Stevie Ray Vaughan's Guitar String Gauges: They Weren't What You Think...
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- Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
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We used several different sources in pulling this all together, but here's a good one: www.stewmac.com...
DESCRIPTION
Many rockers in the 60s and 70s played fairly light strings, by today’s standards at least, but when SRV came around, getting fatter tone than anyone had ever heard from a strat, everything changed. Today we dive into Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar strings and go over the exact string gauges he used to get that huge, legendary bluesy tone.
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Since we've had a few comments asking, I wanted to reiterate from the description that we pulled this info from several different interviews with SRV's tech Rene Martinez, cobbling together what we believe to be the most solid statements (like many players SRV changed gauges a bit over his playing career and we wanted to get to the bottom of what he used for the most substantial time period), as well as from Dan Erlewine's own research, a bit of which can be viewed here: www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Resources/Neck_Building_and_Repair_and_Setup/How_the_stars_set_up_their_guitars.html
Stringjoy Thanks guys.
I believed you just because it was so detailed, but the whole time I was thinking, dude what's your source. But besides that: terrific video
Thank you! This was my question as well.
In Dan Erlewine's book, the day he looked at Stevie's strings, it had an 11 on it. So it looks like Live, Stevie played pretty close to 11's, with a heavy low E which is normally unbalanced in standard packs as a lighter tension anyway, so it's a more balanced 11 pack. When downtuned to Eb, the first 5 are getting close to the tension of 10s! So myth is busted.
I used to play 10.5’s, they were expensive. Went to 10’s. So, I’ll make a deal with ya! I’ll get one guitar set up for 11’s and give that one guitar about 20 min/day till I train my hands on the bending, intonation, strength, etc. also imagine I will have to raise my string height a little to avoid potential buzz from the greater string excursion. Once I’ve mastered the intonation with that, we’ll go up to 12 tuned down 1/2 step and see what happens. SRV boot camp!
The best thing about thicker strings, is that your guitar will play in tune
Thats the only benefit i can say really 10s are decent
@@otomatikpilot9010 It depends on your style. I love digging in and fighting, others like just playing notes
@@otomatikpilot9010
I use 10s. Best balance between staying in tune, not easily breaking and being easily playable
He played 17s?! That's basically playing on prison bars.
says the one who doesnt play bass.
@itsabig he bends the high e all the time in all his recordings.... especially in the second blues box... texas flood?
@@BurgerGrabber right vooddoo child
Thats why he played like he was breaking out of prison....
He would make them bars sound good too
If you go into a Guitar Store and ask for .13's they either laugh, or ask if you're in a Cannibal Corpse Cover Band.
I dont even think they will sell you them without talking you into buying 10's first. They will laugh and question you for sure and make jokes.
i walked in and asked an employee for 13's but the guy was a metalhead and tried to sell me on the mammoths. I just play in drop tunings and want the strings to fight back more so I went with a 7 string set of ernie ball and just set aside the high e.
Stevie called the low E his favourite note in an interview ...
Yes he did he ended many songs by popping low e. Bomp
you mean his low E flat...
I used regular 13s in standard tuning on my strat for a long time. I bend a lot and I play somewhat "heavy-handed" like most strat players. I broke a lot of strings when I played 13s. About 4 - 6 hours of playing time and I would break one. The wound third was probably nearly half of the total broken strings. I started stepping down in string gauges and finally figured out that I get the longest life out of 10s. I've played 10s ever since.
I used your string tension calculator to figure out whats going on with Stevies set of 13's, and I think the results may interest you.
eb - 26.8
Bb - 20.1
Gb - 20.3
Db - 20.7
Ab - 20.4
Eb - 26.1
I can't say I've listened to so much of Stevies music, but I wander if the high E is deliberately tight as a means of avoiding accidental bends or inflections.
His high E was an E-flat, I listened to him extensively in the eighties, and used to tune my guitar down to E flat to play with the record.
He actually went as light as 11’s in eb at the beginning of a tour in his later days due to arthritis
"As light as 12's"
Right?? 😂
Tuned down to E-flat, remember 👍
Still awesome though.
@@JamesPCroad yea but most people would have 11s for d standard so it’s still pretty crazy
According to René, he'd settled on:
11, 15, 19p, 28, 38, 58
It was pretty much an 11 set with a 58.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd uses an seven string 11 set, but discards the sixth (48) string and uses the seventh (58) string as a low E string.
Stevie Ray Vaughan is definitely one of our favorite guitarists of all time-thanks for checking out this video! I think the big takeaway here is that what one player might need in terms of gauges can be totally different from another. SRV’s set is far from balanced from a tension perspective (he has massively more tension on the 1st and 6th strings in this set), but it’s hard to argue with the results.
I’m particularly a fan of using a heavier 6th string-perhaps not quite as heavy as SRV’s, but I find a little extra meat there can be great for blues playing.
Stringjoy With regard to that heavy 6th string, you made no mention to the fact that SRV used all five springs on his tremolo. What that heavy 6th does is put more tension on the springs so that the springs are already flexed and bending, which pulls on the springs, is easier. You’ll probably notice even more ease of bending with heavier gauges on the 4th and 5th strings, which pulls the springs even further, and allows the upper plain strings to bend more. You’ll experience the joy of that fat “whomp” of the bottom strings with the thickness of tone from the upper strings. My gauges for my SRV tone are 12, 15, 20, 32, 44, 56; it takes practice and strong hands to get close to SRV’s vibe, but the sound is unmistakable..
You guys have brought me back to my preferred 008 - 040 custom set for my Strats and Teles. I'm just frustrated that I didn't discover you 5 years ago!
@stringjoy, it would be super interesting if you could measure the output of different gauges, to look at the "meatiness" factor a bit scientifically. Maybe string up a strat with 8's all the way through 13's, and get clips and make measurements of output and maybe a snapshot of spectrum analyzers? I think there's a ton of "feel" in how people respond, but it should be possible to support that with data.
I gotta say i love Stringjoy. Scott is an absolutely amazing guy and he treats me like I am in Metallica. Mmeber for LIFE.
I tried those heavier gauge strings once... I'm a hack guitar player as it is, don't need heavier gauge strings helping me sound worse
I’ve been playing 11s for some time now, I love them! I tend to put way too much pressure on a set of 9s for them to stay in tune, it’s easier for me to play heavier strings than it is to try to baby a set of light strings lol!
I'd honestly order a set like Stevie's to try just once. I'm curious to see how I do, I run 10's and sometimes 11's because I tend to really crank on the strings. I snap 9's like balsa wood in a vice
i used to use 9s and i would snap them in less than a week of playing, but since i switched to 10s i havent broken them as quickly (more like a month) and im considering going up to 11s sometime
@@yeetmixclear you can consider polishing the saddles as well and check for sharp angles. Plus a bit of graphite into the saddles and nut.
Another thing Martinez did with Stevie's guitars was putting electric wires insulation around the strings at the sharp point of contact in the bridge.
Then, if you play really hard (or use low tunings) and want to feel like you're fighting the guitar, bigger strings does wonders.
I’m five years late to the party, but useful info! I used to know what SRV used but forgot the exact gauges.
I have my first Strat set up similar to his, tuned down a half step, but with a 12 e, a 17 G, and a 54 or 56 E. I tightened the truss rod just a 1/4 turn to compensate for the slightly heavier strings, then set the action as low as I could without buzzing. Don’t know if it’s higher or lower than SRV’s, but it works for me.
The other thing that's never mentioned is Stevie had huge frets put on his guitar. I had a custom made Fender and told them to give me the frets SRV really used (not whats on his signature model) and they are gigantic! I was using 10's and they felt like rubber bands at standard tuning. It's like playing a scalloped fingerboard. That, my friends, is the real secret to playing huge strings.
That's really interesting, makes a ton of sense. I can't say i've ever played a guitar with that jumbo of frets before, now I'm curious what it's like...
I’ve got a lot to learn
I guess I should have mentioned they are Dunlop 6100
Good point, I love jumbo frets for that very reason. It's so much easier to bend.
