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What do I gain (or lose) going to lighter strings?

#101
J-Mags said:
I sometimes use heavier strings playing guitar too, because I like the full-scale grind sometimes, like the sound of chords on an acoustic guitar with a round 3rd vs. your average electric guitar sound. I also tried to cure myself of unison bend cliches by getting successively heavier strings, but I just made my hand stronger and my occasional tendonitis worse, so I backed off, but I can't really play 95 bass strings or .09 guitar strings in tune.
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I use a Stringjoy David Gilmour gauged set for most guitars when I play guitar - which is mostly just for songwriting. They pair particularly well with P90s which is my fav guitar pup. Set is: 10-12-16-28-38-48

Lately I’ve been experimenting with Stringjoy’s Orbiter series and settled on the 0105 – .0135 – .017 – .028 – .038 – .050 set for use with humbuckers and I think they’re going to end up being a keeper on my SO’s DiAngelco Excel.

So many strings. So little time… :laugh:
 
#102
40Hz said:
I use a Stringjoy David Gilmour gauged set for most guitars when I play guitar - which is mostly just for songwriting. They pair particularly well with P90s which is my fav guitar pup. Set is: 10-12-16-28-38-48

Lately I’ve been experimenting with Stringjoy’s Orbiter series and settled on the 0105 – .0135 – .017 – .028 – .038 – .050 set for use with humbuckers and I think they’re going to end up being a keeper on my SO’s DiAngelco Excel.

So many strings. So little time… :laugh:
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That's about what I use for guitar, although I don't like to go over 48 on the low E unless I'm playing Baritone. Then I use 13-62, tune it to C standard and just wail on it like the wound 26 is a regular 3rd string. I actually bought a bunch of packs of different guitar strings to experiment, but I haven't had a chance to mess with them. I haven't tried Stringjoy. I'm trying to switch from D'Addario because they keep breaking lately. I use Kurt Mangan for baritone, and bought a bunch of regular guitar sets that I haven't tried.
 
#103
JRA said:
:laugh: me too! :bassist:

but here's what i've learned about digging in* with lighter gauges: the lighter the gauge = the less muscle you need to "dig in!" IME/IMO, the "digging in" effect needs to be 'renegotiated' as you go lighter and lighter, it's relative...and i think you can create more nuance with less effort and without any losses in 'bass-ness'...and you can always tweak the amp/preamp...but i think the secret is the touch.
* on fretless axes
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You reading up on that Gary Willis smack, again? ;)
 
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#105
HaphAsSard said:
A "sproing point", as I like to call it, certainly exists, but is dependent on scale, inherent stiffness of the string (flexible strings move more and need more plucking discipline and/or higher action not to smack against the frets than stiff strings do, but the former maintain a steadier pitch upon the attack at very light tensions), and playing style to an extent (it is true that past a certain tuning/gauge point, no matter how lightly you pluck, pitch won't be steady).
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i think you're talking about the 'theoretical' --- i've never had a light-gauge bass string that could not be tuned to pitch (i'm not talking about inherently faulty strings).
 
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#106
pcake said:
exactly! why work harder if you don't have to?



i haven't found that to be the case, but maybe it's string or bass specific. i tried some super-duper, extra-ultra light strings (i think they were 35 to 85) and didn't have any problems tuning to E standard. i disliked the way the thin strings felt on my fingertips, though, and switched back to 40-95s.
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Might be string specific. I have two different sets of La Bella tapewounds (gold, white) and while they sound great, I have to tune the basses (P, Jazz) to F standard. Otherwise in E standard the strings are extremely floppy and the basses are frankly not playable. I didn't mean to imply that all light strings would do this, but it is something that can happen.

JRA said:
that's not correct.
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See above
 
#107
JRA said:
i think you're talking about the 'theoretical' --- i've never had a light-gauge bass string that could not be tuned to pitch (i'm not talking about inherently faulty strings).
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Just to avoid repeating myself I'll just leave you an example: if you use a D, or a G, as your low E it will have wobbly pitch for a decent chunk of its note envelope even if your touch is featherlight.
(I wasn't the one saying "tuning to pitch", but my comment was germane to it.)
Now, one may dismiss this as "theoretical", but that's a no-true-Scotsman: it only adds a conceptual line - "gauges a reasonable (wo)man can consider as suitable for low E" - to the very practical, if not easily drawn, line I was talking to. I already conceded one has a lot of leeway until they get close, gauge-wise, to the sproing-point area for bass scale and tuning.
 
