Say I bought a Strat in 57...

[Fun111]

What gauges would be on there? People talk about 13's being a 'medium' but I've also heard of the legendary 'wound 26 gauge G string', 26w sounds quite big for a 13 set...

Or does it?

Can anyone give me an idea of a full set?

What would be the closest 'compound' on today's market? NPS? Rock'n'Roll?

Cheers!

 

[DrKev]

Good question! Without jumping straight to Google (which I leave for somebody else to do) I'm pretty sure that acoustic guitar gauges haven't change much in the last 60 years and I would assume that electrics originally came with identical gauges. 13s are generally pretty heavy (I don't care if they call DO them medium!) but a 26w G would be right, 12s with a 24w, or 11s with a 22w.

Ernie ball do electric sets like that too, only in the regular nickel wound sets. You'll find them at the EB online store (for US, UK and FR residents).