9s or 10s

[jwayne]

I play 10s but have a hard time getting the bends to the right pitch when playing around the 1st to 3rd frets. On the other hand once I reach the 5th fret all is good. So I've been debating switching to 9s to make it easier but I have noticed that when I play 9s my pick attack is hard enough that it sounds kinda sloppy.

So looking for opinions...should I just keep working with 10s and the strength will follow or should I try 9s and work on an lighter pick attack?

[Dizi]

I would suggest you play whichever sounds better to you. The strength will follow.

[jwayne]

Thanks Dizi...I like the way 10s sound for sure but dang my fingers hurt!!

[r2zou]

personally i play with 10s and even then they feel abit thin/light sometimes. then again i play(or at least try to) like SRV, so lots of bending, attacking and raking.
i would say stick with the 10s. i think its a good standard gauge and stronger fingers never hurt anyone.
play an acoustic with 12s and then tell me what you think of bending on 10s =P

[jazztele]

how long have you been playing? how long on the .10's?

i think a player should use the heaviest strings that still feel comfortable to them...the improvement in tone and especially intonation are worth it. that said, if .09's are what feels better, than use .09's. there's nothing macho or cool about being in pain and constantly bending flat.

[jwayne]

This is where is gets a bit embarrassing...I've been playing for 18 years now and usually play 10's. For the last year I've been trying to make the cross over from Rock/Blues type music to country and with a clean tone have realized that my chops need some work especially in the bending department. Those big country bends around the first position are killer!
As a side note I'm a bedroom rocker (or twanger now) and only play out a few times a year at whatever bar is having a open jam so I'm not very seasoned so to speak.

[RCinMempho]

I play .10's and have gotten used to them, but the best player I know plays .08's.

[jazzbender]

Originally Posted by jwayne

This is where is gets a bit embarrassing...I've been playing for 18 years now and usually play 10's. For the last year I've been trying to make the cross over from Rock/Blues type music to country and with a clean tone have realized that my chops need some work especially in the bending department. Those big country bends around the first position are killer!
As a side note I'm a bedroom rocker (or twanger now) and only play out a few times a year at whatever bar is having a open jam so I'm not very seasoned so to speak.

I started playing country a short time ago and had the same problem at the low frets. Just practice like the weight lifters do, bend as far as you can for a few minutes a day and your strength will grow, slowly but surely. But don't try steroids!

[jwayne]

jazzbender - I agree I think I just need to practice bends on a regular basis. Besides putting 9s on would lead me to resetup my guitar and right now it plays like a dream:-)

r2zou - I agree with you as well - if I pick up my acoustic and play for a few weeks the 10s should feel pretty slinky.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

[Budda]

D'Addario makes 9.5 Sets. Just a thought.

[Jellyroll]

Also try heavier guage wound strings only. The extra tension on those lower strings relieves a little tension on the unwound strings and makes em a wee easier to bend!

[giantslayer]

I've used the 9.5's. They are a step up from 9's in tone and still easy to play, but don't sound as good as 10's. They are right in the middle, just as one might imagine them to be. Thank you for reading my completely uninformative review.

Back to the original question, I switched to 10's on one of my guitars and, while it was a bit tough at first, I've gotten used to it.

[JayFreddy]

Originally Posted by jazztele

...there's nothing macho or cool about being in pain and constantly bending flat.

+1!

It's amazing how many guys I meet at Blues jams who brag about how heavy their strings are ("I got a 13 on the high E!"), yet they can't do a whole-step bend if their life depended on it. Of course, they'll always tell you they "meant" to bend flat...

I don't think there is a single gauge that works for everything. Depends on your guitar and the kind of music you're playing on it. In general, I like 9s for country and shred, 10's for classic rock and fusion, and 11's for Jazz and Blues stuff. Don't care for 8's or 12's, but I know good players who do.

If you always play the same gauge strings, you'll get used to that gauge and nothing else will feel right. I suggest trying different string gauges and resisting the temptation to get stuck on a single gauge of strings.

[weelie]

One of the age old questions! I think it's been answered to in this way many times: Go with the nine-and-a-halfs!

[brokenjoe]

Originally Posted by JayFreddy

+1!

It's amazing how many guys I meet at Blues jams who brag about how heavy their strings are ("I got a 13 on the high E!"), yet they can't do a whole-step bend if their life depended on it. Of course, they'll always tell you they "meant" to bend flat...

I don't think there is a single gauge that works for everything. Depends on your guitar and the kind of music you're playing on it. In general, I like 9s for country and shred, 10's for classic rock and fusion, and 11's for Jazz and Blues stuff. Don't care for 8's or 12's, but I know good players who do.

If you always play the same gauge strings, you'll get used to that gauge and nothing else will feel right. I suggest trying different string gauges and resisting the temptation to get stuck on a single gauge of strings.

Yep!

I use nines on my tele. I like the slap and bonk of a lighter string for what I like to do.

Acoustic -which I play a lot of- AND bend strings on, is set up with 12s. Banjo's got real light strings on it, so you HAVE to have a light touch.

I don't give a dang when anyone says that you HAVE to have a certain gauge string. Find out what's comfortable for YOU, and be happy!

Then, learn how to play circles around the bozos who are bragging about their heavy gauges, and eventually they'll be asking YOU what strings you use...

[FirstBassman]

Originally Posted by jwayne

9s or 10s

Neither. 11s.

[dantonel]

I play 10's but I've seen guys play 9's and then Substitute a 17 on the G string to make it a teensy bit tighter and not so many sloppy notes on the G string... (haha G string) (I know... I'm a lil boy...)

[KY-TwangBanger]

I always remember that Billy Gibbons plays .008's and NO-ONE can argue about his tone. However I play 9's after trying the 8's - they just didn't feel right and neither do 10's. Play what feels right to you and as Billy says let your fingers and your rig do the rest.

[charlie chitlin]

Put on 11's and play until you break one.
Then switch to 10's.

[BuddyLee]

I have been using 10's for a while. 9's just seem too light. They are not too bad at all for me on the first few frets. The 11's I recently put on my Strat are... but I just dig deeper with a baseball grip.

I used large Wiss sheet-metal shears all day at work though, so my hands have gotten a workout over the years. I suggest one of those finger exercisers. Just keep it in a pocket with you and use it during the day.

Do you use the baseball grip?

[Saxguitar]

I used to play on 11's on my first electric. I loved the way they felt. But when I got my Tele I just couldn't bring myself to slapping on a high guage string without getting a feel of how the guitar felt with the factory stock strings. It feels way better playing the 9's on my Tele and I find I play better on the lighter strings.

At the end of the day it is was feels right and sounds right.

P.S. I don't know because I have never tried them, but maybe try something like Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky's (I think that is what they are called). Alot of my friends use them and love them to death I just haven't ever wanted to try them.

[musicalmartin]

I use Hybrid Slinkys on Strats and regular slinkys on Teles.I also use regulars on my Dot .

[Chris L.]

I'd like to put on heavier strings and switch from 9's to 10's or even 11's, but why does Fender list for so many teles 9's on the specs? I saw a poll here where the majority of people use 10s. Thanks,

[strat a various]

Each player's hands and fingers are different. I'm using .013s 6-7 nights a week, but my fingers are different from yours. Don't injure yourself to use heavy strings. You can mess up the tendons in your fingers and the skin under your nails, also the tips of the bones in your fingers. If you're not comfortable in three or four weeks, I'd go back to .009s

[Zillinois]

11s or 12s, put some meat on those fingers :)

[Televised]

It ain't the meat...it's the motion! I did switch from 9's to 10's however. Miss the playability of the 9's but like the increase tone of the 10's. Always a trade off somewhere I guess.

[morroben]

I use 11s because my right hand is more of a problem than my left. 9s and 10s are too rattly when I get to strumming away.

[davie blue]

I played .11s in high school and college cause I was going for the SRV thing, and that was about as heavy as I could muster! I loved playing them, but if I was away from the guitar for a day or two, boy those bends were tough!

I found though when I joined a country band, that I needed to switch to 09s to do certain bends. There was a particular pedal steel type thing with a whole step bend, pulling down with my pointer finger - was not gonna happen til I lightened up the gauges!

