Which guage should I get?

[RepVenom]

Which gauge should I get?

Hey guys I'm new to the forum, but I was wondering if you could help me decide which string gauge to get. I play in Drop D and Drop C and I'm currently using Super Slinkies but I wanna put on some thicker strings. The Regular Slinkies, Skinny Top Heavy Bottom, Beefy Slinkies, and Not Even Slinkies all look good but I just can't decide. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Btw I play metal. Pretty much anything from Godsmack to Fear Factory.

 

[blackspy]

Definitely check out the Not Even Slinkies for the drop C stuff. I used to use the Hybrid slinkies for guitars that I use to play drop D stuff.

 

[RepVenom]

Thanks, I'll check those out. And since they are the thickest strings they aren't too bassy are they?

 

[blackspy]

Don't really remember, it's been a while. I think there's a link somewhere on the main ErnieBall site for the Not Even Slinky's where Petrucci shows you a bit of his low tuning stuff with regular strings, and then again with the NES strings...

 

[blackspy]

Yeah here it is http://www.ernieball.com/jp/main.html

 

[RepVenom]

Thanks, I watched that earlier but I honestly didn't really hear much of a difference when he played with both sets of strings. And even when he was using the 9 gauge strings it still sounded a little bassy for some reason so it's kinda hard to judge by that video, but thanks for diggin that up.

Also the tone that I'm goin for is a little different from his in general so that's another reason why it's hard to tell.

 

[RepVenom]

*sigh* I talked to a few others and I really just don't know. Some say go for the Beefy Slinkys and some say go for the Not Even Slinkys. I wanna compare the 2 but all I see so far is that they're both great for detuning. Ya know, I see a lot of reviews for the Not Even Slinkys saying "Best strings for detuning, get them! You'll love them!" but I see reviews for the Beefy Slinkys saying the exact same thing!

But if you are familiar with the tones of both sets of strings maybe you could please listen to the guitar in a couple of the Fear Factory clips here and tell me which set of strings will give me tone closest to the guitar in these clips? I would really appreciate it.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000H5J/002-4504330-8448859"]Amazon.com: Demanufacture: Fear Factory: Music[/ame]

Scroll down some and you'll see the song clips. Thanks.

 

[blackspy]

Honestly, the best thing you could do is try out each set and see which one you prefer. Let your ears and hands guide you.

 

[RepVenom]

Alright that's probably the best advice. Thanks for all of the help.

 

[SteveB]

Rep,

Be advised that switching to such thick strings may require a little filing of the nut slots on your guitar (to widen them). If you have problems with the thicker strings sticking or catching in the nut, you'll know that this probably ought to be done. (And I'd leave that task to an experienced tech.)

 

[RepVenom]

Good point, and actually with that in mind I should maybe try out the Beefy Slinkys first incase I try the bigger gauge and need to go smaller and have gaps in the nut bigger than the strings. Thank you.

 

[Black Sabbath]

try power slinkys they have an awsome sound in that tune