This is probably going to be a shorter post than usual. Not because there isn’t stuff happening that’s worth writing about. There’s always stuff happening, and a bunch of it is usually worth writing about. Actually, this week it’s pretty simple. I just want to go play my guitars.
Before I do that though, I thought I’d fill you in on what I found with the lighter strings.
I tried the Billy Gibbons strings from Dunlop, in the 7’s and 8’s on two different guitars. I really like the feel of the light strings. Oh my. They are an inspiration. Lots of fun for my small and not overly developed hand. I can glide over them without a lot of effort. And
they even work for some of the rhythms I play. The lighter gauge makes it easier to finger and maintain. Unfortunately, I don’t like the tone. I find the higher strings a bit too tinny for my taste. On both instruments. I also don’t like the tonal disparity when transitioning from the lower strings to the higher strings. It sounds like two different guitars. I can see this being a really cool trait if you play mostly lead with more three string power chords for rhythm. For straight rhythm that sometimes uses the middle four strings, it’s not too my liking. I find it very discordant.
Because of that I checked some of my other instruments. I have some Ernie Balls on a couple of guitars. One has just the slinkys in 9’s and the other has Cobalts in 9’s. I don’t like either one of these for similar reasons. The slinkys are too tinny for me. The Cobalts feel like I’m fighting to get tonal and volume equilibrium.
Because I didn’t like the tonal quality of the 7’s I put D’Addario EXL130’s, which are 8’s, on my Les Paul, instead of the 7’s. The tonal balance is much better. The jumps between the strings in their gauge is a little smaller and I’m guessing that that is some of what makes the difference. I have a set of the D’Addario NYXL in 8’s that I’m looking forward to trying. I was going to put them on the guitar that currently has the Billy Gibbons 8’s but just realized that that would be silly since I hope to take that in for some adjustments soon which means it will likely be getting new strings at that time. I think I will replace the
slinkys with the NYXL’s instead. That will be a good test.
While looking for strings for my electric guitars, I also wandered over to look at acoustic strings. Partly because I discovered that the strings on my acoustic are 12’s. No wonder I don’t play that one that much. Anyway. I found some 10’s and they feel much better. They sound good too. And my playing sounds better. Nice win all around then.
So, interesting experiment with the guitar strings. About the only thing left for me to decide is if I prefer the EXL series or the NYXL series for my electrics. Well, and weight. But that I think I will keep varied depending on the guitar. I think I’ll stick with the nickel wound though. They seem to meet my needs at this point.
There you have it. My fun filled couple of weeks with guitar strings.
I’m still working on getting new videos posted. I’ll need to get it done quick though as there’s another jam coming up this next weekend. Yay! I’m looking forward to that. It promises to be a fun time. I’m also with the Box Guitar club this weekend on Saturday. It looks like a busy music weekend for me. No complaints about that. It’s the way it’s supposed to be.
Going to go play now. See you soon.