My SRV artist strat has noticeably thicker frets than my other strats.
If you wanna play like Stevie, you better train hard!
First, you'll need a 2x4 and some barbed wire. ...
Billy Gibbons Custom Les Paul comes with .08's. The Rev said he likes .Dunlap 07's on fat neck guitars. So. I tried it. (Ernie Ball 8's.) Yeah works great. However, my fat neck Jeff Beck strat I go with Ernie Balls Skinny Top Heavy bottom. 10's to 52. Works great. Light gauge didn't work out on the roller nut. Main guitar is a Clapton strat 9's-42. But 13's? No way! I'm only human!
Thanks for digging deeper in this topic. One other consideration might be guitar scale length. On Fenders, I like lighter strings than on Gibsons because Gibsons are shorter and feel looser. Although, lately I've kept 10s on both and it's comfortable.
I see guitarists here on the tube that are trying to play heavy strings, poorly. Loss of control, flat bends and choppy phrasing are the reward. Never is the tone noticeable.
True, but there's more to bending than just string gauge. I generally play 10s and 11s, but I have a couple vintage strats with little skinny frets that I cant bend well even on 10s, and a custom with huge frets that I can bend iron railings on. For me anyway its about being able to exert all my fingerforce sideways - and that works best for me if I can get low down behind the string. I once played a strat copy in a local shop ( I think it was a Charvel or something like that), strung with a set of 13s, but its setup made it feel like 10s.
Seriously! Great comment. The tone differences based SOLELY on strings are likely marginal.
I respectfully disagree. Put that set of 13’s on a crunchy strat instead of 9’s and tell me honestly that you can’t hear a difference.
I find that string gauge is a very personal thing, if you heard SRV for the first time you would never know he used 12's (which is what I read online somewhere) unless you were told so, only the person actually playing the guitar itself will notice. I prefer thicker strings because I think they resonate more, are stronger and intonate better than thinner strings which I think are too flimsy and don't sound as good because they don't vibrate as well which is why acoustic guitars typically have thicker strings
Andrew, you are absolutely right. I've done a lot of experimenting with different gauges and that's the conclusion I have as well.
At one point during this video i thought were in danger of him actually playing a guitar! But was a close call.
Andrew McGuinness hahaha you're not missing much, don't worry
Some other points is, Vaughan played a Fender guitar. The high “E” string is the longest string of the six which gives it a looser tension and easier to bend than a shorter length. The Fender has single coil pickups and they’re very thin sounding. BB King and Jimmy Page play Gibsons which sounds more full and heavier, where you don’t need all that steel from a heavy gauge string.
Been playing 12/52 GHS NICKEL ROCKERS for years now … love the tone
These may not be exactly what he used but I asked my local music store to put this set together for me and they pulled through. I love it
I used to use 12-56 on my guitars until I realised I could get the same tone that I wanted from 9-42, plus I could bend up a minor third or more. So out went the absurdly macho strings. Never regretted it.
I've played with a set 10's on Les Paul and Strat for 20 years, and now as my hands are not as strong as they use to be, I've gone down to 9's and really enjoy the fact that they are so much easier to bend and control, and after a long night of playing, so much less stress on my hands and better control and the tone comes from my fingers and my guitar and amp.
9s can be great! All about finding what's right for you. I'm glad you did!
I've been playing these string thicknesses on an ES-335 since 1975: 9.0, 13.5, 18.0, 28.0, 40.0, 56.0 It's just feels like an even balance when I bend the strings. I asked the kid behind the counter at a local guitar shop for a 28 thousandths string. He didn't understand. I had to explain to him that these weren't actually string "gauges" per se, but in fact were the actual outer diameters of the string measured In thousandths in an inch.
Great video. String gauge is important for your technique which will come from your desire to execute your ideas. I played lighter gauge when I was younger then as tone became more important to me and my musical tastes changed, I went to 11 gauge in standard tuning 440. This is a little hard to play my rock licks but so much fatter and warmer for other styles like blue or country/ southern rock. I learned to slow down in some places to compensate. I think super fast guitar is fun but the note clarity becomes suspect. So heavier strings which forces me to work mindfully to execute fast runs.. That's what I like.
