• Registered: 2011-04-26
  • Posts: 2

Topic: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

hi everybody from Spain!!!! I'm thinking about changing my strings gauge on my Les Paul. I've been using Ernie Ball's Regular Slinkys (0.10-0.46) for a year, but ir order to achieve Joe's tone and definition specially in soloing I'm thinking about using 0.11 and wrap them around the bridge.

So my main question is: what's the difference, specially in the tone? It sounds different with 0.11s? I want a lead tone like Joe's solos or Eric Johnson's, you recommend me to change the gauge?

thanks for everything!! and please Joe, come back this summer to Spain! Your show in Cordoba was totally AMAZING  big_smile

  • Devan
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  • From: Darwin, Australia
  • Registered: 2010-04-13
  • Posts: 1,304

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

First question - can you actually PLAY .11's?  You will need very good finger strength and dexterity to bend and inflect vibrato with a heavier gauge string.

Going with a particular string gauge just because your guitar hero plays them is a VERY bad idea.  Just ask all the SRV fans who are suffering tendonitis and ripped callouses after playing .14's like him.

11's will give you better note definition and possibly a little more sustain, but you will be working harder to play them as you would play your 10's.  Not to mention that you will have to re-set your guitar bridge for intonation, and your truss rod to maintain action.

How close are you to the JB tone now?  I think you will find that other changes, i.e. to picks, amps etc. will probably get you closer without the risk of injury or denigrating your playing style.

JBLP Gold Top #129 - redubbed "#1 in Oz"
  • Registered: 2011-04-26
  • Posts: 2

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

I thought that wrapping the strings over the bridge they feel like 0.10s, isn't it? So if that's true, I won't have so much problems to play with .11... if not, I think I will continue using my .10s

If I change, I'll have to re-set my truss rod?? What will I have to do??

4 Reply by jimmydweed (edited by jimmydweed 2011-04-26 06:44:32)

  • From: Ireland
  • Registered: 2010-10-25
  • Posts: 57

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

I've recently top wrapped my JB Epi with 11's, the top wrapping means they feel like 10.5's and there's a slight increase in sustain. I prefer it over the 10's that were on it stock but it should come down to personal preference whether you like it or not, don' do it just because Joe does it.

Guitars: Epiphone JBLP, Epiphone Les Paul Custom
Amps: Marshall Vintage Modern, 18 watt clone
  • Registered: 2010-02-01
  • Posts: 175

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

I played top wrapped hybrid 11's (11-60) for about a year until recently.

I can say my tone was better with the 11's but I'm much more comfortable with my playing with 10's as I couldn't accurately do 1.5 & 2 tone bends (3 and 4 frets) with the 11's some days.

If you go 11's you will need to adjust your truss rod and intonation. Other than that your good to go and the only cost is a set of strings. It's one of the cheapest & easiest changes you can make (change of pick being the easiest!).


Dave

  • From: Belfast
  • Registered: 2010-02-01
  • Posts: 110

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

I use D'Addario 11 - 49 on my Les Paul. I recently played a borrowed Les Paul with 10's and it felt awful. I felt like I had no control over the strings. I guess it's just what you're used to, I'm a big guy with big hands. I don't buy into the rubbish that you're not a 'real' man unless you play 17 gauge strings like Stevie etc... thats BullSh1t. Billy Gibbons had / has the best tone in the business and he uses 7 or 8 gauge. Brian May and Mark Knopfler also come to mind as being Tone Monsters with light strings. For me it's all about what you feel will work 'for you'.

Guitars: 95 Les Paul Standard, Relic Strat,
Amps: 1973 Marshall JMP 50 head and Vintage Modern Cab. I use no effects other than a Cry Baby on occasions.
  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

I don't think they feel exactly like .10's but they do feel lighter then stringing them through the stop tail piece.  First and for most don't worry if you can't play .11's at first, because even Joe started light, and worked his way up to that string guage.  He is mortal just like the rest of us and if you put your mind to it and PRACTICE you too will have no problem playing a heavy gauge string.  Bottom line is try it, most people think the tone of the strings sounds better the thicker the strings and its true the thicker the string the longer the string will vibrate the more sound you will produce.  Its simple physics.  That being said thicker isn't always better, you need to find what your looking for.  I am big on huge string bends and big string bends for me with the amount I practice anymore isn't possible with .11's or .10's.  SO I also only play Strats and a Telecaster strung up with.009's on the treble side and .046's for the bass side.  Best of both worlds I get the fattens in the bass I want but retain the ablility to play really fast licks and huge string bends.  I'm totally into country blues right now and british blues sounds I still love but find them very one track minded with that thick sound.  Both have a place in the music world and I love it all but I prefer to have the ablity to thin out my sound if I need to and my Fenders do so with spades, Gibsons to me always sound thick no matter what you do.  If you start thick with a Les Paul they stay thick.

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  • From: Harrison, Arkansas
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 3,155

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

Bigger strings aren't a necessary requirement for killer tone. Case in point: Billy Gibbons. HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR  big_smile Just play what feels comfortable. I myself do 10s most of the time. 9s feel like rubber bands, but sometimes 9s will feel right and I'll go to them for a while. I never go to 8s or 11s.

