Do you use the same strings on all your guitars?

[rlyacht]

I recently watched Scofield being interviewed by Rick Beato, and he said something interesting about strings. On his Ibanez he uses heavy-ish strings (13s I think), but 10s on his tele. This surprised me, as I'd assume that would be way too light. I realize that the longer scale of the tele has some impact, but not enough to equalize that difference. For 25.5, a 0.10 has 16.8 lbs of tension. On 24.75, the 13 is 28 pounds! According to the stringjoy calculator, a 10.5 with 24.75 scale is around 18lbs, much closer.

It's not like he makes giant bends when he plays the tele, so I don't get it. Of course it's all a matter of taste and what he's gotten accustomed to over many years of playing, so I'm not saying his choice is any way incorrect. I'm just wondering what others do.

[DawgBone]

I put the same gauge strings on all my electrics.

[AllanAllen]

I like things on the heavy side. But I use different gauges all the time. I’m still not sure what I like.

[John A.]

I use TI jazz Swings 13-53 on my Seventy Seven archtop and GHS Nickel Rockers 10-46 (rollerwound) on my Strat, Les Paul, and D’Angelico semi-hollow. I’ve tried other strings on all of them, but always heavier strings on the archtop.

I play a lot of blues (etc.) as well as jazz, and I like lighter strings for that. But I like keeping one guitar set up with heavier flats. I play jazz on all of them, but the archtop more than the others (and rarely for other music).

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I don't use the same strings on all my guitars because it's too much trouble to move them from one to the other. I put a separate set on each guitar

But seriously folks, I've found over the years that each guitar has its own sweet spot for tension. My laminated 16" Archtop with a 24 3/4" scale really wakes up with heavy strings. I was happily using TI JS113s on it, but I decided to try a set of GB114s. The difference was night and day. The thick plank that serves as a top needed that little extra push to really start to sing. Acoustically, it's still no L5. But the amplified tone is fat and thunky with more than a hint of wood now. I'd try a heavier set like I used back in the 1960s, but I bend a fair amount even on jazz and use finger vibrato liberally, So i think that 14-55 is as heavy as I want to go. I started on fat GIbson flats and switched to Guild EA610s when I discovered them at my dealer a few years later. I used the Guilds on every guitar I had from the late '60s until they disappeared and I ended up with Chromes on everything.

My 16" and 17" carved archtops have longer scales and do very well with JS113s, both acoustically and amplified. My 14" carved archtop (with a 25.4" scale) sounds and feels fantastic with JS112s, and I use it for blues and fusion too. So I like the slightly thinner set. My solid bodies also carry JS112s. I use a 75 Chrome 7th string on all of these.

My 7 string flat top carries a Chrome 7 string set (11-65) and is set up with a sheet of paper's thickness of relief and very low action. I'll try to switch it to JS112s when my stock of the Chromes is gone, but 112s may be sufficiently more floppy to buzz a bit. Since the Chromes sound and feel great on it, I'll be happy to keep using them if JS112s require any increase in relief or action. I don't play the guitar very much - I only use it for practice and on select tunes at really important gigs. For example, my playlist for the upcoming Montgomery County Jazz Festival includes Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time for a change of pace. The flat top with Chromes on it has a huge sound with just the right chime and sparkle to do justice to that song.

[Njt3]

No because each guitar reacts harmonically and tonally different from one another. It’s a real journey to find what works well on a newly purchased guitar. Usually takes me a few months of rehearsal recordings and gigs to work it out. Enjoy the journey.

[Bob_Ross]

I use completely different strings on every one of my guitars...different guages, different winding type (and/or whether or not the G is wound), different brand/manufacturer...

Conversely, I use the exact same strings on most of my basses (with a small handful of exceptions)
...sort of.

[bluejaybill]

For me it's .012's on my arch tops and .010's on my Fenders and Les Paul. All nickel rounds for the most parts with an occasional set of flats thrown in. I tend to play different styles on different guitars though.

[omphalopsychos]

I don’t have a universal preference for strings. My guitars have different strings and setups depending on multiple factors including what type of music I’m playing on it. I use my les Paul for funk and jazz and it has 11s with a plain g for example. All my acoustic archtops have 13-53 as do many of my electric archtops. I have a couple of guitars with 11s with a wound G. And my acoustics have different strings from nickel (floating pickup) to phosphor to 80/20. I only have one guitar with flatwounds and that’s my burst wesmo.

I really think you have to find the sweet spot for yourself on each individual guitar. Obviously it’s more valuable to spend time playing the instrument but you do discover things over time as to what each instrument likes.

[Mick-7]

In general, as has been mentioned, heavier strings (12's or higher) are better on archtops.

As an experiment, I just put a set of D'Addario XT 10/46 steel strings on this guitar, which is designed to take nylon strings, seems to be fine (still fiddling with amp settings though). I was trying to approximate the lower tension of nylon strings and first put 9's on it - dumb idea, too floppy for me to deal with. It's got nylon strings on it in the pic below.

[garybaldy]

10s on my solids except my teles have a 16 instead of the regular 17. My archtops generally have 12s or 13s. I start with 12s and go to 13s if I think I can manage them (old hands!) on a particular guitar.
I also have a mixture of rounds and flats for no particular reason except my old 175 still has the la bella flats as when I bought it a few years ago! The few cheap German ATs I have have rounds - 12s max.

[lammie200]

No because each guitar reacts harmonically and tonally different from one another. It’s a real journey to find what works well on a newly purchased guitar. Usually takes me a few months of rehearsal recordings and gigs to work it out. Enjoy the journey.

Same for me. I shoot for similar, but all guitars react differently and require some trial and error to get it correct. I have notes on what works but I would like to see a simple device to stick on the back of headstocks to document string gauges as opposed to a taped on post-it note.

[rpjazzguitar]

I recently moved back to 10-46 on my Comins GCS-1. The high E sounds thick enough with the treble rolled down some.

I think I have the same thing on my Strat copy. Different scale lengths, but the same strings.

I'm insensitive to brand, among those that I've tried. I usually get D'addario, but I've tried others and liked them as well. I tried a set of TI's once and the only thing I noticed was that they cost more.

I am sensitive to how the string feels. I do bend. I'm aware of the tension calculator, but I'm not sure that the numbers correlate perfectly with my subjective impression. My Strat copy has a tiny neck in every dimension but scale length. That goes a long way in making a tighter string feel good.

[Stringswinger]

I experiment with each guitar until I find the strings I like best for that particular guitar. Guitars ain't a one size fits all kind of thing.

[joebloggs13]

Gibson Vintage reissue 10s on all my guitars electric guitars.

[Mick-7]

I experiment with each guitar until I find the strings I like best for that particular guitar. Guitars ain't a one size fits all kind of thing.

How long do these experiments generally take?

[Stringswinger]

How long do these experiments generally take?

That varies. Some guitars are great after trying 2 or 3 different string sets. Some guitars can take 5 or more string sets.

I stick with it until I find the right combination.

Swapping strings is a lot cheaper than swapping pickups. I know this from experience.

[Greywolf]

on my Jazz guitars ..yes
On my Acoustics ...yes

the rest vary by model and what they are used for . The vary from 9.5-43 to 11-52

[jackalGreen]

flat 14s (TI GB) on the Ibanez AF55 archtop.

round 11s on both Teles (one stays in open G, the other is standard tuning, but both are regular D'Addario Nickel rounds). I generally don't do anything jazz-related on the Teles (Squiers, really), except some abstract exercises and the like.

The Squier "Precision Bass" still has whatever came out of the factory....just some generic roundwounds that I should switch to flatwounds when I get around to. I consider that a guitar of sorts....just a bass guitar!

[ragman1]

Do you use the same strings on all your guitars?

Can't say I do. All that taking them off and putting them back on gets a little tedious

[FourOnSix]

Do you use the same strings on all your guitars?


Can't say I do. All that taking them off and putting them back on gets a little tedious

Damn! You beat me to the punch.

I was going to throw in a little Emily Litella for extra measure

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[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Damn! You beat me to the punch.

I was going to throw in a little Emily Litella for extra measure

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[mitchs]

Flat 12s on archtop.

10s on Gibson solid bodies.

9s on Fenders, going to up thinline to 9.5 next change (since I have a set) may go to 10s after that.

[Jimmy blue note]

Each of my guitars takes a different action and string tension to bring out the quality that I feel brings out the best in me. It takes getting to know a guitar, and feel what I want to get out of it, so even between instruments that spec out similarly, on carved archtops, the way a luthier carved the archings, the thicknesses they used, the materials, the scale, they all contribute to how they use the energy of the string and for me, the string gauges are a big factour in matching the way I play to the way a guitar responds.
On a semi or solid, I'm always changing things around. On my fretless solid body, the B string is even the same gauge as the high E string. No idea why but that's the way it works out for the tension I need.
When it's right, it's right.

[John A.]

Roseanne Roseannadanna refuses to be seen together with Emily Littella.