Mighty Mouse couldn't make it look more effortless bending those strings for an entire lifetime. That was an interesting video. I saw SRV play a month before he died. Glad I did. Then I saw Buddy Guy in a small club. Two of the real deals.
I found what has worked for me, is using normal tension on the high strings, and heavier gauges on the low strings, so for E standard to Drop D, I use 10,13.5,17,32,46,60. and for AGCFAD Tuning, I use 11,15,19p,34,48,64, I'm probably going to up that low string with a 68 or a 70.
You learn something new every day. Thanks. Overtime... I've arrived at my own preferences. 10, 13, 16, 24, 32, 42 for my 70's Strat, trem flush, with fairly high action(I believe the lighter bass strings even out the tension on the bridge which helps my trem stay in tune) ...and... I use .9 to .42 with much lower action on my '76 Gibson SG. Of course the SG has a much faster action. I also put 10's or 11's(electric strings) on my Acoustic guitars so I'm not defeated or having to make adjustments(compromises)using heavier gauge strings. Use nickel alloy strings and you'll reduce the wear on your frets... a fresh set sound great on an Acoustic. Moral of the story...search out what you like, no rules for preference. I recommend beginners start with 10's because they have more tuning stability and enough resistance to get your hands aching. Cheers.
Awesome, thanks. I actually just got the thought “is the myth about SRV’s strings real?” You answered that easy.
13 & 12 E& A and set of 10's rest of the way !!!!!
i got stringjoy electrics on my acoustic right now. running an 84-12. of course i'm down to C range. i like me some stupid-beefy lows and some fairly light highs. this was a HUGE problem pre-stringjoy conversion in my life. 2 brands offered what i wanted, Kalium and stingjoy. bought a pack of each. Stringjoy stood out immediately by actually arriving at my home. after re-ordering the Kalium, waiting another week, calling and complaining, waiting another week and then finally recieving 2 packs of string i could actually compare them by playing though already leaning to stringjoy just due to the delivery of the strings being on time. also the ordering system in Kalium is a bit time consuming but they could have changed that so no vote there. they sound very similar, cant say one was clearly better at first but stringjoy kept sounding crisp and fresh and Kalium faded. kalium lasted as one would expect from a guitar string, whereas stringjoy just seemed to go on forever and took an obscenely long time to finally go dead and weak. im talking double the lifespan here people. a month in the kaliums were dead and buried, stringjoy sounded totally descent, month 2 they were still playable, month 3 they sounded like crap but i had run 2-3 packs through everything else by then with other brands. super impressed. now that alone would be worth the price, and stringjoy strings were actually cheaper than Kalium or even the nice Martins by a slim margin. so that was a winner right there. i should also note that kalium also really fudges their gauges. i'm sure most dont notice the tiny problems but being a machinist i actually use a micrometer on my strings to check for accuracy, which is a bit OCD i know. point is you can expect about 1 thousandth of an inch variation on most wound strings, maybe 2 on bass strings, including stringjoy. so if you order a 120 bass string, it may be 119 to 121 in reality and thats just life. i ordered a 118 from kalium and got a 114...thats a noticeable difference. it wasnt just a mixup either because when they gave me another set to apologize for not delivering the first one for like 3 weeks...the second set was also exactly 114. so if you order a 115 you get 114, if you order a 118 you get a 114 and if you order a 120 you get 120. thats not a mistake thats a freaking lie. Stringjoy doesnt offer sizes in the middle either...nobody does...but they dont try and trick you about it. they have 115 and 120 and you get what you ordered with stringjoy, and if there is a problem on their end they will make it good. Kalium lies and ignores you on the same things. i can forgive mistakes but trickery infuriates me and horrible customer service is a problem. for that reason i tend to rag on Kalium pretty hardcore, but thatsa what you get when you try and sneak shit past customers who actually check that stuff. ive never had a single problem, nitpicky or otherwise, with stringjoy. you guys are great, way worth the price, and a huge time saver on custom orders. 6/5 star rating (in case Kalium does the shipping and loses one of them)
His gauges make a lot of sense. The 3 big wound strings in a typical set, e.g. 26-36-46, put higher tension on the A and D strings than on the E string. It makes more sense (at least to me) to have the E (6th) feel a bit more stout than A and D. Which is what Stevie did, according to this video.
So many people hating or saying they couldn't possibly ever or how ridiculous it would be when half of you likely haven't even tried it. It depends on sound you want but to me it made my strat sound 100x better/clearer w higher action too oc. but I make less mistakes and bends are actually easier to dial in when you have more to grip esp. on higher strings. Guage absolutely matters or so many legendary guitarists wouldn't be messing with it. I actually use much lighter strings on my guitar that stays in C but for this kinda sound in Eb I keep strat generally around those guages he showed and just buy 2 or 3 different string packs at a time. Can always use the extras on my other guitars.
I sent my action really high for the good tone and after like a week of getting used to it, you don't want to go back to all that buzzing
On my strats and les pauls that are in standard tuning, I use 10s on every one that I have that I tune down, I play 11s. Single coil pickups sound paper thin, with light gage strings, this isn't a SRV thing, I've been using this setup before Stevie was around, but I suspect that it's been a common practice for strat player's for a long time. And when you raise the action you get a more janglie sound.
I play D' addario Jazz Medium .13's at half step down which range from .13-.17-.26w-.36-.46-.56. I play with a little bit higher action than traditional set ups because the strings would be touching the frets otherwise. Cool fact, I can also crush an apple with one hand. I wonder why...
According to what I’ve seen and heard, SRV suffered through a lot of pain and bother from his use of such heavy strings, He was constantly using super glue to repair his fingers where the flesh pulled apart from the nail. Another thing I’ve heard is that he used to take a razor blade and cut the calluses off his toes and super glue them to his fingertips. I’ve also heard that he had switched to tens near the end of his life. Now speaking of light strings and huge tones, Duane Allman was using Fender 150’s, 10-38 on the album Live at Fillmore East. Dickey Betts was using the same kind of strings as well. You don’t need big strings to get a great sound. The pickups and the amps have a lot more to do with it than the gauge of your strings.
My electric guitars have mostly been the standard 10's for the past 40 years or more. I changed to thicker strings for some of my guitars. Notably, 10's to 11's on the ES335, and 275. Still using 10's on the Telecaster. Using 11's on my Jazz Box, and looking to go up to 12's to try out, as recommended by my teacher as a possibility. My string height is based on how clean I want to notes when picked hard. Stevie Ray, was a unique talent. I never thought about a customized gauge set. The stock gauge sets are OK with me.
SRV was a extremely gifted and unique player. His guitar setup was impossible to play for the typical mortal. Give me 9s and low action and I'm happy. Give me large strings and high action and I'll become unstable.
I have wondered about this for about 25 years. Thank you :D
I played a strat for 15 years until I wore the frets down to the wood. Then I switched to Gibson and Dean (I'm a lefty). On the strat, I used 11 gauge Boomers tuned to Eb. On Gibson/Deans I use Boomer 10's tuned to either E or Eb. :D
When I got my first guitar, I had read about him using 12s and 13s. I got a set of 14s for acoustic to train on. I still use 12s on my strat and 11s on acoustic but glad I started with telephone cables to learn on.
I remember what I used to do is I would take the highest strings use those with Thomastik flats 47s and would use 12s instead of the 11s I always use a wound third though
I think it's also important to mention SRV's tech, Rene Martinez, who currently works for John Mayer.
Rene had to refret the guitar very often, and when you refret it, you have to sand and radius the fingerboard.
So, over time the radius (flatness) of the fingerboard increased from the terrible-to-bend 7.5" radius to a more Les-Paul Gibson kind of radius like 12", making the bending physically possible without fretting out. Just thought I'd mention this.
