RG2228 String Gauge ideas.

[Chris]

So I'm not super happy with the stock strings on the 228. The thing needs a 68/70 for the low end, at the very least - it's just too loose for my liking because I've always loved really big strings on my sevens. I've run 11-70 a few times on my C7 and it's just so massive feeling (and sounding) that I'd like to go that way with the 8 as well. The .070 is a little too big for the B, but for the F# I think it would be pretty damn glorious. I'm thinking something like:

011 - .015 - .022 - .030 - .040 - .050 - .065 - .070

Is there any obvious reason why that wouldn't work? I'm keeping it standard, F#BEADGBE.

 

[Krunch]

That should work just fine. 70 should be around 14.5 lbs of tension which is fine. Personally I'd do .075 or .080 for F#. Your steels are heavier than I'm used to, the .011 will be about 21 lbs. You should probably cut those down to 10/13/17, in my opinion.

I'm still using an .080 tuned to F, and I have an 85 ready for my next change because I want more tension.

 

[Chris]

Hmm, that might be really comfortable as well. I'll probably make my way up past 70, but baby steps. I'm actually trying to woodshed on the thing and get my hands (and mind) wrapped around 8-strings worth of scale.

So you're saying:

010 - 013 - 017 - 030 - 040 -050 - 065 -070

Would still be around the right tension?

Thanks very much man.

 

[Apophis]

Wrong..
Heavy highs and light bottom.
If you like that use better something like 009 012 016 024 032 044 060 080 will be nice

 

[Chris]

Hrm. I don't really like light bottoms, and anything smaller than an 010 on the top feels way too thin for me.

 

[Apophis]

so increase strings one step, but then you have to have 85 as a F# at least

 

[Crucified]

i had a 64 as my f# and loved it. i've now changed to 68 and the tension is off for me. i'm going to try a 70 and see if it helps. i play a tonne of chords on the low b and f# strings so its a process for me to get them to not be muddy.

 

[Krunch]

Using this as a quick, but not necessarily accurate reference
String Guage and Tension Calculator - Version 0.1.4 - 26 apr 1998

Well I'm not sure how much you like, I'm guessing you usually use 11s? Thats heavier than I am used to.

65->70 is a pretty weak jump so I'd take that up a lot to match the others, or take everything else down to match the 70 a bit more. Mine starts around 13 lbs on the steels and goes up to 18-20 lbs on the wound strings.

This is what you suggested according to said inaccurate calculator:
E .010 PL == 18.18#
B, .013" PL == 17.25#
G, .017" PL == 18.58#
D, .030" NW == 28.07#
A,, .040" NW == 26.85#
E,, .050" NW == 22.93#
B,,, .065" NW == 22.29#
^F,,, .070" NW == 14.43#
total == 168.58#

which is really really heavy imo. 28 lbs is way too much for me. Also, the drop from 22 to 14 will feel wierd. Actually I thought your numbers looked more reasonable because I'm used to tuning down 1/2 step or 1 step, so I use those numbers myself. But looking at the tensions there I'd recommend going a lot lighter.

The strings I'm throwing on for next string change: Tuned 1/2 down to F.
9 13.12
13 15.36
17 16.55
26 18.38
36 19.51
49 19.66
65 19.86
85 18.43

 

[Apophis]

what about rest of your strings you use Crucified ???

 

[Chris]

I use 11's on 6's and 10's on my sevens for the most part. Ideally I'd like a 10 for the high E and something less-than-80 for the F#.

Edit: This is damn interesting, btw. I should have started paying attention to this ages ago. Thanks again guys.

 

[Apophis]

The strings I'm throwing on for next string change: Tuned 1/2 down to F.
9 13.12
13 15.36
17 16.55
26 18.38
36 19.51
49 19.66
65 19.86
85 18.43

add a 010 as highE and will be ok.

I use 11's on 6's and 10's on my sevens for the most part. Ideally I'd like a 10 for the high E and something less-than-80 for the F#.

Edit: This is damn interesting, btw. I should have started paying attention to this ages ago. Thanks again guys.

so you want tight highs and lighter bottom

 

[Krunch]

In that case I'd say 10-13-17-(24 or 26)-(32 or 36)-50-65-75 for Chris or the nearest standard set.

 

[Crucified]

i think the rest are fairly standad 10 or 11 - 46-56-68

 

[Chris]

In that case I'd say 10-13-17-(24 or 26)-(32 or 36)-50-65-75 for Chris

Thanks very much man. How big of a truss adjustment am I looking at?

[action=Chris]runs off to Google the stock string gauges, because he doesn't know what the fuck they actually are. [/action]

 

[Krunch]

You'll be going up 40 lbs or more total, so you'll have to do something to it, how much I don't know. I went up about 25 lbs from the stocks and I only had to make a small adjustment (less than a quarter turn).

 

[Popsyche]

Go out and cut some phone cables off the pole out front! Jeeze those are big!

[action=popsyche] only sez this as he has no idea what the thing came with![/action]

 

[ohio_eric]

Use a standard set of .010s. The B will be between .056 and .060. Then slap something like a .075 or so on there and you should be swell.

 

[Drew]

This is funny.

I'd be a little leery of immediately jumping to 11's for that 27" scale. 10's are probably a better start.

I'm going to also suggest you grab some Elixirs, because they rule and stay crisp longer on the bass side.

a set of Elixirs is like 10-48, so you could probably get away with a .56 and a .68 for your low B and E. They're both a little lighter than I'd personally like (I use a .68 in B on 25.5"), but I'm an Elixir whore and would use "whatever Elixer has" over anything.

Then again, since the 2228 has the EdgeFX, you can use bass strings with the ball cut off with no ill effect, so maybe a set of 10's with like a 60 and a 70-72 would be nice, or if you want to go heavier, the .68 and then like an .80 for the low F#, for absolutely massive tension.

Actually, yeah, I'd go that way. Heavier strings are half the secret to the Drew Setup™ since they don't oscillate as widely as lighter ones do, so they'll buzz less at a given height. As it is, I'd have trouble bringing that F# down much because it'd buzz too much with that light a string on it. go up above .75, however, and I bet I could get it pretty shreddy.

You should really loan it to me for a couple weeks, and let me get it dialed in with the appropriate set of strings for you.

 

[noodles]

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/se...nd-riot-s-guide-d-addario-string-tension.html



Unfortunately, it doesn't have anything about F#, but you should be able to figure out all the other gauges just fine. Think about what feels comfortable to you as the high e on a 27" scale instrument, and then try to match that tension as close as possible for everything else. Personally, my F# would probably be at least an 80.

 

[Decipher]

I use a set of DR MT7-10's (10-56) and a 72 for my F#. Seems to do the trick for me.