9s for Fender, 10s for Gibson, right?

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charlie chitlin

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Why do so many people say this?
I've recently been playing my Gibson scale things more, and also an oddball guitar with 25 3/4" scale, and, for my money, longer scale guitars seem slinkier; shorter feels tighter.
So why would one want lighter strings on a guitar where the longer scale would already make it feel floppier?
Is it because you have to bend the string physically further to hit the target pitch on a longer scale?
I would think, if you wanted the guitars to feel like they had similar string tension, you'd put 10s on the Fender and 9s on the Gibson.
 

blue17

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I think most people would disagree and say that shorter scale length guitars feel slinkier. Think about it, stretching the string a longer distance is going to make it feel tighter. YMMV, but the extra resistance on a 25.5" guitar (Strat, Tele) is what makes it feel the way it does.

For the record, I use 10's on all of my electrics.
 

posttoastie

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Longer scale requires more tension. 25.5 should feel stiffer with 10s than 9s. Gibsons at 24.75 have a looser feel due to less torsion to get to pitch. Think Ukulele guitar and how LOOSE the strings are tension wise due to short scale.
 

marshman

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Over the first 4-5 years I was learning to play, I slowly upped gauges on all my guitars, eventually settling for 11s on "Fender scales", and tried 12s on my Les Paul, but could not find a G-string I could work with, so I went back to 11s. Wounds were off, and the plain steel were just tooooo thick.

Maybe I should investigate some of those heavy top/light bottom sets.
 

Addnine

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I keep one Strat w/ 9's, one with 10's. Tele's get 10s, as do many others. Nearly half of my guitars have 11-gauge Thomastick- Infield flatwounds. I've never put those on a Tele, but it's worth a try. Might just do that later today. (I try not to think about how much I spend on those T-I flatwounds.)
 

strat a various

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Over the first 4-5 years I was learning to play, I slowly upped gauges on all my guitars, eventually settling for 11s on "Fender scales", and tried 12s on my Les Paul, but could not find a G-string I could work with, so I went back to 11s. Wounds were off, and the plain steel were just tooooo thick.

Maybe I should investigate some of those heavy top/light bottom sets.
I did the same thing. Ended up with 13s on the Gibsons and 12s on the Fenders. For a while I tried plain .020s for a G on some Fender guitars, wound .022 for others. Settled for plain .017 or .018 G string on Fenders and mostly wound .024 G on Gibsons. The plain .020 was too loud and wouldn't intonate.

After about 20 years, I backed off about one digit in string gauges, just lightened up my grip and pick attack.
 

charlie chitlin

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Thank you for your totally unsolicited expressions of string preference.
I'd encourage you to try it for yourselves...logic and amateur physics aside...if I, for instance, grab a big G barre chord at the 3rd fret and shake some vibrato into it, the strings feel floppier to me on a Fender than on a Gibson, and floppier yet on the 25.75" Kay.
And...I don't have any proof of it and am not convinced that a longer string requires more tension to get to pitch.
It's an interesting question.
A fatter string would require more tension in order to vibrate faster, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if a particular gauge string will reach a particular pitch at a specific tension irrespective of scale length.
As for the Ukulele example, my logic tells me (and I could be wrong), that if one took those skinny nylon strings, put them on a 25" scale instrument and tuned them to pitch, they would be more floppy.
 

Recce

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People say it to keep similar tension on the strings on the different guitars with different neck lengths.
Your personal opinion may vary.
 

JL_LI

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This is the science versus belief thing. Post #4 by @posttoastie is correct. But preference overrides calculations. I use 11’s not only on Gibson and Gretsch but on my Telecaster too. I use 10’s on my Stratocasters with a 0.11 high E string. 11’s just sound better on my Telecaster but don’t make a noticeable difference on my Strats. The 0.11 high E improves balance between strings on my Strats. It’s easier to play 11’s in tune because they have a little more resistance to being pushed sharp. This isn’t belief or physics. It’s my experience with my guitars but the math and physics support my preferences.
 

Audiowonderland

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Why do so many people say this?
I've recently been playing my Gibson scale things more, and also an oddball guitar with 25 3/4" scale, and, for my money, longer scale guitars seem slinkier; shorter feels tighter.
So why would one want lighter strings on a guitar where the longer scale would already make it feel floppier?
Is it because you have to bend the string physically further to hit the target pitch on a longer scale?
I would think, if you wanted the guitars to feel like they had similar string tension, you'd put 10s on the Fender and 9s on the Gibson.

Your premise that a fender is "sloppier" is factually incorrect. That is your answer/reason why. With the same gauge strings on both, the shorter scale Gibson will have less string tension.
 

Audiowonderland

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Thank you for your totally unsolicited expressions of string preference.
I'd encourage you to try it for yourselves...logic and amateur physics aside...if I, for instance, grab a big G barre chord at the 3rd fret and shake some vibrato into it, the strings feel floppier to me on a Fender than on a Gibson, and floppier yet on the 25.75" Kay.
And...I don't have any proof of it and am not convinced that a longer string requires more tension to get to pitch.
It's an interesting question.
A fatter string would require more tension in order to vibrate faster, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if a particular gauge string will reach a particular pitch at a specific tension irrespective of scale length.
As for the Ukulele example, my logic tells me (and I could be wrong), that if one took those skinny nylon strings, put them on a 25" scale instrument and tuned them to pitch, they would be more floppy.

This isn't amateur physics. Its long established fact.. Its not open for debate. And I am pretty sure everyone here has tried different gauge string on their guitars. You might take 5 minute and google it before you start getting snotty with people.
 
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