I've been using Hendrix's setup, 010, .013, .015, .026, .032 with the exception of the low E. Jimi used a .038. I think I started at .040 and am now up to .042 and may go to a .044. It's more for feel than tone. I noticed the big gauge jumps in standard string setups form unwound to wound strings wasn't helping my legato playing. It gives a more uniform dynamic range and since the low E only comes in at the end of runs it doesn't matter that it sounds a little different.
Thanks for a great video !
I once positioned myself directly in front of SRV at a concert, within 3-4 feet of him when he stepped up to the mic, and I saw clearly that by halfway through the gig, the tips of his fingers were bleeding profusely! He was also manifestly in pain from it, but that was apparently part of his process.
That's absolutely insane
What concert was that?
Probably in Johnson City TN, around 1986. When he played a note with an intense vibrato, blood would fly all over the place. That's why I give some credence to the story that he would put superglue on the tips of his fingers in an attempt to seal them. The tips of his fingers looked more like tumors than callouses.
Josh - You're not telling me anything I didn't know already :)
I once was told that SRV used to super glue his finger ends to his forearm then pull them off to replace the skin on his finger ends. Given the way he played with such aggression (another attributing factor to his tone) I can well believe it.
I wish string companies would sell these custom gauges that popular guitarists like SRV used in single packages
They're available at our site as a custom set at no extra charge.
Both Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton used tenor banjo strings for a 1st string and made
up their own sets. Then Fender came out with the Rock And Roll Light Gauge sets in
the 60's (now Fender 150) and both switched to them in the US because they were so
readily available. Not sure about Europe. The gauges are .010, .013, .015, .026, .032 and
.038. Many country players I know love .009 sets on Telecasters but not so much on
other guitars. And there is a custom gauge .0095 1st string that some use, too. I guess
that's what you call splitting the difference.
Back in the 50's and early 60's all you could buy for the electric guitar as a set of strings where just described as 'Electric Guitar Strings'. There was no mention of gauge on the packets and these were pretty heavy gauge, normally starting with a 12. This is why the Strat was designed with 5 springs in the tremolo cavity. The original electric blues players in the US that used a lot of bends quite quickly worked out that if they bought banjo strings and substituted those for the top one or two strings in a set, moving the top four strings in a set down and throwing away the one or two unused bottom strings, it made it much easier to bend. I'm pretty sure that both Clapton and Hendrix got the idea from these blues greats as they came into contact with them during the course of their careers.
In the 60's this was just one of the 'secrets' of the electric guitar that made it incredibly frustrating for any teenager trying to play like their heroes.
larry geetar Jimmy Page said in an interview that I once saw that he used to buy a set of the lightest strings that he could get (gauge ??) and a single top banjo string if he could get away without buying the whole pack. Then he'd ditch the low E entirely, making the "A" string from the set his low "E" and work up eventually using the banjo string for his top "E".
I don't know how this would help so much in standard tuning as you're effectively tuning everything up a fourth (except your "g" string of course which would be graced with a half step less to travel) which, to my thinking anyway, would discount any gain that you might get from the lighter gauge simply due to the increased tension, if you actually get them to pitch without breaking them.
Anyway, that was what he said and it stuck in my memory so distinctly because of the inherent problems accrued in attempting to "lighten the load" so to speak. Then again the strings in Britain a half a century ago, well everywhere, were hardly the efficient "same each time" that you can rely on today.
Personally, I've never liked light gauges, did use 13's at standard pitch in my teens/twenties for a time but for the last quarter of a century I'm Pavlovianly geared to 11's to 52's.
The lighter gauge (9's) on Fenders is often due to the increased scale length. Put them on a Gibson and they might feel too light. We're all different I guess.
Gotta remember, Stevie played in E flat. Now, if you get a set of 11's, they usually set up 11 14 18 28 38 28. Which, when tuned E flat are really close to a set of 10's in feel. His E strings were heavy....thats it. I play tuned to D.....D G C F A D. A whole step down. I use a custom set 12 15 19 30 40 50. When these are tuned D, they have the same feel as a set of 10's. It took me a while to figure this out by experimenting with individual gauges. I get my strings through juststrings.com and I order them by individual packs. 12 15 19 plain and 30 40 50 nickle wound. Try it ...the strings don't have that floppy, dead sound tuned low and feel really good. Plus the tuning fits a male voice easier. You can easily capo up when needed. Cheers!
