Opinions regarding string gauges?

[jbab]

Jesus a .72 on a six seems insane, what are you tuned to? My low A on my 7 is a .72 and I know alot of 7 players would say that is overkill

haha the .72 is on my 8. I use a .52 on my 6 in Estandard and a .60 for Drop-B

 

[jbab]

I use heavy strings on my 6 too, and the stocks strings (009, .012, .015, .022, .030, .040, .054, .072) on my Agile 28.6" scale are so so. The 009 through 015 are ok, but when it comes to the wound strings it's a different deal. The 072 (tuned to F) is waaaaay too flubby for me, I've ordered a 080 last week but still haven't received it.

EDIT: I'll post back once I install it and try it out.

As I said I finally restrung my 8! The 080 is just perfect for me in F, so it should do just fine in E as well. It might be a liiiiittle looser than a 052 in standard but not much of a big deal. The 7 remaining strings are a daddario 10-59 7 string set and the tension is great. Next time I restring it though, I may use an 009 set for the G-B-E strings. Full step bends are quite hard to reach and I would not risk going any further out of fear of breaking a string. The tension is good (the whole guitar is tuned a half step down btw) but the longer scale length makes the bends a bit too difficult.

 

[troyguitar]

I've obsessed over string tension for a while, it's all personal preference really. Some people have stronger fingers and can handle bending tighter strings, etc. Yngwie uses a set of 8's tuned a half step down at 25.5" scale but he also uses progressive tension, meaning his high E is the lowest tension string and the tension gets progressively higher per string up to the low E as highest tensioned string.

It's probably best if you check out one of the string tension calculators either online or search here for one. Then enter your current 6 string gauges / scale to see where you're at tension wise. That will help you then enter your 8's gauges / scale and setup a nicely balanced set to match the tension of your 6.

Malmsteen uses 10-46 but for tours he uses a .008 1st string since he bends the shit out of it.

 

[ra1der2]

Malmsteen uses 10-46 but for tours he uses a .008 1st string since he bends the shit out of it.

The 10-46 set is the "YJM approved" string set, but he uses the 8-48 set.


DMS - Yngwie's Magic™ Electric