#110
The strings arrived today (very fast shipping, wasn't expecting them until Monday).
First impressions - they are easy to play, for sure, and they sound good.
I am getting some buzzing on the G and D
 
#113
On the SB-1 I have either 50-70-90-110 Roto Bass or 50-65-85-110 Pro Steels. Since the truss rod is maxed out, I thought it worthwhile having a go with 40-60-80-100 Swing Bass SM66 set. A set of Swing Bass is never much of a time commitment, is it? :smug:

My immediate impression is that my fingers are missing the final bit of tension — this is seeming very pleasant but not very exciting in terms of interacting with the strings — and my ears too prefer the extra bit of verve that comes with the heavier gauge. I once had a 50-70-85-110 set of Swing Bass on this SB-1, and that sounded just so thrilling.

Obviously, this is a pretty fine margin, but it's right over the dividing line between that which is fine and that which I really like.

Numbers for those who like them:
Roto Bass 50-70-90-110 ....... 53 + 54 + 48 + 42 = 197
Pro Steel 50-65-85-110 ......... 49 + 47 + 44 + 40 = 180
Swing Bass 40-60-80-100 ..... 39 + 39 + 44 + 33 = 155
 
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#114
W_R said:
So far, did you find anything that you liked better about the lighter strings?
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They may permit a bit easier playing of fast bits. I'm not sure.
But the buzzing is gone now, and they are feeling better to me as I play them more.

Ricky Rioli said:
On the SB-1 I have either 50-70-90-110 Roto Bass or 50-65-85-110 Pro Steels. Since the truss rod is maxed out, I thought it worthwhile having a go with 40-60-80-100 Swing Bass SM66 set. A set of Swing Bass is never much of a time commitment, is it? :smug:

My immediate impression is that my fingers are missing the final bit of tension — this is seeming very pleasant but not very exciting in terms of interacting with the strings — and my ears too prefer the extra bit of verve that comes with the heavier gauge. I once had a 50-70-85-110 set of Swing Bass on this SB-1, and that sounded just so thrilling.

Obviously, this is a pretty fine margin, but it's right over the dividing line between that which is fine and that which I really like.

Numbers for those who like them:
Roto Bass 50-70-90-110 ....... 53 + 54 + 48 + 42 = 197
Pro Steel 50-65-85-110 ......... 49 + 47 + 44 + 40 = 180
Swing Bass 40-60-80-100 ..... 39 + 39 + 44 + 33 = 155
Click to expand...

Are the numbers at the bottom the string tension?
 
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#117
Jefenator said:
I cannot concur that there is zero tradeoff. But if the thing you are trading off is something you didn't want & won't miss (like playing resistance - or decay) then your decision becomes a lot easier.
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Yes, resistance has never been a net positive to me; particularly when I play near the bridge I do not want so much resistance that I feel like I'm fighting with the strings.

One thing I will say about all this is that much of it is a matter of what a player is willing to adjust to. I started out playing Rotosound rounds in the standard gauges and played those for many years on a bass with incredibly high action. I am the digging-in queen. I used to beat that thing to within an inch of its life. But I no longer want to do that and I've worked hard to refine my technique over these past few years. Switching to light gauges was part of that evolutionary step. What I can tell you about this now is that I can do everything I want to do, and more than I used to be able to do. I didn't lose anything. I gained some things, but I had to do a little work to refine things in order to take advantage of the additional options. The old option to dig in hard is still there, it just takes a little less work now.
 
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#119
kesslari said:
Yeah, thus far, I prefer my mediums. Going to give them a few more days, and see if I can get a truss rod wrench too.
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You will need a little time with them. The additional flexibility can make for a certain amount of buzz and clank if you're hitting harder or fretting harder than they want you to. This is a temporary thing.

It's kind of like wearing progressive lenses in your glasses. I know people who just could not go the two weeks it takes to train your brain how to view the world through progressives and they'll go out and get bifocals. IMO that's ridiculous, because progressives are absolutely seamless once you get the hang of them. But you don't know what you're missing if you never let yourself get there.
 
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