Thanks for watching Larry! You're mostly correct here. Only note is that generally .001" in top gauge is enough to balance out a whole step down. So a set of .011s in D feels similar to .010s in standard. The .012s you favor in D have similar tension to .011s in standard.
By the way, if you'd like a better balanced set that's really similar to what you're currently using, you should try: .012 - .016 - .020p - .030 - .042 - .054. It looks like you just added .002" to each gauge, which is a good start, but as you get heavier in gauge you have to make larger adjustments (think of the difference in size on the pipes of a pipe organ, for high notes it might be a few inches difference between notes, on low notes it might be 6 feet).
@@Stringjoy This also depends on 24 3/4" or 25 1/2" scale. Believe me...I went through about 50,000 combinations before I came up with what I use!! :) Thanks for the advise!!
Totally! .75" in scale length is good for about .0005" of gauge as well. Tension calculators are always really great for checking out how these different factors affect a string. If you ever want to play around a bit, you can find ours at tension.stringjoy.com
I bought a *Kerry K ing Dunlop set* it has an "extra" .52 string for "drop tuning", it has 10 13 17 26 36 46 52.... Just put the 6 thicker ones, not exactly SRV gauges. But that set is like $7 bucks
One major factor to Stevie's unique tone that wasnt mentioned and very important was his guitars had bass fret wire.
Jack Roberts
And the springs in his tremolo were from a Freightliner.
Damn right
Terry Goyette
HAHA!
And he used a lefty bridge
And he used a ounce of cocaine dumped into a bottle of Crown Royal which was reportable placed on a stool, in Stevie's grasping reach, as Stevie regularly preceded to consume the entire bottle live on stage during his sets, before eventually wandering to close to the edge and falling off the stage at one point before hitting rock bottom?...these days it's very rare if ever that I break a high e string, as my stratocasters string nut is permantly reamed out by decades of 13's and 14 gauge strings, I can't ever go back to ordinary gauge strings, if anything the set of 17's mentioned in this video sound very enticing to me, and I bet If I cracked my knuckles that much more? I for one could bend them big fat 17 gauge all wound cables just fine! Without searching online stores, The biggest strings that I can ever seem to find in my towns music stores are usually Medium Jazz round wound 13's...8)
Stevie Ray is my guitar hero and I use Ernie Ball 10's on my Strat. I have never attempted 13's nor will I. I know my limitations. Lol.
If anyone knew what strings SRV played it was Ray Hennig, who traded No. 1 to him. Hennig either strung his guitars, or sold him his stings, right up to SRV's death. The strings were a full set of Dean-Markley 13's.
There is one important driving reason, that many people don't realize, for why many guitarists choose to go with heavier strings. Seasoned guitarists will often move towards heavier strings NOT for the tone, but for the added tension. Robben Ford likes to use strings a little heavier than is comfortable for him, so that he has to "work" and commit to a bend when he feels the need to. Until I heard him say this in an interview, I hadn't been able to put into words why I preferred 12-54 on my Strat. I personally have never found my Strat to sound different with 12-54s or 10-46s. I feel that my playing becomes more heart-felt and "real" if you will, when I have to work for my bends. There is less tendency to bend sharp accidentally, and I play more restrained. (Less is more.) That said, I think there is also some benefit to having different guitars set up differently. One of my LPs is strung light (9-42), one is set up 10-46, the Strat 12-54 (and down tuned) and all the others are 10-46. When I first went back to a light-strung guitar, I had a lot of trouble. I'd over bend a lot and my vibrato was too strong. Now that I play all kinds of different strings, it has given even more note control, whether I am playing a heavy-strung strat or a spaghetti noddle guitar. Just some observations I have made over my 30 years of playing. Hope that may be insightful.
