2 guitars, one for Jazz and one for Rock?

[st.bede]

If you want to avoid buying a second guitar, it is possible to really shape a sound with the amp choice and pedals.

Also having the right PU for the guitar and the job, makes a significant difference. I tend to put warm fatter sounding PUs into most of my guitars.

If I wanted to use a strat, I might want to flip out the PUs. Sometimes a small meaningful difference can be had by just adjusting the height of a PU.

I always use lite strings and I am not convinced that the gage is as important as some find it to be. I find that the string type is more indicative of the tone. I use DR blues if I am looking for more warmth.

[rpjazzguitar]

Reading between the lines, I think the OP wants a new PRS and should get one.

[Zigracer]

All of my rock guitars are strung with 11s. I bend strings, but probably no more than a step and most times only 1/2 step. 12s on my jazz guitars. I can get a nice jazzy tone on the “rock” guitars with the 11s.

[jads57]

We live in an age of many options! Back in the day there weren’t so many choices of instruments, strings, etc. Consider these tools at your disposal.
Some people who can afford it have an entire tool set with individualized tools. Others just use a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench for all jobs.

The 335, Telecaster,Stratocaster have long been considered very versatile tools!

[RobbieAG]

I've played Strats for many years and have owned many of them (still own two). I also find them very comfortable (which I can't say for Teles). As others have said, you could easily just put a 10-46 set on there which would work for jazz, rock, blues or anything else. That being said, it would be tempting to get separate Strats configured different ways as they're not that expensive if you stay away from vintage or custom shop models. I think an ideal one for jazz would be a hardtail with rosewood fingerboard, neck humbucker and heavier strings.

[SierraTango]

I realize there is a lot of Strat and Tele love going on here, however have you ever played a Parker Fly Deluxe from the 90's? I gigged with one extensively and can honestly say it was a true Swiss Army knife guitar. The stereo feature between Piezo and Mag pickups allows you to blend the two, I used a Rivera M-60 on the Mag side and a Evans amp for the Piezo side. Of course you don't have to run two amps, you can do it summed into a mono signal and control the blend from the guitar.

With those options, I could cover any style of music. I had mine set up with 10's (be sure to get the correct spring for the whammy bar) and getting a fat, warm Jazz tone was not a problem. Conversely, it was possible to get rippin Rock and Fusion tone if that was the mission.

As far as playability, the Fly played like butta, better than any Strat I ever owned. Also very, very light weight, super nice on a long gig.

I guess it would not be a inexpensive option though. Don't bother with the Fly's that were produced after Ken sold the company.

[Average Joe]

I've gone the route of setting up guitars for different applications and found that over time I got used to a particular setup and migrated to that on both guitars. It's probably a shortcoming as a player, but over time I found changing between setups distracting.

I keep 11s on both a semi and a strat, and they'll do nicely for jazz, rock and whatnot.

The thing about guitars is, there's no wrong way. Figure out what works for you. Plenty of jazz players use light strings, plemty of (blues) rockers uses thick string. If it works, it's good

[Christian Miller]

Obviously sell strat, buy es335 or telecaster with neck humbucker, fit with gauge 11 strings.

I daresay that coldly rational answer is not the one you seek however…

[Irishmuso]

Obviously sell strat, …

Hate to disagree, but I really think you need two guitars. I always reach for the strat with 10s when I have a rockier gig or musical to do and my trusty 355 with heavier strings can handle jazz and I hope someday I can too. I find I keep the archtop for playing at home.

[Peter C]

Don't know if it's completely relevant to this thread, but if I had only one guitar for everything, I'd likely use the D'Addario EXL115W (11-49) set, which has a .021 gauge wound third, and keep a supply of .018 or .019 gauge plains for fusion etc. You'd just have to adjust intonation (and pole piece height if available). There is/was also an EXL110W set with a wound 3rd, apparently.

[Dean_G]

I would go with the 10s as a couple suggestions above, or practice enough with the 11s and strengthen your hands. You can do anything on that Strat with one set of strings and maybe even develop a unique sound of your own.

[Christian Miller]

Hate to disagree, but I really think you need two guitars. I always reach for the strat with 10s when I have a rockier gig or musical to do and my trusty 355 with heavier strings can handle jazz and I hope someday I can too. I find I keep the archtop for playing at home.

.11s are a good compromise on a short scale guitar

[Christian Miller]

Do people really find .11s hard to play?

tbf ive got to the point where I find guitars with .10s and .09s to be basically unplayable. Actually that’s one reason I haven’t put .09s or .10s on my tele - I need a little bit of continuity in my guitar set ups. But I can play everything I want to on my 335, including bends. My 175 has TI .13s which feel not massively more heavy

if I like light strings I’d have a lighter set up on all my guitars.

[Bobby Timmons]

Yes, get 2 guitars and set one up for rock and one for jazz. A PRS would be good. Another strat would be good too. I like strats because you can customize your loaded pickguard and arrange pickup placement and controls how you like.

[mr. beaumont]

Do people really find .11s hard to play?

tbf ive got to the point where I find guitars with .10s and .09s to be basically unplayable. Actually that’s one reason I haven’t put .09s or .10s on my tele - I need a little bit of continuity in my guitar set ups. But I can play everything I want to on my 335, including bends. My 175 has TI .13s which feel not massively more heavy

if I like light strings I’d have a lighter set up on all my guitars.

I personally hate light strings and .011s is as light as I can do...but I'm lucky, my hands are healthy.

Totally agree on some semblance of continuity...If guitars feel TOO different there's an adjustment period I sometimes can't afford.

Of course, I screw up all of that by playing as much nylon string as I do.

[John A.]

