Electric Guitar Strings Help !

[over-tuned]

Hey guys I'm new to this forum as well as a guitarist.
I would like to hear some views regarding electric guitar strings and hope experienced players can help !

I'm planning to get an Epiphone Les Paul Classic/Standard soon, and would like to know which strings are best for a Les Paul. Any specific brands ?
Hmm, I have seen my friends' guitar strings rust like nobody's business. I would like to know if there're any type of strings that doesnt rust , or at least not that fast. Are there coated strings which makes it easier to slide ? What are those call ? If possible I would also like to know the price for these strings.

Lastly, do the strings' guages have an effect on tone quality/volume of the guitar? How come some stock guitar strings are smoother and some are 'sharper/rougher' . Is it the guage ? Which guage do people normally use ?

What brand/guage strings are you guys using ???
Haha first post already so many questions. Hope to get as many replies as possible, THANKS ALOT !
Thanks Thanks Thanks .

 

[Lifehouse]

Daddario 10s. They are dirt cheap (not exactly but I get em like $5 a pack as I buy in box). Last decently, better than GHS IMO.

Most people use 9 or 10s, I generally suggest 10s for hardtails. The bass/low end will remain pretty define. But if you are looking to downtune, you might want to move to 11s.

Strings does play a part. Coated strings tend to sound not as good as uncoated ones. It might be a bit more smooth, but I feel all strings if you maintain it, will give you a good deal of smoothness for quite some time.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

for an LP (24 1/2" scale i think), strings of 0.010" (known as 10s) are recomended...

this means that the 1st string (high E) has that guage

as for strat scale (25 1/2"), strings of 0.009" (known as 09s) are recomended...

i also suggest D'addario nickel strings... (XL)

as for the rust... just take a piee of tissue and fold it into 1/4 and grip the unwounded strings tightly with ur nails behind the tissue and wipe up and down... dun need to waste $$$ on coated strings for electric guitars... i find that they're a waste of $$$

 

[ShredCow]

... Coated strings tend to sound not as good as uncoated ones. It might be a bit more smooth, but I feel all strings if you maintain it, will give you a good deal of smoothness for quite some time.

Coated strings sound slightly dull compared to normals. Harmonic response is dampened too. However, it lasts forever if you take care and you get consistant tone over a period of time.

For normals, over time, you tone dies as it rusts. For coateds, it stays the same for a long time.

And as for what guage you want, I have no idea. Its personal. Go try, get some cheap daddarios (like $5.50 a pack) and try 9s, 10s and 11s.

I recommend DR Strings.

 

[guitarnub]

since you're a beginner, i suggest you use a set of .9, its easier on the fingers.

plus, it doesnt really matter if you have a 24.75" or 25.5" scale guitar, if the guitar is properly setup, it'll take any gauge(which is the thickness of the string) just fine.

 

[Lifehouse]

Not really. It all depend on the neck heel's mass. Eg. Putting 11s or higher on a floyd rose style guitar is quite a bad choice. On a strat, tele, LP would be considered the norm.

 

[over-tuned]

Well, looks like D'addario is really good. Hmm I thought they are only good for Classical Guitar strings !? I saw some $10 - $15 strings. Some Fender's, some Gibson's. Are they worth buying ? I mean ... whats the difference sial, the price of these strings are so far apart _- ... Besides D'addario, any other brands ?

Okay looks like coated strings are suckier.
Hey. What does it mean by 'a guage 9 string would be easier for beginner' ? Hmm . Are those stock strings on a Epiphone les paul guage 9 ?
Would a guage 10 string feels smoother?

Sorry for all these noobie questions -_- .
Thanks for the replies, appreciated !!!!!

 

[spikes]

i suggest dean markely blue steel? i use .10 on my les paul, i have a slight intonation problems when moving to .11, so get it set up before you put on any kinds of guage, fender strings often rust quickly, or before you even put them on...

 

[ShredCow]

I hate daddarios. They rust fast, and IMO, sound flat. I think most ppl use them because they are cheap and eaay to find. 5.50 a pack man.

Coated strings are NOT suckier. They are just different. Try it, your ears might not even tell the diff!

More expensive usually means better grades but some are just the brand. Saw Yamaha electric folk guitar strings, used them before and for $15 a pack, you think they should be rust free out of the bag. Nope.

Go to Davis at pennisular and just pick a couple of strings there. You HAVE to have strings... no 2 ways abt it man... just go buy something now, try it and you will know the difference in time to come. I don't; think there is a lot of special-ness or secret formula to strings unlike tone.

 

[ShredCow]

Anyway man, you got a huge amt of questions. Ever thought to google for some answers first?

 

[Lifehouse]

Well, looks like D'addario is really good. Hmm I thought they are only good for Classical Guitar strings !? I saw some $10 - $15 strings. Some Fender's, some Gibson's. Are they worth buying ? I mean ... whats the difference sial, the price of these strings are so far apart _- ... Besides D'addario, any other brands ?

