, my playing consists of more than chugs, and because of pinch harmonics I find that I'm easing up off heavy strings and trying to find a happy medium in terms of tension and sound. I've eased down to 10-52 but honestly I'm beginning to think that the balanced 11-50s will probably be what I need. I have noticed the characteristics of the tone have changed. Hard to describe but I feel like thicker strings are more "dry" so to speak and thinner strings get swallowed by gain a little more in a pleasant way. It definitely effects chugs and whatnot. I have yet to order a balanced set but I'm going to and then see if it works for both tunings. I read the info for the balanced set and I think that's my best bet, plus the D'addario NYXL color for it is purple which is one of my favorite colors. How could it be wrong when it's so pretty?




Also Ernie Ball has this to say: https://blog.ernieball.com/strings/what-string-gauges-should-you-be-playing/

 

[StevenC]

Main reason is that the strings are vibrating more (higher frequency) resulting in a more tone.

Edit, it was a GC interview:

This is not how physics work

Also, he doesn't say what gauges he uses for those tunings, just "light".

 

[lattjeful]

This is not how physics work

Also, he doesn't say what gauges he uses for those tunings, just "light".

11-58 - so maybe the Ernie Ball 7 String Power Slinky - in C# Standard, with a low F#. Somehow.

Wouldn't work for me but hey it works for him.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

This thread is so refreshing compared to the average string gauge discussion on guitar forums!

There seems to be a lot of misinformation online about string gauges, which leads to a lot of people starting with excessively heavy string gauges for 6-string guitars in low tunings (compared to what the same people use for E standard) and for 7-string guitars in general (extra heavy strings for all 7 strings, rather than just the low B, even though the other 6 strings are the same as a 6-string in E standard).

I use 9-42 for a I completely understand why someone who prefers 10-46 in E standard would opt for 10-59 (10-46 + 59) or similar, for a 7-string in standard tuning, but not why anyone would jump up 2-3 gauges for the 6 strings that are the same tuning + same scale length as on their 6-string guitars. If you believe "the internet", a high E string will suddently become far too floppy and just fall off the fretboard if you add a 7th string - unless you replace it with a bridge cable. It's as though the extra string breaks people's brains and all logic goes out the window.

There are also lots of people out there who recognise the logic in keeping the 6 highest strings consistent with what they'd use on a 6-string, but buy standard 6-string sets and add an excessively thick single for the low string, because the 7th string in a standard 7-string set is "too floppy". Ernie Ball puts a lighter 7th string in their 7-string sets than the D'Addarios that Ibanez sends it's Universe & 7-string RG models out of the factory with...but according to the internet string manufacturers and guitar manufacturers are all wrong.

When I started looking into string gauges for a 6-string RG in B standard, one of my first thoughts was:
"Why would Ibanez send its highly-acclaimed Universe guitars out of the factory with 9-54 gauge strings, if this would make them as unusable as 99% of people on guitar forums say it would?".
I use 9-42s on my 25.5" 6-strings in E standard, so I based my string gauge for a 25.5" 6-string in B standard on what Ibanez (and plenty of other brands) puts on the lowest 6 strings of their 7-string models.

When I bought my first 7-string (RGD2127Z with 26.5" scale), the previous owner had dropped it down a step with 9-54 gauge strings, because they found the tension too high in standard tuning. This made a lot of sense to me, as the longer scale length increases the string tension, so the lower tuning roughly offset this difference.
I believe he sold the guitar because the hybrid 26.5" scale length threw off their usual string gauge choices (for their collection of 25.5" and 27" fixed-bridge 7-strings), and then found that the floating bridge (which none of his other guitars had) made it too frustrating to play about with different string gauges. If "the internet" was right about string gauges for 7-strings, the longer scale length should have resulted in a superior feel and tone, so he should have been delighted with the difference in this guitar...rather than having no desire to play or own it.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

11-58 - so maybe the Ernie Ball 7 String Power Slinky - in C# Standard, with a low F#. Somehow.

Wouldn't work for me but hey it works for him.

11-49 is what I'd choose for a 6-string in C standard, so that seems about right to me

 

[StevenC]

11-58 - so maybe the Ernie Ball 7 String Power Slinky - in C# Standard, with a low F#. Somehow.

Wouldn't work for me but hey it works for him.

I agree with @Neon_Knight_, 11-48 seems fine for C# standard. It's a bit light, but not crazy.

58 for F# at 25.5" seems completely unusable though.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I agree with @Neon_Knight_, 11-48 seems fine for C# standard. It's a bit light, but not crazy.

58 for F# at 25.5" seems completely unusable though.

I didn't read that part properly. I never tune that low, but I'd guess I'd be looking at something like a 70.

 

[Krucifixtion]

In my mind it's a matter of an appropriate amount of tension regardless of the tuning, but I do agree that going too heavy simply sounds like mud when you are talking about tones with a decent amount of gain on them. For cleans I feel like that's a different story, but I have been dropping my guages too over the years to whatever is just enough to hold tension and tuning depending on the scale length and tuning.