RGIB6 with thin strings?

[Adam D.]

Hey everyone!

I'd like to ask for your opinions/suggestions again.
Recently I've purchased an Ibanez RGD321 which I've intentended to use in Drop A, and based on the suggestions here on the forums and D'Addario's string gauge chart, I had it set up with NYXL 12-60 (plain G).
It works pretty well in general, but to be honest, I kind of came to the conclusion this combination is not necessarily what I want.
The guitar itself would be a fabulous instrument for Drop C with light strings (which may be in the pipeline, we'll see), and it intonates pretty well as currently is, but the strings are quite chunky for my taste and even with the professional setup and awesome strings I'm getting very low tightness on the higher 3 strings, and the .060 feels like wet noodles.
Since I'm not a big fan of thick strings (neither tone-wise nor feel-wise),
I came to the conclusion I should try an RGIB6.
Originally I really didn't want to go with a 28" scale because I'm very much afraid of that length on a general use guitar, but since trying a 27.7" SE Mushok I'm a bit more optimistic. The Mushok was pretty managable.

I hope you'll excuse the longish intro - so the main question would be the following: what do you think about an RGIB6 in Drop A with light(ish) strings, gentlemen? I'm thinking NYXL 1156, but my dreams would come true if a set of 1052 was enough.
I know it's very much personal preference, so to give you guys some datapoints:
currently I have a 25.5" neck-through RG in drop C with a custom Ernie Ball 11-56 set (a wee bit too chunky for me, but sounds absolutely brilliant, harmonics are strong with this one ), a 27" RG8 in Drop E with NYXL 09-80 (ideal for me, except for the low E, that could probably use an .084) and the 26.5" RGD in Drop D with NXYL 12-60.
Do you think the above mentioned 11-56 or even 10-52 setup would fly with an RGIB6?
I really like how the light strings feel and sound on my 27" RG8, so I'd try to get as close to that as possible, of course within the tonal and physhical constraints of baritone tuning.
Also, are regular strings long enough for this scale length without locking tuners?

Thanks a lot for taking the time to sort through my blabbering, guys!

Best,

Adam

 

[Aliascent]

Had a RGIB6, came to me with 11-56 and it worked but was a tad too stiff (Ernie ball strings). Changed it to 10-52 (d'addario) and it worked but I lost all the baritone growliness in the process. In the end I went for 12-60, which worked against all odds.

Regular strings will work at that scale length.

Hope that helps.

 

[MerlinTKD]

I've got a 28.625" 8, I'm using Stringjoy's 9-72 set with an 80 and its perfect; if you like 9-80 at 27", I think a 10 or 11 set would be a very similar feel, depending on the exact tension vs balance you're looking for.

Unrelated rant: why, in deities' names, does Ibanez insist on 27" for their 8 strings tuned to F# or drop E, but can do a 28" just fine for a 6 string tuned to B??? Sigh.

 

[Winspear]

60 is super loose in A indeed (70 needed for tension similar to a pack of 10's), so indeed if that already feels too fat for you, a long scale is the way to go for you.
However you may be disappointed by how little scale length affects tension. You can easily calculate it - 28 / 25.5 is 1.09 - so you can divide the gauge by 1.09 for the same tuning.
If the 60 was good on 25.5, that implies a 55 would be ok on 28. But the 60 is loose , as you said. More than likely the 28 inch scale will just make the 60 feel nice - like using a 65 on 25.5 (which is about bare minimum for A, for me)

 

[Winspear]

Unrelated rant: why, in deities' names, does Ibanez insist on 27" for their 8 strings tuned to F# or drop E, but can do a 28" just fine for a 6 string tuned to B??? Sigh.

I think there is just a fairly popular bias against long high E strings. People even complain about 27 and say a 27-25.5 multiscale is essential. A baritone 6 doesn't have a high E so is considered a non issue. It's quite exaggerated in my opinion but it is what it is.

 

[Winspear]

Wait, you said RGD - so those are 26.5 right? Even less difference - 1.055x
So 60 28 = 64 26.5. This will feel like tuning your 26.5 60 to Bb instead of A.

The trebles would be reduced a similar amount for equal tension (down from 11 to 10.5 , etc)

 

[MerlinTKD]

I think there is just a fairly popular bias against long high E strings. People even complain about 27 and say a 27-25.5 multiscale is essential. A baritone 6 doesn't have a high E so is considered a non issue. It's quite exaggerated in my opinion but it is what it is.

Ah yeah, didn't think about that. Good point. I also agree that the issue is crazy exaggerated

 

[Adam D.]

Hey guys!

Thanks a lot for all the information!
I think I'll need to get my mitts on an RGIB6!