Okay looks like coated strings are suckier.
Hey. What does it mean by 'a guage 9 string would be easier for beginner' ? Hmm . Are those stock strings on a Epiphone les paul guage 9 ?
Would a guage 10 string feels smoother?

Sorry for all these noobie questions -_- .
Thanks for the replies, appreciated !!!!!

If you go gym, you'll see dumbbells (sp?). If you are a begineer, you take 2.5kg, then slowly you get more "zai" you take 5kg, then 7.5kg, then 10kg so on and forth. So use 9s if you want playability. 10s if you think you can tahan the extra effort needed to perform bends and legatos and stuff like that. 11s if you want to do some crazy blues or drop tuning. Sticking to 9s, 9.5s or 10s would be your best bet without needing a setup.

Coated strings last longer, some sound mellower as well. It's not for everybody so try it and see. There's no best string. The only way to stop being a begineer is to try everything and learn from your mistakes. Everybody feels diff abt strings. Daddarios for example, rust fast for shredcow. For me, they can last more than 1 month. I pretty much like daddarios for what I do, but your mileage might differ.

 

[mamemo]

Not really. It all depend on the neck heel's mass. Eg. Putting 11s or higher on a floyd rose style guitar is quite a bad choice. On a strat, tele, LP would be considered the norm.

what do you mean by that? dont really get the connection between the mass of the heel and floyd rose.

:?:

 

[over-tuned]

Haha paiseh lah. I newbie newbie ma. Yep I did some research work also. But i wanted more views ma. Okay seems like I really got to try it myself then I'll know liao. Thanks alot. Really.
Thanks Shredcow and all.

Still hope to know more about what strings the others are using.
= )

 

[ShredCow]

Okay ... well, lifehouse pointed somehting very true... it depends on you preference so just go out there and try some. Ain't too expensive.

I use DR Strings. 0.09 - 0.42 guage.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

since you're a beginner, i suggest you use a set of .9, its easier on the fingers.

plus, it doesnt really matter if you have a 24.75" or 25.5" scale guitar, if the guitar is properly setup, it'll take any gauge(which is the thickness of the string) just fine.

ok lah quite true... but the neck scale still affects quite a bit...

a .010 on an LP feels like a .009 on a strat...

as for PRS... err... not here not there dunno end up where... haha :lol:

 

[subversion]

the Epi LP sports a 24.75" scale length, for it to feel 'normal'/ less loose, a gauge of .010 set is recommended. however, it's all a matter of prefrence after you've been accustomed to your guitar, regardless of the string brand name.

i had .010 in my 24.75" guitar, switched to .009 set then finally settled with a .0095 set for that in between feel.

 

[Lifehouse]

Not really. It all depend on the neck heel's mass. Eg. Putting 11s or higher on a floyd rose style guitar is quite a bad choice. On a strat, tele, LP would be considered the norm.

what do you mean by that? dont really get the connection between the mass of the heel and floyd rose.

:?:

Sorry typed it quite late at night. The 2 has no connection.

Floyd Rose don't take higher tensions strings very well, due to its floating nature. The number of springs needed to counter the tension would be quite many.

For eg, Gibson SG 61 has the neck join the body at the 19th fret. The mass of the heel is significantly smaller that that of a LP or Strat, hence its not a good idea to put say gauge 12s on it. You don't know how much tension the neck can actually take.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

yep... and as for bolt ons like strats... errr... don't try .0012 or more on em... 8)

 

[over-tuned]

Hohoho, thank you guys !

Oo so it seems like the larger the guage, the tighter the tension ?
Oh okay thanks guys for all the help. Now hor, one final noobie question on strings hahaa.

I've seen 'Extra/Super Light strings, 'Light strings' , 'Medium strings' and so on. Are lighter strings 'easier' to play? 'Heavier' strings sound richer? Or ...?
Are Lighter strings easier for shredding ? Or 'weight of strings equals to guage' ????! -_-

And there's also 'Nickel-plated steel strings' and 'pure nickel'. Still got 'blue steel' . What are their differences huh? Hmm I bet you'll say its personal again. But can I hear some reviews/comments ?
Share? THANKS !!

Hope you guys wouldnt kp me hor. Thanks for the replies. = )

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

the "light" "heavy" and all are refering to the string's gauges.. so a heavy guage means thinker and a light gauge means thinner...

light guage strings have low tension when tuned to concert pitch and so they're easier to bend...
heavy guage strings have higher tension and are harder to bend but they sound "fuller"...

as for the different windings... errr... not too sure...

'Nickel-plated steel strings' sound be = 'pure nickel'

cua the strings of electic guitars are definately steel... just that the windings arounf them are nickel... i huess those 2 quotes are from different manufacturers?

'blue steel' is erm... :smt017