String sizes

[JazzyPete]

Firstly I apologise if this subject has been already previously discussed. I have recently acquired a H535 with size ten strings. I'm more of a straight ahead jazz bebop style player then a "string bending" blues player. So I wondered what jazz guys (or gals) were using on their 535s. I'm looking at getting some flatwound 11 gauge. Any recommendations gratefully received - thank you Pete.

Ps hope you all keeping safe.

[rwinking]

If you are going to play Jaxx, I think the flatwound 11's or even 12's are great. I like my 535 for bending and stuff and have 9's on it right now but use my 576 and L-5 with big ass flatwounds.

[yoslate]

Pyramid Electric Guitar Chrome-Nickle Flatwounds  .011 - .050   They also have an .011 - .048 set.  Welcome to the forum, JazzyPete!

[LeBaron]

 

D’Addario Chromes 11-50  ECG24 – Jazz Light Gauge - Warm/Mellow Tone – Flat Wound; 11, 15, 22w, 30, 40, 50

On both my H535 and my H530.

Perfect as far as I'm concerned.

[JazzyPete]

Thanks, I really appreciate it. Stay safe folks ?

[kennyv4]

11 flat wound or half round should work.  I would be hesitant to use 12's.  I'm not sure the nut would accommodate 12's without filing the nut a bit..  I hope someone with more knowledge on my last statement would chime in.  Oh, by the way welcome to the forum Pete.

[JazzyPete]

Just also had this from Heritage..

 

Thanks for writing in. Our guitars are factory equipped with .10s and they can handle up to .11s. Going to .12s could possibly damage the neck so we don't recommend them. There are, however, many owners who have converted to .12s without issues. If you were to try them, we recommend having your luthier make the change and you'll need to pay attention to the neck relief. If you end up having to tighten the truss rod all the way to keep the neck straight then you know it will be damaging.

[kennyv4]

Thanks for the quick response.  I thought I read that somewhere.  I play mostly American standards and jazz, but have been using half round 10's by D'Addario.  I also like Gibbons L5 strings, which are also 10's.

[JazzyPete]

Cheers. Richie's Zellon uses .12s but I think I'll follow the recommendations here and go for .11s. I know it's "all in the fingers" but I quite like the extra slight heft going up slightly from a ten. Thanks again guys. Good to talk to like minded folk when I'm self isolating ?

[zguitar71]

I run 11s in all guitars that I play blues with and do a lot of string bending. Mainly these go in my H150, an ES347 and other similar guitars. 11s have the perfect resistance for bending and allow for better control over lighter strings. 11s are the lightest string I use. 
 

I run 12s on in between guitars that I play jazz and blues with. I still bend quite a bite but not like the 11s.  Mostly these go on an ES225. The 12s give a bigger thicker tone than the 11s. This gauge allows me to play fast runs like a smaller string but I can get smooth creamy tone when I play octaves. They also give enough resistance to play chord melodies. 12s are a great compromise string. 
 

On dedicated jazz  guitars I run 13s. These go on two vintage arch tops, an Epiphone Triumph and a Kalamazoo KG31. I still bend the E and B strings a bit. I tried running 12s on these and they just don’t have the punch and attack that an arch top should have. If I’m playing in a smaller group Without a bass player the 13s give enough low end to be heard. In a larger group when I avoid the low end the 13s give more midrange to cut through and provide more volume when I solo. This is for purely acoustic groups. 
 

I don’t like the tone of flatwounds so for electric guitars I use nickel steel strings. For the acoustic guitars I use Phosphor Bronze strings. I do have a floating pickup on the Triumph but I still consider it acoustic. I love the feel of flatwounds but they just sound dead to me. I prefer a brighter tone than flatwounds give and if I need to I can roll back the tone to get a darker sound. Personally I think many jazz players go too dark with their tone and they loose the clarity and bell like tones that brings out the beauty of the guitar. I think individual note clarity is very important when playing jazz and the darker tones hide this. 

