Drop B with 10s!!

[Curt]

you're the only guy I can relate to on this entire thread ! seriously I felt like an alien reading it; that, or everybody likes spaghetti strings xD

I like 10-52 on E standard, 12-56 on D, 14-62 on C, and 17-68 on B ...

I run 11-54 for E/Eb, 12-60 in Drop C, and 14-70 in Drop A

I have always enjoyed the fatter sound heavier tension gives, and I do a lot of bending/vibrato.
I was a huge SRV fan, but could not cope with the strings he used, so 11-54 it is. lol I like my lower tunings to actually be a bit looser because if I sacrifice some tension, the low end doesn't get too woofy.

 

[AliceLG]

11-54 in D (24.75"), 11-60 in drop C (24.75"), 11-52 + 70 in A (25.5"). I used a 64 for the C and a 74 for the A for a while but it was waaaaaaay to bassy. Then I tried a 68 for A and the tone was great but it felt to flabby, so I went 70. Bends and wide vibrato are no problem, I get 3-4 semitones on the higher string without much of a sweat. Squeals work great as well, they're harder on the 70 but that's to be expected.

 

[chassless]

I run 11-54 for E/Eb, 12-60 in Drop C, and 14-70 in Drop A

I have always enjoyed the fatter sound heavier tension gives, and I do a lot of bending/vibrato.
I was a huge SRV fan, but could not cope with the strings he used, so 11-54 it is. lol I like my lower tunings to actually be a bit looser because if I sacrifice some tension, the low end doesn't get too woofy.

yeah I agree about the "woofiness" although I still struggle to find the sweet spot of tension on my lowest strings; too tight and it's woofy, too loose and it's muddy. I guess that's where the longer scale guitars come in.

I guess that's how I prefer my strings : tight enough to have the fullness and fatness that heavy strings/tension give while still being not tight enough to retain sustain and response to pick attack.

 

[Alice AKW]

I've honestly never had a problem with woofiness, though that could have something to do with how much lows I cut out in my setup.

Also, I did the math for fun, if I wanted to run my 7 in F# with the same tension I'm used to with a 70 in B, I'd need a 94 xD

 

[chassless]

^ what scale ?

 

[Alice AKW]

^ what scale ?

My 7 is a 25.5, I'm getting a replacement for my 27" scale RG8 soon.

Oh, and for fun, if you wanted 26 pounds on an F# for an epiphone (the thread starter's guitar), you'd need around a 96 XD

 

[Winspear]

That 70 B string @ 26lbs really isn't that extreme. Nobody gives a thought to people using heavy bottom (10-54) sets in standard on six strings, which is similar. Very popular. Not to mention the fact that acoustics generally use 25lb sets.
Also no neck is going to break with 32lb strings, basses have anywhere up to 50

My ideals for a perfect set looks pretty much like this:
len 25.5
e4 .010 dapl == 16.21#
b3 .0135 dapl == 16.59#
g3 .018 dapl == 18.58#
d3 .0275 danw == 20.58#
a2 .0365 danw == 20.05#
e2 .050 danw == 20.46#

And I treat all electric guitars/tunings/scale lengths much the same. That would mean adding a 66 B and 90 F# at 25.5. I'm not really too fussy but if the lows drop below 18lb I get pissed
Acoustics I run @ 23-26lb and basses @ ~45lb

 

[hairychris]

First time I tried B standard was 20+ years ago (to play along to Entombed tracks) using 9 - 42s. Being careful they sounded OK, and you could do the most insane bends known to man.

 

[MikeSweeney]

I use 10s for E on my RG 11 D 12 for C so be better if you get a thicker 6th string too

 

[chassless]

the Necr-automaton strikes again ...

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

A necrobumper AND a walking advertisement for the Autotune guitar.

 

[CTID]

Necrobump aside, I actually typically use 10-52's in Drop A# on a 25.5". I prefer looser strings. Right now I have 11-54 in A# and you'd think it wouldn't be too big a difference in tension, but it feels far too tight on the higher strings. I like to be able to bend the shit out of my higher strings during solos/leads.

 

[Alphanumeric]

Are you all playing Ibanez's? I have 12-54's dunlops on my 121 in drop B and the tension is roughly the same as 9-46 E standard, and 11-56 d'addario on my avatar guitar and that's roughly the same ...

I'm sure string brand must come into it, I always found d'addario to be tighter than say ernie ball or dunlop, but not as much as, say, y'all must be using elixirs which are suuuppper tight ...