Do people really find .11s hard to play?

tbf ive got to the point where I find guitars with .10s and .09s to be basically unplayable. Actually that’s one reason I haven’t put .09s or .10s on my tele - I need a little bit of continuity in my guitar set ups. But I can play everything I want to on my 335, including bends. My 175 has TI .13s which feel not massively more heavy

if I like light strings I’d have a lighter set up on all my guitars.

Everybody's a little different. Also, many people lose hand strength and/or experience joint pain under exertion as they get older. FWIW, I put TI 13's on my Seventy-Seven archtop (a 175-like object), and 10s on my strat and my semi. I've tried other gauges on all three of these, but this is just what feels/works best to me. I can play 11's but don't think they really offer any benefits over 10s (not really fatter sounding, and slightly harder to bend). I don't have trouble switching off among the three, and can even do whole step bends on the 13's (fairly easily on the B and E, with more difficulty on the G), but can't really go beyond a whole step on the 13's.

But I don't imagine that'll be forever. I'm 61 now and pretty much everything but my hands aches and creaks, so it's probably just a matter of time before I drop gauges. I hope I don't ever have to go lower than 10's on any, though. 9's and below really feel weird to me, and when I've tried other people's guitars that have them I've tended to break strings.

[frabarmus]

Whether solid body, semi hollow or hollow body, I use 2 stringsets based on scale length (one set for my 24.75" guitars and one for my 23.5" guitars).

24.75": 13 15 17 26 34 44

23.5": 14 16 18 26 46 54

Works fine for me: nice tension but no strain pressing down the strings.
I usually eliminate the first string (using the B string as first) and sub the fourth string (anything between 24 and 28 instead of the regular 32+).

[rpjazzguitar]

I play 11 13 16 22 32 42, iirc. I buy 9s, throw away the 9 and add the 13 (bought from Amazon in packs of 5)

It's to reduce hand pain and allow bending. The 11 sounds a little fuller and feels a little firmer than a smaller gauge string.

The 42 is hard to tune. The electronic tuner indicates that it's unstable. But I can get it close enough.

It might be easier to play really fast with heavier strings, but then my hands ache.

Jim Hall, as I understand it, played pretty light strings (11-50). Pat Martino used bridge cables (16 - 56 on his signature GHSs). Both sounded great.

[Christian Miller]

Everybody's a little different. Also, many people lose hand strength and/or experience joint pain under exertion as they get older. FWIW, I put TI 13's on my Seventy-Seven archtop (a 175-like object), and 10s on my strat and my semi. I've tried other gauges on all three of these, but this is just what feels/works best to me. I can play 11's but don't think they really offer any benefits over 10s (not really fatter sounding, and slightly harder to bend). I don't have trouble switching off among the three, and can even do whole step bends on the 13's (fairly easily on the B and E, with more difficulty on the G), but can't really go beyond a whole step on the 13's.

But I don't imagine that'll be forever. I'm 61 now and pretty much everything but my hands aches and creaks, so it's probably just a matter of time before I drop gauges. I hope I don't ever have to go lower than 10's on any, though. 9's and below really feel weird to me, and when I've tried other people's guitars that have them I've tended to break strings.

I think when that happens with me I’ll just shave a gauge or two off everything. For the es335 I want a set up that works for everything. That’s part of the point of having an es335 imo. Unless I’m 100% it’s a straight up jazz gig, the 335 will always be a good choice.

So hence my rationale for my reply. Es335 with 11s will do anything. I mean ok if Steve Vai or Matt Munisteri calls you to dep, maybe not haha. But for almost all the stuff in the middle…

I find 10s wiggle around a lot and offer no resistance to my picking hand when using floating hand rest stroke technique… better on a fender of course … That said I think I’ve adapted my technique to be better with lower gauge strings (ie anchored/muting right hand position and so on) I used to really struggle. Even 11s were quite hard for me, as they feel light and thin, getting used to them.

this is much more about the trebles than the wound strings…

[John A.]

I think when that happens with me I’ll just shave a gauge or two off everything. For the es335 I want a set up that works for everything. That’s part of the point of having an es335 imo. Unless I’m 100% it’s a straight up jazz gig, the 335 will always be a good choice.

So hence my rationale for my reply. Es335 with 11s will do anything. I mean ok if Steve Vai or Matt Munisteri calls you to dep, maybe not haha. But for almost all the stuff in the middle…

Matt Munisteri on his ES-150 and Steve Cardenas on a 335 alternate in the guitar chair of at least one band I know of. So you could probably get away with subbing for him in a pinch. Can't help you with Steve Vai.

I find 10s wiggle around a lot and offer no resistance to my picking hand when using floating hand rest stroke technique… better on a fender of course … That said I think I’ve adapted my technique to be better with lower gauge strings (ie anchored/muting right hand position and so on) I used to really struggle. Even 11s were quite hard for me, as they feel light and thin, getting used to them.

I know what you mean, but I've been playing with 10's so long (and switching between them and 12's or 13') that I don't have any trouble with them. But I find 9's really difficult, and 8's might as will be dental floss.

this is much more about the trebles than the wound strings…

Of course.

[omphalopsychos]

This thread made me buy a second strat for 11s. Thanks all. OP do what your heart knows is right.

[Woody Sound]

I use a Sadowsky archtop in my loud modern big band. One night the leader, who doesn't really understand the guitar things, called up Chicago's version of "Caravan." The arrangement calls for a heavy, distorted rock guitar sound and solo. So I tried my best to set up a nice distorted sustaining sound on the Quilter Mach 2. Is was horrible. Verge of feedback, squatty staccato sound. I told him after rehearsal, "Pete, if you're going to do that tune again, please text me before rehearsal so I can bring another guitar." (PRS with 10's)

[Woody Sound]

This thread made me buy a second strat for 11s. Thanks all. OP do what your heart knows is right.

Ever consider trying 12 flats just for the hell of it?