009's or 010's - tone

[kevin h]

when i started playing guitar i used 009's, as did everyone else i knew at that time, late 60's early 70's.

in the 80's it seemed like alot of guys were switching to 010's, so i gave them a try and didn't much care for them. it wasn't so much the feel, but i didn't like the tone... low strings just seemed too bottom heavy to my ears.

when some companies started making 0095 to 044 sets i tried those and liked them alot, so that's what i've been using for the last 20+ years.

i've recently tried elixir strings and love them. they don't a 0095 - 044 set so i tried both the 009's and 010's and i guess i still hear things the same way, so i'm going with 009's.

anyone else have this similar experience with string guage?

[dplight]

I started out in the mid 70's with 9's also. Used them for quite a few years. I switched to 10's and never looked back. To me the 9's sound kind of weak (unwound strings mostly). I've played a few PRS guitars that feel better with 9's, but still prefer the tone of 10's.

[chriswhite]

I never really paid attention too much to tone due to gauge. I switched from 9s to 10s because I was breaking strings all the time (pre Andy) and I just never looked back.

[tom]

i have gone back and forth with .010's and a hybrid .011 set for the last year or so. but i play all the guitars so i get to play .009 vs. .010 regularly. i prefer the more solid lows of the .010's, but the .009's have a slippery smoothness to single note lines that is fun too. i think it all depends how you play. i used to be a ".009 players are whimps" guy, but i see a place for both depending what speaks to you. it's all subjective, and i've heard way too many guys get great tones from .009's.
i did ask elixir in the early days if they'd do .0095's, but at the time they didn't want to go there. it's a matter of stores only allowing so many sku's for their string shelves and sadly that one just didn't generate enough volume for them to make it worth doing.

[John C]

For me increasing RSI issues mean I HAVE to use .009s on 25 1/2" scale guitars; otherwise I get serious pain issues. It didn't used to be this way but it has been getting worse over the past decade. Depending on the guitar I might be able to use .010s on a 24 3/4" scale (or more properly 24.625" scale on a Les Paul or similar set-neck) but I still find myself using a hybrid set on those (.009-.046 where the plain strings are from a .009 set and the wound strings are from a .010 set).

[pdicristina]

I know I'm the odd duck in this forum. I used 008's for at least 25 years. I just switched to 009's for a few reasons. 1. Elixir does not make 008's. 2. Using shorter scale guitars like Atom and Cobra was too floppy with 008's. 3. I commonly tune down a half or whole step.

I read an interview with Allan Holdsworth around 30 years ago where he stated that he preferred 009's but he used 008's because they sounded better. I know that's a minority opinion but it's all in how you play and the way your amp is set up.

Update:
Here's a link to that old holdsworth article if anyone's interested:
http://ofeuillerat.free.fr/documents/articles/Guitar%20World%20Article%2082.html

[Pietro]

I can't stand anything below 010s, for feel and tone.

[tom]

years ago we did a guitar for billy g and it had to have .008 with even smaller strings on the bottom. it was crazy strange to play.

[Pietro]

I can't imagine what a light touch he has to have to play those strings.

[Big Harry]

it is not strange if you tune it to E flat :p and play it with scalloped neck.
I am using 8,11,15,24,34,48(or 50 sometimes) on my YJM strat , and it is amazing to play it !

The trick is in the E,A and D string , they should have to be fat ,especialy E . ;) .

8,11,15,24,34,48-YJM strat ,SOB's ,Eflat
9,11,16,26,36,46 JEM 7wvh, Elixir's
10,13,17,26,36,46 TAG DT ,SOB's
11,14,17,28,38,52 hand made short scale Strat ,Elixir's ,D

That's what I am using ,there is no better or worse gauge , just a gauge which suits your guitar and your style the best .
Need lots time to find it out .

[mdrs]

I hit 'em pretty hard. So, I really need 10's or better. Lighter gauge strings "give" too much.

I can see, however, how fun it'd be to play 9's, esp. for leads. I too have heard some AMAZING tone come out of guys playing 9's, or 8's.

[John Price]

For me switching from 9's to 10's was not so much about tone but how much more my chords stayed in tune as well as the double stop stuff. I didn't have a "WOW" moment with the tone and it did take some time getting comfortable with them. Since the change I never looked back.

[Big Harry]

well said John , same for me on my DT .
But , different brands in 9's or 10's are not the same . Some are more stiff , another are more soft .
Sometimes 10's are more pleasant and easier to play than some 9's in other brand , regarding bending and double stops .

[Casper]

I use Ddad 10s and have for the last 15 years or so. When I met Luke a few years ago, I was astounded to learn he plays 9's with one of those thumbnail picks!:eek: It all in what your're used to I guess..

[LearnedHand]

I have been thinking about going down to 9's from 10's on my TAG classic. I know Tom and crew set it up with Elixir 10's in mind and I have always played 10s because I was scolded that 9s are for wimps. Having said that, my hands start to ache and I can not easily hit a full bend up consistently like I used to with the guitar, the note ends up just flat. As such, I am becoming a wimp. Sorry Tom and crew I have tired to hold it together, but it ain't smoothly working anymore. So this weekend I am heading up to the music store and buying some 9s and restring and adjust the truss rod to handle the 9s. In addition, I have been considering dropping my acoustic gauge down from 13s to 12s. The hands are getting tired and I can hold the note to get a clear ring. IMHO, irrespective of whether you get tone, if you can get the note, great tone from a 10 set is worthless because you can't get the tone and note together.

[dplight]

Could it be that hand size and string size go together? I have relatively large hands and really prefer 10's. I played an SG a few weeks ago with 11's and it was not bad at all. Going to 9's though feels almost out of control too easy to bend strings. As I'm getting older though (I'm 50 and can tell my hands are not as strong as they used to be) I may eventually switch down. I still think the guitars that I've had both 9's and 10's on sound better with the 10's.

[Casper]

I'm getting a little older too. I have thought about it myself. Everytime I play a guitar with 9's I completely overbend notes (naturally), but find I have better chording for some reason..I'm sure it would adjust with time. I always broke the e or b when I was playing 9's regularly (10-15 years ago), but then again, my playing style has changed too.

[John Price]

I have been thinking about going down to 9's from 10's on my TAG classic. I know Tom and crew set it up with Elixir 10's in mind and I have always played 10s because I was scolded that 9s are for wimps. Having said that, my hands start to ache and I can not easily hit a full bend up consistently like I used to with the guitar, the note ends up just flat. As such, I am becoming a wimp. Sorry Tom and crew I have tired to hold it together, but it ain't smoothly working anymore. So this weekend I am heading up to the music store and buying some 9s and restring and adjust the truss rod to handle the 9s. In addition, I have been considering dropping my acoustic gauge down from 13s to 12s. The hands are getting tired and I can hold the note to get a clear ring. IMHO, irrespective of whether you get tone, if you can get the note, great tone from a 10 set is worthless because you can't get the tone and note together.


Do what's best for you and don't be bothered by what others say! Great tones have been made by all gauges of strings. Yes! there will be an adjustment but if it means not hurting your hands and extending your enjoyment of playing the guitar then do it!

[dannopelli]

Do what's best for you and don't be bothered by what others say! Great tones have been made by all gauges of strings. Yes! there will be an adjustment but if it means not hurting your hands and extending your enjoyment of playing the guitar then do it!

Ditto that.

[LearnedHand]

Do what's best for you and don't be bothered by what others say! Great tones have been made by all gauges of strings. Yes! there will be an adjustment but if it means not hurting your hands and extending your enjoyment of playing the guitar then do it!

Thanks John P and Danno for the words of encouragement.

[iTwang]

Hi,

out of lurk mode again. I really liked the sound and the feel of a 0095 to 044 set but I'm using Elixir 010's now, but tuning down a half step.

But please, please Tom oh Supreme Commander of the Anderson Empire ;-) ask Elixir to produce a 0095 to 044 set - since I don't have any leverage! ;-)

BTW, how do I order a couple of T-shirts again?

[tom]

i think in the grand scheme of things there isn't enough volume for them to make them. it all comes down to shelf space in stores. stores will let any particular vendor have just so many slots on the wall. so each slot needs to sell x amount of $. they determined that not enough sets were sold , or not enough dealers would give up a slot for them. the sad economic truth about retail.

[iTwang]

i think in the grand scheme of things there isn't enough volume for them to make them. it all comes down to shelf space in stores. stores will let any particular vendor have just so many slots on the wall. so each slot needs to sell x amount of $. they determined that not enough sets were sold , or not enough dealers would give up a slot for them. the sad economic truth about retail.

Thanks, just a little wishful thinking Tom! :o but how do I satisfy my Anderson cravings with a T-shirt or three?:D

[tom]

in an effort to lighten rach's load a bit, laurie is taking over the mailing of small stuff. so you can email her at laurieataguitars@earthlink.net.
for anyone else waiting for stuff, we just got straps, so there is a big pile of registrations ready to go out.
in case you didn't know, we are now including a strap with all new guitars so we don't have as much free stuff to mail. when you're small and don't have a dedicated shipping department it's amazing how long it takes to do the small packages.

[markus]

in an effort to lighten rach's load a bit, laurie is taking over the mailing of small stuff. so you can email her at laurieataguitars@earthlink.net.
for anyone else waiting for stuff, we just got straps, so there is a big pile of registrations ready to go out.
in case you didn't know, we are now including a strap with all new guitars so we don't have as much free stuff to mail. when you're small and don't have a dedicated shipping department it's amazing how long it takes to do the small packages.
I loved the straps with my new Andersons! Thanks!!! :cool:
Does that mean we're not going to get the nice, hand-signed letter from you along with the Anderson catalog anymore either when we register our guitars though? Just wondering...

[tom]

we're probably running out of 10 year old catalogs, so those will be a thing of the past before too long. can't see us printing a new one. for someone our size the production cost is crazy high and they are outdated by the time they go to print. not sure about the letter. i think laurie is just sending out a thank you and acknowledgement that we got the registration.
we have never used registration as a means to send out mailers or any other bulk contacting. we also don't link any warranty to original owner, so there's not a real reason other than tracking down history keeping track. it does come in handy sometimes when things get stolen or damaged, but the serial number database has all the guitar specific info in it. the version of that database that we see also has for original info than you all see like original dealer and when it originally sold and if it was for a particular person...blar, blar,blar...what was the question again?

[markus]

we're probably running out of 10 year old catalogs, so those will be a thing of the past before too long. can't see us printing a new one. for someone our size the production cost is crazy high and they are outdated by the time they go to print. not sure about the letter. i think laurie is just sending out a thank you and acknowledgement that we got the registration.
we have never used registration as a means to send out mailers or any other bulk contacting. we also don't link any warranty to original owner, so there's not a real reason other than tracking down history keeping track. it does come in handy sometimes when things get stolen or damaged, but the serial number database has all the guitar specific info in it. the version of that database that we see also has for original info than you all see like original dealer and when it originally sold and if it was for a particular person...blar, blar,blar...what was the question again?
Yup, received an E-mail from Laurie, thanking me for registering my guitars. No worries on the catalog and the hand-signed letter... I always thought it was a nice touch, but I totally understand that it's not very practical in this day and age and for a company your size. Plus, I already have 5 catalogs and letters! :D :D :D