Now I'm back to 10s most of the time. So I say string gauge depends on style and context. There are plenty of ways to fatten up your tone if you need 9s to get the job done :)

[mody]

I just switched from 11s to 10s and now to 9s for the country stuff. I'm using a glendale strat at the moment, though I'm waiting on a glendale blackguard so I'll put the light strings on that and get my strat back up to 10s and leave it at that, I'm pretty fed up with re-setting up my guitar each time I change gauge/brand.

There was a little extra flap with the 9s but it's ok, nothing I can't get used to, I think I use a damn good rig, honestly even if the tone deteriorated a little due to 9s nobody can really tell. My Ghia via a TT alnico, no effects, thick cables all around sounds better with 9s for country. I'm at a point where I'd rather just play more than anything else. I lack any sort of 'GAS' at the moment.

Totally agree with jazztele, no point being in pain and constantly bending flat.

I know Sol Philcox plays 9s on country and 10s with blues. Try the triple bends and you're going to be screaming with pain on heavier strings, not cool!

I don't know/hear anybody since SRV to play with such ferocity on heavy strings, kudos to you guys who can manage a whole set, I get through one track and I'm busted ;P


edit: To the OP, do what works best for you, if you can't play the guage what good is it? Also think about all the licks your loosing access to with heavier strings, some country type bends & stuff just wont work. It's probably nuts to try SRV type things on a guitar expected to do country chickin pickin duties too.

[superhand]

I use 11s. Heavier gauge strings sound better IMO. And they feel less floppy. I can bend them just fine. It has nothing to do with bragging or machismo.

I say find a gauge that sounds and feels right to you and then practice a lot. If you like the way 13s sound, eventually you will be able to bend them however you want if you practice enough. If you like 9s, use 9s.

[weelie]

I just don't have the strength for some bending, like bending only with pinky, or then behind the nut or some country stuff... so I went down to 9s now. Many players I dig played with rather thin strings (JJ Cale and Jim Campilongo go with 9s, I think BB King has quite thin wire too, maybe 10s), and I think it's easier to evoke some of the emotion with them.

I felt alright with 9s rightaway. Have tried that gauge before too, of course. But I remember before I didn't like 9s as there was more noise, now I have noiseless pickups, so it's not really a problem.

Sometimes my joints ache and hand muscles get tight playing with heavier strings. I don't like that. Toughest I've had on my strat was flatwound 12s. Didn't play country on those! My acoustic has 12s, of course, but that's another thing.

[telepath]

IMHO, Seriously - if (if) the 10's sound like what yo uwant in your head, then persevere with the 10's.
It will come good for you I'm absolutely sure, but if, for some reason it still doesnt suit in a couple of weeks, maybe a month then, re-evaluate.

I'd be willing to bet/guess that within a couple of months you would be at least thinking about how 11's might feel / sound ;)
Betcha

[telepath]

Forgot to add,
Jim Campilongo metioned above, and it is widely mentioned that JC uses 9's
Not only that, but the magical Mr Campilongo uses 9's - on a toploader.

They must feel like rubber bands! but I'm sure that most of us would love to have his style, or his tone.

[Mojohand40]

I always put 9's on my Teles. My archtops get 10's, though, I've done 9's on them a few times too. And I play a lot with a heavy thumbpick and bare fingers. I like the playability of 9's, personally.
A lot of playing with lighter gauges is in the right hand (picking hand). If you've ever seen one of my youtube videos where I'm Travis picking something on a Tele, those are 9's. It may appear like I'm flogging the strings, but I actually have a light touch.
When playing with a pick I use plain old Fender Medium Picks.
9's have never been a problem for me, tonewise, tuning wise, whatever.
To each his own, and personally I don't see a real heck of a lot of diff in 9's and 10's. Yeah, 10's are a little "stiffer" feeling to me, but not like night and day difference.

[octatonic]

Due to the amount I play these days (a lot) I've gone down from 11's to 10's and now to 9-46's.
I don't notice any issue in terms of tone- and my hands thank me.

Getting your bends in tune is a bit of work, but not as much as the rehab for the RSI.

[imsilly]

Originally Posted by Dizi

I would suggest you play whichever sounds better to you. The strength will follow.

Best advice ever. I think the design of the guitar you use and the type of sound you are going for will determine the strings you use. Then practice will take care of the rest.

I tend to have different string gauges and winds on all my guitars.

Saying that it might help temporarily with your problems having a thinner string, but you might find it effects your tone in an unexpected way.