I guess I'm one of those oddballs that likes flatwounds on a Strat. I find they have a nice percussive sound to them. Also, I wire my Strats with a blender pot so I can dial in the bridge and neck pickups combined. Sounds very Jaguar-ish as mentioned above.

I've been playing less than 5 years so I don't have the experience most of these guys do. I still use 10 gauge strings in both round and flat. I like 3 springs and prefer a 2-point floating trem with the trem plate parallel to the body. It can be troublesome to dial in, but is well worth the effort, IMO.

I've tried heavier gauge strings, but found myself fighting the strings too much (especially on barre chords) rather than playing the guitar so I went back to the lighter gauge.

Cats 'n' Strats, 'cause that's how I roll - I eat reverb for breakfast!

Fenderus Collecticus
Strat Blender Pot Modification HERE

I believe every word of this, but now I have a question. I also admit to using 9's for one year, 10's for the second year, and just moving up to 11's on my Strat. My new Jazzmaster came with 12's. Lots of acoustic guitars come new out of the box with 11's, 12's or even 13's. One of mine did. Is there some sort of obscure difference involved?

6V6 wrote:

Ivan's advice to take seriously:

I would definitely recommend that but only when
you're ready. I worked my way up with gauges over a
period of some 15 years, starting with 9s and moving up
every 3-5 years, and I think that's the right way to do
it. You have to train your hands to be able to handle
the heavier gauges.

I permanently hurt my fretting hand due to overuse
combined with a shift toward heavier strings and higher
action on my strat. Did this nearly 10 years ago and
had to quit playing for about 6 months. Very painful
and very frustrating. I didn't take the warning signs
seriously (who knew you that you can actually hurt
yourself playing guitar). The pain is manageable now
with lighter strings, but I am still paying the price.

For my surf guitars, I often use 10s, but I will often
trade out the high e and b for something bigger - 11/13
maybe. Sometimes I take a set of flatwound 12s and
shift everything down so the 12 becomes the b string.
And then I add and 10 or 11 for the high e. Good trick
for getting a lighter gage flatwound set, since there
aren't many good offerings in that category.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Noel wrote:

I believe every word of this, but now I have a question. I also admit to using 9's for one year, 10's for the second year, and just moving up to 11's on my Strat. My new Jazzmaster came with 12's. Lots of acoustic guitars come new out of the box with 11's, 12's or even 13's. One of mine did. Is there some sort of obscure difference involved?

Noel, if I understand your question correctly, I would say that whether a particular gauge is too much for a person is a matter of 1) overall playability of the guitar and 2) the player's style. If the guitar has low action and relatively lower tension on the strings, even heavier gauges can be OK. And if the player is just strumming chords or playing simple melodies on the guitar, heavier gauges should be OK. where the problem could arise is trying to play really hard and heavy, pushing one's playing, without being used to or being in shape for a particular string gauge. If you try to play like SRV with 12s after having played only 9s or 10s, you could do damage. You may do damage even if you're just trying to play like DD. So, it's just a matter of 'listening' to your hands, and if you're in pain after playing, probably ease back on your playing or consider going back a gauge.

Ivan
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I wish. The only way I can play like SRV is to put one of his CD's in the player. I have none of his (or your) power, precision, speed, dexterity or fluidity.

IvanP wrote:

..... If you try to
play like SRV with 12s after having played only 9s or
10s, you could do damage. You may do damage even if
you're just trying to play like DD. So, it's just a
matter of 'listening' to your hands, and if you're in
pain after playing, probably ease back on your playing
or consider going back a gauge.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

IvanP wrote:

Noel, if I understand your question correctly, I would
say that whether a particular gauge is too much for a
person is a matter of 1) overall playability of the
guitar and 2) the player's style. If the guitar has
low action and relatively lower tension on the strings,
even heavier gauges can be OK. And if the player is
just strumming chords or playing simple melodies on the
guitar, heavier gauges should be OK. where the problem
could arise is trying to play really hard and heavy,
pushing one's playing, without being used to or being
in shape for a particular string gauge. If you try to
play like SRV with 12s after having played only 9s or
10s, you could do damage. You may do damage even if
you're just trying to play like DD. So, it's just a
matter of 'listening' to your hands, and if you're in
pain after playing, probably ease back on your playing
or consider going back a gauge.

I can get some pretty sharp pain in my left wrist (fretting hand) just playing power chord based rock with 10s, let alone the heavy gauges. Playing melody (i.e. one note at a time stuff) generally doesn't bother me. This could be due to the angle of my wrist when chording vs. playing single notes. I don't practice like I should because of it.

Cats 'n' Strats, 'cause that's how I roll - I eat reverb for breakfast!

Fenderus Collecticus
Strat Blender Pot Modification HERE

I put a humbucker in a Strat with a coil-tap (going for versatility) and a blender pot (to get the single side of the humbucker in addition to the neck pickup), the tech recommended a 500k pot to maximize the humbucker tone. It killed the tone on the single coils and made the whole thing sound terrible to me. After about two days, I replaced the whole thing with some hand-wound vintage hot Fralin's with 250k and the blender. Now I love it more than ever. For my ears, with the 500k it was too bright and just didn't sound like a Strat anymore.

Noel, any $9 250k no-load tone pot (such as the Fender branded CTS ones at MF) can be used as a blender pot for single coil pickups. I have a project on the table that uses a no-load tone pot as a blender pot and as a regular no-load master tone pot. Then I'll use a regular 250k CTS pot for the master volume.

The neck & bridge combination is great and very usable. All 3 combined are pretty unique, but I find I don't use them often.

Here's a link to the wiring diagram I've been using. Just be sure to remember to place a ground wire on the back of all 3 pots to a common ground.

Your text to link here...

Subdigit6, I love Fralin Vintage Hots. Definitely my favorite Strat set.

Cats 'n' Strats, 'cause that's how I roll - I eat reverb for breakfast!

Fenderus Collecticus
Strat Blender Pot Modification HERE

Last edited: Jan 13, 2012 21:26:40

Thats all for a great "my 1st thread"!
Got the strat dialed in w/10s now and Im gonna leave it there for a while.
I may go up to 11s next str change.
I really dont care about big strs or not, its all what you get used to and the appropriate tone and techniques available.
I have 10s on my banjo, explorer, & tele, 11s on the 5120, 12s or 13s on my Martin, and I forget what ga these ropes are: