The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary

View Poll Results: What gauge strings on your archtop?

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  • 10

    37 4.56%
  • 11

    165 20.32%
  • 12

    385 47.41%
  • 13

    205 25.25%
  • other

    58 7.14%
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Posts 101 to 125 of 301
  1. #101

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
    I guess jazz cats don't bend notes much.
    In one of Buddy Rich's recorded rants, he wails on the bass player, "WHAT'S WITH THIS BENDING!!!"

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  3. #102

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    I use Newtone 11 gauge strings, mainly due to arthritis making 12s, 13s unplayable, plus large hands and fingers don't help. find Newtones seem to have less pull/tension.
    My Slaman is strung with Newtone Gypsy Jazz Nickel 11s, 1948 Rex /Harmony/Gretsch acoustic archtop Newtone bronze 11s. My DRL CT-09 (Google drl guitars) which is basically a thinline flat-top with built-in pickup and preamp, is strung with Newtone Heritage 11s, (a special light tension set) and used to play 30s/40s standards in a trio. I pick lightly, the action at 1th fret on the DRL is 2mm on treble and bass sides, but still get clarity and definition plus its kind to the old fingers.
    Have to admit I don't think of myself as a 'real' jazz guitarist.
    Last edited by bananafist; 12-06-2013 at 02:06 PM.

  4. #103

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    I use 0.14 TI's on an archtop with 25" scale.

  5. #104

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
    I guess jazz cats don't bend notes much.
    Howard Roberts used 16-56 and bent a lot of notes.




  6. #105

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flyin' Brian
    Howard Roberts used 16-56 and bent a lot of notes.
    0.16? Who even makes strings that heavy?

    It's possible to get your strings "bendable" with the right setup, even with heavy strings. Whole-step bends not so much, but the half-steppers are very possible.

  7. #106

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    Quote Originally Posted by ecj
    0.16? Who even makes strings that heavy?
    LaBella makes a 15-56 flatwound set.

  8. #107

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    I use a 012 set but change the first two strings to 014 and 018 (by them by bulk). I can do half-step bends, not more.

  9. #108

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    I had used 12s for years, sometimes roundwound and sometimes flatwound. Usually D'Addario strings as they are inexpensive, readily available and very consistent.

    Recently I tried Pyramid Gold 11 flatwounds on my carved 17" archtop with a floater and was amazed at how much the tone opened up- warmer and more resonant. Maybe the 12s put too much tension on that top, or maybe it's a difference in alloys or even the round core Pyramid uses with those instead of the hex core that D'Addario uses (although the plain strings sound better, too). I tried the same strings on my GB10 and liked that change too, although it wasn't as pronounced as with the carvetop; the pickups on that guitar are so hot that I usually run the volume knob around 4-5 and the lighter strings seem to help with that.

    The Pyramids seem a bit darker than the D'Addarios with the result that I roll off the tone knob less, which may help with the sense of resonance.

    Last week I replaced the D'Addario Chromes 12s on my Tele with Chromes 11s and thus far do not like that change. The Tele seems to need the heft of the bigger strings, but it could be that "new string twang" that's bugging me. I don't know how Ed Bickert got that fat tone with the light strings he used. I would just get "plink, plink, plink."

  10. #109

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    Quote Originally Posted by 3rdOrbit
    I'm one of the odd ones out. I've got an arch, but I don't like fat strings. It's 10's for me all the way. And in round wounds. Flats don't inspire me.

    Supposedly fat strings equal fat tone and big sustain. I find thinner strings are just as fat with the tone rolled down, and they sustain just as well. I'll go out on a limb and say they sustain even better. Call me crazy.

    And thin strings are much easier to play. And because they are, there is a nuance and touch you can get that is much harder to achieve with the heavies. You can really make your guitar talk with thinner strings.

    String me up and pelt me with stones, but I think it's been proven by some of the greats.
    Jim Hall and Ed Bickert both used light strings and no one complains about their tone being thin or wimpy.

  11. #110

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    I use .11's on my 175 and all my other guitars.But I mainly play rock and roll and blues and I do need to do a lot of string bending.But the .11's serve me pretty well on what little jazz we experiment with and don't seem to compromise my tone.Now I do use round wounds and get that extra little bite in my solos.

  12. #111

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    Classical players have known for quite some time that strings that are too high tension for a given guitar constrict the resonance of the top and therefore the sound considerably. Lighter tension sometimes 'opens up' the resonance of the top and makes the guitar more lively and sound far better. I have found that with my own classical.

  13. #112

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    Although I usually put 0.012's on my archtops I recently tried 0.013's on my Eastman AR605 . I took them off after a few days. I found that they indeed made the guitar sound dead and restricted. For me 0.012 is the way to go.

  14. #113

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    A timely thread. In regards to string brands and gauge.

    I've got a 25'' scale archtop and would like to loosen (reduce the tention) the feel of the strings. Primarily at the right hand. I understand TI's have the absolute lowest string tention because of the way they're made. Minimum metal core and a greater outside wrap. Can anyone verify this? Or just a general thought on loosening up the feel of a 25'' scale?

  15. #114

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    Installing a shorter tail piece will do it.

  16. #115

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    Quote Originally Posted by teleboli
    A timely thread. In regards to string brands and gauge.

    I've got a 25'' scale archtop and would like to loosen (reduce the tention) the feel of the strings. Primarily at the right hand. I understand TI's have the absolute lowest string tention because of the way they're made. Minimum metal core and a greater outside wrap. Can anyone verify this? Or just a general thought on loosening up the feel of a 25'' scale?
    they have the lowest tension because of the way the gauges are combined in the set rather than how they are made I think, but certainly a lot lower tension.

    Jens

  17. #116

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    Carvin SH550: T-I Jazz Swing 10s
    ES-335: T-I Swing 11s
    Ibanez AFJ91: T-I Swing 12s

  18. #117

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    Thomastik Infeld Swing Flatwound 12s

  19. #118

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    Quote Originally Posted by teleboli
    A timely thread. In regards to string brands and gauge.

    I've got a 25'' scale archtop and would like to loosen (reduce the tention) the feel of the strings. Primarily at the right hand. I understand TI's have the absolute lowest string tention because of the way they're made. Minimum metal core and a greater outside wrap. Can anyone verify this? Or just a general thought on loosening up the feel of a 25'' scale?
    Not sure if the reasoning is right (don't know enough about string construction), but they do feel much lower tension, for whatever reason.

    I use 0.14 TIs and can easily do half step bends on all strings. 0.13 Chromes made that much more difficult.

  20. #119

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    I know they're not generally considered a jazz band, but Led Zeppelin used 8s, and their sound wasn't noticeably thin. Once you're amped, I suggest the electronics count for more than the gauge, particularly the EQ. In addition the choice of string material surely has a larger effect than gauge on final sound because it changes what the pickups pick up.

  21. #120

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    Quote Originally Posted by GaryCorby
    I know they're not generally considered a jazz band, but Led Zeppelin used 8s, and their sound wasn't noticeably thin. Once you're amped, I suggest the electronics count for more than the gauge, particularly the EQ. In addition the choice of string material surely has a larger effect than gauge on final sound because it changes what the pickups pick up.
    The gauge of the string definitely has a very audible effect on the the amplified sound - of course most so when playing clean. A thin string with low tension vibrates differently from a thick string with high tension. My Strat sound radically different with 9s from what it does with 13s (it's decades since I tried such thin strings on my archtops, but as I remember the effect was the same). Of course, the other factors you mention also play a role - as does the playing technique, choice of pick etc. And of course all those factors can be obscured if distorsion and other effects are used (so maybe Led Zeppelin is not the most obvous example here. The thickness of Jimmy Page's sound was to a high degree derived from amp breakup which is mostly avoided by "traditional" jazz guitarists).

  22. #121

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    I remeber reading a Guitar Player article by Andy Ellis on Kenny Burrel and he (-AE) talked about "quarter-note bends." That was a new concept to me. It is an important one---Kenny B and Grant G could get a lot of feel out a slight bend.

  23. #122

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    Rotosound Flatwounds 12s on solid body (before them DR Blues for a long time)
    Lately, I'm switching on archtop between D'Addario's 13s: Half Rounds and Pure Nickiel (nickiels bring a little more tension which makes action a little higher - it really makes chords sound bigger).

  24. #123

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  25. #124

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    Quote Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
    I remeber reading a Guitar Player article by Andy Ellis on Kenny Burrel and he (-AE) talked about "quarter-note bends." That was a new concept to me. It is an important one---Kenny B and Grant G could get a lot of feel out a slight bend.
    IIRC from reading something in my blues days, the quarter note bends are on the b3 and b7. Something about the "true" blue notes being located there...but I think it was a quarter of the way between the b3 and the natural 3, which would be an "eighth tone"...a true "quarter tone" bend would be smack in the middle of the b3 and the natural 3 and in my experimentations that did not sound as hip. I could be wrong though.

  26. #125

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    Quote Originally Posted by coolvinny
    IIRC from reading something in my blues days, the quarter note bends are on the b3 and b7. Something about the "true" blue notes being located there...but I think it was a quarter of the way between the b3 and the natural 3, which would be an "eighth tone"...a true "quarter tone" bend would be smack in the middle of the b3 and the natural 3 and in my experimentations that did not sound as hip. I could be wrong though.

    I'll see if I can dig out my copy of the article over the weekend.