String guage for Drop C Sharp 8 string

[Matt11768]

Hello, I am new to this forum, Recently I have been listening to a lot of the new After the Burial album and would like to play their stuff. They play in drop C sharp low to high C# G C F Bb Eb G C. I was wondering what string guage I should get for this tuning. I have a 28" scale length.

 

[Mik3D23]

Do you have an idea of what kind of string tension you like? I.E. another guitar set up with gauges you like the feel of?

Also !

 

[Matt11768]

I like my strings to be decently tight, not very floppy, but I would like to be able to play in standard tuning too if that is possible, I am fond of the feel of 11-54 string sets, if that helps with the idea of tension.

 

[Winspear]

Sadly the heavy feel is pretty impractical for ERGs. You'll be needing a .100 to reach standard tension (most people play lower but I don't recommend it). The Kalium/Circle K strings .106 gauge, their biggest guitar string, will be perfect imo. The same as a 50 E on 25.5 To match a 54 E you'd need a 115 but I don't recommend that for tonal reasons.

 

[noUser01]

I'd say .106. My buddy uses a .110 and I find it a bit too thick for me.

 

[Matt11768]

Thank you all for the replies, My local guitar center only sells one guage of 8 string sets which is a .74 set, where can I find a .106 string, or do you use a bass string?

 

[Winspear]

Yeah those sets are junk even for standard, they have the heavy 6 that you like and then a super slinky low end where there should be a 90 or so to match haha.
Elixir nanoweb and Circle K/Kalium are the only companies I'd suggest buying bass strings from, because the construction is the same as guitar strings and the tone will work. Other companies the strings are different and will sound off (the bass strings are meant to be used at double guitar tension, basically).
When moving into these guitars and crazy tunings I'd highly recommend moving to Kalium strings. You can put together whatever gauges you want at no extra cost, they have great bulk discounts when you know what you like, and their strings are far far superior for clarity of tone, intonation, and feel when it comes to the heavier gauges. They are somewhat a religion around here haha. I can help you put together a custom set with them if you'd like No other brand I've seen has a clue what they are doing with gauges yet, even for standard tuning, and when it comes to altered/lower tunings things get real messy.

 

[Matt11768]

Thank you so much I will be looking into those companies!, thank you!

 

[ceiling_fan]

It's worth noting that ATB use a Labella .090. Not a practical tension for me but they make it work.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

After the Burial tune their guitars to standard down a half a step, then only tune the lowest string down the rest of the way to C#

If your guitar has a 27" scale, I'd go with the Circle K 10-63 set and add a 106 for the C#

If D'addario are more your thing, go with their 13-62 set and add a high 10 and the low Circle K 106. LaBella has a 10-64 7 string set that would also work well for the first 7, then you could add anywhere from a 100 to 120 from them as well for the 8th