Does Anyone Use 8's For Chicken Pickin?

[vikki]

I was watching the Albert Lee Star Licks video and he was using an 8 gauge string set, does anyone still use these for country tele pickin? Are most people using 9's these days?
Vikki(uk)

[Fatmanstratman]

Does anyone still use 8's? Period.....

[63dot]

i liked 08s during the heavy metal craze of the 1980s and it was good for fast playing to emulate vai, satriani, and kirk hammett (metallica)

i am into bebop jazz right now and play 11 gauge round and flatwounds, which btw are still considered "light" for that style of music

but one relatively well known jazz guitarist in my area uses 08s on mostly solid bodied guitars and he gets a great tone...i have seen him boost those light strings with active EMGs to get a little more midrange and bass out of those thin strings

though he is a great guitarist, and a friend of mine, he once commented that he thought that the strings that most people play on electric guitars (usually 10 gauge), and those popular hybrid sets with heavier low strings, might warp the necks on the guitars...he he...i wonder what he uses on his acoustic guitars?

[getbent]

james burton still does.

[BrianF]

I believe Albert Lee does too..

[Ed Bickert]

There has to be at least a marketable amount of people still using 8s or they wouldn't even be for sale. I happen to love a heavy guage. I'm with 63Dot, I play jazz and currently have 11 Snake Oils (vintage) on my tele. But I have had 14s (flatwound) on teles many times with fantastic results. Playing jazz you rarely, if ever, bend strings. That's why even a weaker player (physical strength, not skill) can still use 14s if playing jazz. They just have a sound that you simply can not get from 10s or even 11s.

My current tele has 11s on it because I like to switch between jazz and occasional blues. It's the perfect guage for someone who can't make up their mind...like me.

Back in the 80s when I played Jacksons, BC Richs, and a 6-string pedulla I used 8s to emulate that metal EVH, Scorpions, Metallica, Iron Maiden sound. And they were excellent for it.

[telex76]

Albert Lee moved up to nines when he played with Eric Clapton. The last interview I saw of him, he said he was using a ten set.

[Heather Anne Peel]

.008s are just too light for me, as are .009s. .010s are perfect for me for every style.

[RCinMempho]

Best player I know in Memphis uses .08's.

[Five Finger Fender Fiend]

I have used 11's since the year dot. I used 10-52's for a year in between, but i'm all better now. But seriously, i couldn't play with 8's or 9's coz i bend them all out of tune. Plus to me there's no substitute when it comes to tone, and 11's will give you that.

[austintele]

I like the 10-46 set. Sometimes i'll put an 11 on the high e for pedal steel type bends-easier to hold the heavier e still as i'm bending the b or g.

I think 8's would be just too light-hard to play in tune, not much meat to the sound.

[Johnny Thunders]

This is a good question because I want to know what strings people are using for their tele's. I personally use 10-42 gauge and I usually buy Ernie Ball Slinky's or Ernie's classic rock n roll nickel wound. I have recently tried Dean Markley Blue Steel and D'addario XL. I find that the Slinky's have a short life span as do the XL D'addario. The classic rock n roll nickel slinky is good for a vintage warm tone but I really like a bright twang, any suggestions are welcomed.

[Johnny Thunders]

oops, that's 10-46, my bad.

[Rick Towne]

Right here.....

9-11-14-22-30-38

[Scottone]

I've been using a 10 - 52 set for quite a while playing pop, rock, and blues styles. Recently, I've been playing mostly country music and finding them a bit heavy for the steel guitar bends.

I just picked up a 9 - 46 set to try out..hopefully they will do the trick.

[psykobilly]

I like the 9.5's not too heavy, not too light.

[vikki]

Thanks
Some great info there...
I'm using a 9's set of ernie ball at the moment, i find these to have the most give(or is that less tension) on the right hand fingers, its always the right hand that feels the tension for me(i use thumbpick and fingers) Recently i raised the bridge saddles a little too high and the angle over the saddles was quite sharp and a couple of ther Ernie Ball strings broke at the bridge, i only had some fender strings of the same gauge and fitted these, by them Fender strings were hard to play, they just didn't twang like the E/Ball set and it made the 3 and 4 strings really hard on the right hand. The Diddario seem to work quite well and have slightly more tension and seem less prone to breakage over the bridge. Are there any other make of strings with the less tension feel, i seem to recall the Newtones Nickel Masters were pretty easy on the right hand.
Vikki(uk)

[Roli]

I like .008's on my acoustic. Great, meaty tone with lots of bass.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by telex76

Albert Lee moved up to nines when he played with Eric Clapton. The last interview I saw of him, he said he was using a ten set.

Albert Lee plays Ernie Ball 010, 013, 016, 026, 036, 046. A Regular Slinky set but with a lighter g-string.

[Stefan]

I have more or less settled with D'Addario 010-046 on my Tele and 011-049 on my Strat. I might go back up to 011´s on the Tele too. It is not a so hard to do countrybends with 011´s but the bends aren´t as fast as with 010´s. I like the tone I get with 011´s though.

[Duncan]

Billy Gibbons uses .008's. He also tunes down. His guitars play so easy that you don't even notice the back shape of the neck..