String gauge & piezos

[thindave]

So, my AL shipped with 10's and it sounds great - magnetic & piezo. I usually play 9's and I know I'll lose a bit on the magnetic side, but will I on the piezo side as well?

 

[NorM]

It's all good. Setting it up to be the way you want it is the right thing to do. I play 9's too. Go for it!!

 

[thindave]

Excellent, thanks Norm...

 

[OrangeChannel]

Rock tens instead man, build up that finger strength....to be honest it was a crapshoot the day I went to a heavier string, and I never looked back. The tone is so much there with heavier strings theres almost no case to go back. Besides tens aren't that much heavier.

 

[shred4Him]

I think string 10's or 9's depends on the players distinct quirks. I used to use 10's only. 9's were way too light. Then I noticed that I had a bad habit of pressing too hard when playing. I switched to 9's to force myself to be lighter. It was originally meant to be a short-term experiment. That was 4 years ago. I am more expressive and more touch sensitive with 9's than I was with 10's. I am sure if I went to 10's then after a little bit I adjust and play just as if I had 9's, but I like the easier bending. I also find that there is not a huge difference in sound. There is a difference, but not enough for me to be concerned. Lots of players have recorded great things with both 9's and 10's. After all of that rambling, I guess what I am saying is just experiment and do what feels comfortable. You are the only person who will notice the difference.

 

[NorM]

While 10's will help you develop hand strength, is your intention to go to 9's on the day of the performance? 9's will let you develop the hand strength you need to play 9's. My thinking is you should practice what you play on. Another advantage I have found is fretware on the guitar. My Steve Morse started showing signs after only a couple of months. I put 9's on it and it stopped. All of my silo's frets look and feel fantastic with almost no fret ware at all and I play a lot.

Still, what ever you choose is the right way.

 

[KungFu Grip]

I need clean twang. I ran 11s once and it completely killed the twang on my teles. Sounded GREAT for blues, but not twangy.

I usually run 10s, but I've been thinking of going down to 9s to give them a try and lighten my touch.

All depends on playing style.

 

[OrangeChannel]

Then agan at times I'm all about drop tuning...

 

[thindave]

No drop tuning here... I've been playing long enough that if I haven't built up hand strength by now, it ain't gonna happen..

I was mainly asking because I never had a guitar w/ piezo's before and since I intend on using this AL mostly with the piezo's, I didn't want to lose too much power/definition. I'm gonna string up a set of elixir's tonight....

Thanks all!

 

[OrangeChannel]

You'd surprised....the muscle memory in your fingers gets destroyed when moving up to say a set of 11's or 12's...JP even mentioned that 12's were too much for him, so I'm wondering what he's really using live on those bad boys that are tuned down to the c's, d's and Eb's from the new record. When my silo comes in (about sept or oct), I'm definitely throwing some 11's on it. I may or may not on one of the jp's as well. I took a step down from 11's to the 10's and I kinda miss the low end, but all in all my attack is back to finesse instead of banging along.