Skip to main content

String Gauge And When To Change Strings

Billysstrat1
Strings are arguably the most important part of any guitar because without them, you wouldn’t be able to play. There are a ton of strings out there, all with different types of sizes, or what guitarists call string gauge. In this blog post, you’re going to get a quick overview of what string gauges are, how to use them and knowing when to change your strings.
When talking about the gauge of a guitar string, this is generally the thickness of the string itself. For example, string gauges run from about .009 all the way up to .052 or bigger. The smaller the number, the smaller the gauge and the smaller string thickness, and vice versa.
Strings generally come in a set and are labeled with the gauges. For example, a set of light gauge strings will run from .010 through .046, while a set of heavy strings will run from .012 through .054. A lot of the time, string sets will be labeled with without the decimals, so a .010 through .046 is the same as 10-46.
And of course, there are lighter and even heavier string gauges than this as well! But for the purpose of this post, we’ll refer to the most popular string gauges.
When playing in different tunings, it’s important to use the correct strings for the job. Good thing popular string manufacturer Ernie Ball has a page dedicated to answering these types of questions. Learning on guitar tuning is to know about the parts for Electric guitar.
And for the sake of saving you some time, here are the string sets used for Standard tuning and Drop D tuning, two of the more popular tunings.
Standard E Tuning 
Using a normal set of 10-46 should be just fine for most guitars when playing in the standard tuning.
Drop D 
As we mentioned earlier, lower tunings like Drop D will work better with a set of heavier strings. It’s a good idea to use a 10-52 set in this tuning, which is often referred to as a “heavy bottom” set of strings because the string gauge is increased for the three lower strings.
It’s important to change strings once every month at the least. Even if you don’t play very often, strings can degrade overtime just by being exposed to the elements in the air. It’s also really important to change strings because they’re responsible for so much of the guitar’s tone. It’s amazing just how good a guitar sounds with a fresh set of strings.
If you see a lot of gunk built-up on your strings, or if they’re not staying in tune, or maybe the instrument just sounds a little dead, that’s how you know it’s a good time to change your strings.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To Clean And Maintain Your Electric Guitar Fretboard

  Finished and Unfinished Fretboards  The guitar community is torn in a debate about whether the material of a fretboard makes any difference. Some believe that a rosewood fretboard is markedly different from ebony, while others say there’s hardly any difference. But when it comes to cleaning, you will need to be cautious. Primarily, the focus is on fretboard cleaning, but other  guitar parts   are involved, like the neck and tuning pegs. And if your electric guitar has a fretboard that uses unfinished wood, things are tricky, demanding extreme caution. So, it’s recommended to oil unfinished fretboards for obvious reasons. When you leave wood for a long time, it turns hard, thereby making it difficult for the truss rod-neck adjustment.  Unoiled fretboards can also crack in places that look bad and hamper your guitar play. How To Start Cleaning Your FretBoard  For maple fretboards, you don’t have to spend time oiling. Typically, they are pre-hydrated with carnauba wax that wicks away ex
Post a Comment
Read more

5 Gibson Guitars You Should Go For

  Gibson SG is a model that was introduced in the year 1961. The splendid feature of this guitar is that it is lightweight. You can easily find the  vintage Gibson guitar parts  very easily for this one. It is made of mahogany wood which is quite durable and strong. It has a small and extra-thin neck that can be played by anyone. This increases the playability of the guitar in a big way. It is also cheaper than the previous Gibson models. The versatile design makes it repairable and   parts for Gibson guitars   are easily available. It also produces sounds that are fully balanced. However the joint on the neck is slightly weak that can affect sound quality. It can break easily and is fragile due to its super thin nature. The Les Paul model is the model that was released before the SG or Solid Guitar. This Ultima model from Les Paul is a little expensive and is a total vintage collection. These look classy, luxurious and has explicitly handcrafted features. It has a good sound capacity
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Repair Binding around the Body of an Acoustic Guitar

What is Acoustic Guitar Body Binding? Almost all acoustic guitars have some type of binding around the edges where the top and back meet the sides. Many acoustic guitars also have binding around the fretboard and peghead. Acoustic guitar binding can be made out of many different kinds of material including: various woods, plastic, or celluloid. A “true” binding around the body of the guitar is inlayed or glued in a channel cut from the body. A router is used to cut a small channel or shelf on the edges of the guitar for the binding to sit on. The binding is then bent and shaped to fit the body and glued in place. Most of the time decretory purfling strips are usually inlayed next to the binding. Purfling strips are thin laminate pieces of wood dyed different colors. You might ask, what is the purpose of binding on an acoustic guitar and why don’t all guitars have binding. Acoustic guitars have the edges bound to create stronger joints between the top, sides, and back of the
1 comment
Read more