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make"

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www.reverbnation.com/deesfriends
  • From: New Castle, DE USA
  • Registered: 2011-01-03
  • Posts: 1,256

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

As if this issue wasn't complicated enough, I recently picked up a couple of sets of 9.5s and 10.5s, and will be trying them the next time my harem has string-changing day...    wink

Terrance Shuman
New Castle, DE

10 Reply by NPB_EST.1979 (edited by NPB_EST.1979 2011-04-26 20:12:56)

  • From: Detroit
  • Registered: 2006-06-02
  • Posts: 5,807

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

I don't know.

I have a strat with 11's and a strat with 9's
I think tele's sound the best with 9's.

All my gibsons have 10's, I myself wouldn't mind trying 11's on one of them just to see. I tend to push down really hard on the strings as it is, and I have 11's on my acoustic where I do bending a bit, so who knows, maybe I'll give them a try and see if there's a true difference.

My view is none of my above mentioned combinations will change my sound, but they will change my feel and comfort while playing... and that can influence my quality of playing.  hmm


Jimmy Vaughan plays flatwound strings. Always wanted to try those... play is probably a lot smoother.

"Variety is a spice of life, I like a wide selection." - Banky (Jason Lee in the movie Chasing Amy)

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
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11 Reply by helrazr84 (edited by helrazr84 2011-04-26 16:50:34)

  • From: York, PA
  • Registered: 2010-08-27
  • Posts: 1,749

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

I don't think you find a huge difference in sound between light and heavier gauge unwound string, but you will hear a thicker tone when you have heavier wound strings.  I had a Jackson KV2 with 11's and it sounded thick but I hated the heavy strings.  They hurt my fingers, I couldn't play fast...

I personally like the lighter top strings with a heavier bottom string.  If you go too heavy with the low E string, it will be almost too stiff to bend at all..52 is even a little much for me.  Ernie Ball makes a lot of "custom" sets that allow you to taylor your string choice with various combinations.  I don't care what guitar superstar uses what strings, I play the light ones!

Oh, but if you tune your guitars down a half step, using 10's will help alleviate some of the spaghetti'ness in the guitar's sound.

  • From: The Gates of Delerium
  • Registered: 2008-05-07
  • Posts: 1,412

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

Another thing you can do if you put on a set of .011s besides top wrapping is to detune the guitar by 1/2 or a full step. You can then use a capo to go to standard tuning.

Major Tom to ground control...
  • Registered: 2007-11-04
  • Posts: 404

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

11's are going to make almost no difference.  You will notice them feeling heavier and harder to bend. But not that much if you top wrap.
I notice the bottom end feels a little boomier for longer over the life of the string.  After awile all strings sound bad from use...

I also like the  G string in an 11 pack... The B seems to be a little more smooth and has more tone to my ear... But that is totally a matter of opinion and what you like.  I used 10's for years... then I switched to 12's and 13's and found them to be no better in tone than 11's.  I could live with 10's and not have any issues.

Changing the strings on your guitar is the simplest and easiest thing to do.  You should just do it and see if you like them.  Strings are cheap and if you dont like them take them off and put the 10's back on it.  It is all really a matter of taste. 

Strings will not make you sound any closer to Joe or Eric.  That is going to require more expensive changes... Amps, Guitars, lots of practice.

  • Registered: 2009-07-16
  • Posts: 105

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

jgalvan8804 wrote:

Strings will not make you sound any closer to Joe or Eric

But the guy @ GC said it would... big_smile

Play what feels right.

  • From: Canterbury
  • Registered: 2010-05-27
  • Posts: 310

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

I switched to top wrapped 11's about 3 months ago and I have no intention of going back. IMHO I have better clarity and note definition.

Also I had NO changes in intonation or need to adjust the Truss Rod.

  • Registered: 2010-02-01
  • Posts: 175

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

dave_5150 wrote:

I played top wrapped hybrid 11's (11-60) for about a year until recently. Dave

Whoops ..they were 11-52 (plain strings from 11's + wound strings from 10-52 set)

  • Registered: 2010-12-30
  • Posts: 49

Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

Here's my experience and it's worth what you paid for it.  I played .012s for years, partially because I was a jazz guy, and partially because I found that they stayed in tune better.  As I started playing more country, and doing more bends, I found that I COULD bend them but not that I SHOULD bend them.  I switched to .010s on all my solidbodies and have .013s on my jazz guitars. 
As far as getting the Joe/EJ tone, EJ uses .010s on his Strats and .011s on short-scale guitars, so there probably is not a significant difference.  He has been known to have a picky ear.  smile
Like I said, it's worth what you paid for it, but I hope my experience, along with the other members' will help you.  The best thing you can do is find what works for you!

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  • Registered: 2011-03-20
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Re: About strings gauge: .11 or .10??

Horses for course really mate, tens on a shorter scale like a les paul will feel different and lighter than say tens on a strat with a 25.5 inch scale. I play all tens at the moment and live were always tuned to e flat anyway so a top wrapped les paul with tens and tuned down a half step is really quite slinky under the fingers, if I swap to the strat or one of my other longer scale guitars mid way through a set I find the first few bends are a little tricky until I've tuned my brain in, I try not to change more than once! I'm going to try elevens on the les paul as I like a bit of fight but as I said being tuned down all the time does make a huge difference.