[Perilmeglio2]

I don't have semihollow guitars but anyway on all of my instruments I usually run 10-46 or 9-46 Ernie Ball.

I Play in Eb tuning (A=415hz)

On producer's site you can find also the string tension, but it dipends from your tuning and from the scale lenght It your guitar too

[zguitar71]

I came back too late to edit my post but I think it is important to say that the 12s I use do not have a wrapped G string. 

[JazzyPete]

Great feedback and lots to think about. Thanks guys. One thing I like about the flatwounds (on my Peerless Monarch)  is the smooth feel of them. The other strings I like are nylon. I have a bit of ongoing GAS for a Godin Multiac. But I have yet had a play on one.  I like the sound though.

[rockabilly69]

I use Pyramid Gold Flats on my Gretsch 6120T-55 VS and they sound great. I fingerpick (flesh on string, no thumbpick) that guitar 90% of the time.

https://gimmesomestrings.com/pyramid-gold-chrome-nickel-flatwound-guitar-strings/?sku=412 100&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIspmD2PPZ6AIVkYbACh27-AA5EAQYAiABEgLkNPD_BwE

 

[guitrr]

I’m going to respectfully offer a voice of dissent:

Your mileage my vary, of course, but I’m from the school of letting the amp do the heavy lifting in the tonal equation, and I run a 9-42 set on everything I own except a solid body with P-90s I set up specifically for my Surf band; that guitar is strung with an 11 gauge Flatwound set.  I love the sound of Flatwound strings with single Coil pickups, but find them very dull and lifeless to my ear when used with humbuckers.  

A few years ago at Fur Peace Ranch, I attended a class taught by Scott Sharrard, who at that time was the MD of the Gregg Allman Band.  Scott’s take was that people who use heavier strings for tone have bought into, “The Stevie Ray Vaughan myth”.  I.E. that bigger strings produce better tone.  Scott is also a big advocate of using the amp.  He remarked, “If you want bigger, fatter tone at the same volume, turn the amp up and your guitar down, and adjust your string attack accordingly.”  I’ve seen Tomo Fujita say the same thing.

Scott uses a standard set of 9’s on all his electrics, including the ones used for slide.  His tone is terrific.

Personally, after over thirty+ years of using 10-52’s on nearly all my guitars, I switched to 9-42s on everything (regardless of scale length),  several years ago.  I’ve talked with way too many guitar players, including several very respected and well known pros, who have encountered hand problems in their 50’s and 60’s; tendinitis, carpal tunnel, etc, and subsequently were pretty much forced to go to lighter gauge strings if they wanted to keep playing.

 

[tsp17]

On 4/8/2020 at 7:57 AM, JazzyPete said:

Just also had this from Heritage..

 

Thanks for writing in. Our guitars are factory equipped with .10s and they can handle up to .11s. Going to .12s could possibly damage the neck so we don't recommend them. There are, however, many owners who have converted to .12s without issues. If you were to try them, we recommend having your luthier make the change and you'll need to pay attention to the neck relief. If you end up having to tighten the truss rod all the way to keep the neck straight then you know it will be damaging.

I've been playing 12s (I've even tried 13s) on my Heritage arch tops for years with no issues.   My guitars are at least 10 years old, so maybe new ownership changed things to be more standardized for the stock non-arctop/non-custom models.

[pro-fusion]

The simple answer is to buy a few sets of different gauges and try them yourself! I've been doing that a lot lately as I experiment with different tunings and preferences. Ernie Ball, in particularly, makes a huge variety of different-sized string sets, and they're not expensive.

I'm the polar opposite of most here, since I prefer low string tension. On my Les Paul and my Millie, I run 10-46 but with the tailpiece raise high to reduce the tension. I find that anything thinner than that sounds too 'tinny' on G-style guitars. However, on my metal-oriented Jacksons, I always use 9-42 if I'm playing in E Standard. For my downtuned guitars, I have setups a lot of you guys might find floppy and unplayable, such as 11-52 tuned down to C Standard. A great option for getting that slightly warbly Tony Iommi sound.