Tried a set of 11's once. No way, no how. Now I put 9's on the strats and 10's on the LP's tuned to E. If I tuned to Eb, I would maybe go 10's and 11's, but my 9's sound beefy in the right rig. I do like the higher action though with lower output pups that are set up fairly far away from the strings to keep my cleans nice and chimey.
The set you are talking about was used in the last 4 to 5 years of his playing according to Rene Martinez....It was Rene that went to GHS to get the lighter set, because Stevie was ripping his fingers to shreds...But before that, say mid 1985 and before he was using a heavier set, with the 58 being a 60...the others weren't mentioned, but looking back to older video's like the El Mambo concert and even some bootleg video, the Texas Tornado jam from 1980, you can see the difference.
Yep, he even used .017s at one point. Rene is the same source we used for this.
Rene is a very interesting guy! Do you think Stevie's high action and bass frets made it so you needed really strong hands/fingers to play the way he did? I don't believe too many guitar players would be able to play his set up night after night.
I've always wondered. I suspect it wouldn't be as tough of a setup to play as folks think.
Since the mid '70s, I have used 10-12-16-24w-36w-50w Boomers on most of my electrics. Like having stable first string and bend second or third against it for country music. And want a solid bass note under my chords.
I have this exact string set from you guys and love it...I keep them on a Strat tuned to Eb with high action and a John Mayer neck which has an early 60's profile. It is surprisingly not hard to play and really sounds full. Bending is really not hard to do on the middle strings, pretty much as easy as my other Strat with David Gilmour 10-48 strings tuned to regular pitch. Just avoid bending more than a step on the high E if possible to save fingertips. I may post a video with the tonal differences and difficulties with certain licks and songs, alternating back and forth between the two guitars.
You guys did a great job pointing out the differences in the non-stock string gauges at the middle 4 strings, higher action, and tuning down by the way. All of those things are crucial in making it playable and sound great. I tried getting a regular set of 13s and tuning down a half step many years ago and it just didn't work.
I tried many string gauges and brands in the past. Heavy strings have beefier tone, while light strings have more snap and brightness. Heavier is not necessarily better, you should choose according to both feel and tone. I ended up choosing GHS Boomers 11-50 strings and I've been playing those for years. Very happy with them. Big tone with snap and brightness and still very playable. Also, I've found that a wound G string is very inconvenient, because you have to bend it very far to get the pitch to rise a whole tone, and it will break quickly if you keep bending it like that. Smokin' Joe Kubek played very heavy strings : GHS Boomers 13-16-22p-34-46-58 in standard tuning! Wow!
Would’ve been nice to actually see the strings and how different they look and sound -even if just a bit of a strum .....as a non player I’d love to see what exactly the difference is 🧐 Nicely explained tho 👍🏻
Every configuration of Stevie's strings you mentioned require brute gorilla type strength to apply any meaningful vibrato and still be able to allow his playing to swing ,put being the vocalist on top of blues runs that are closer with heavy metal than traditional blues runs and you've got a monster on your hands ,and the world saw it ,most overlooked was how Stevie's techniques brought him to global fame in the height of hair metal and speed metal where leather clad chicks & bandana around the leg wearing dudes could see what a freak of nature that was SRV ,I'd be willing to bet his fingers we're so strong that he could use them as pliers and your acting like his strings are average off the shelf packs that Def Leopard guitarists could play ,me thinks not .
I'm heavily influenced by the meaty, yet bluesy tone of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and I use your typical medium gauge string and it can be either a .48 or .50 gauge string for the low E depending on what brand of string that I get, and they're perfect for me. My only complaint is that there are light gauge flatwound jazz strings that are the same gauge as my medium gauge, except that the G string is a .24 wound, so I have to watch what I get.
I bet with the high action and thick strings his finger tips was rocks from the callous.
I've read that he'd play with calloused fingers all the time , to the point they would come off and he'd Super Glue them back on and keep playing. Also, read elsewhere that he'd sometimes use dry skin from his foot and glue that to his fingertips. Renee said Stevie would even ask him if he could use some of his skin from time to time.
I used to use 13-17-23-36-48-56 back in the day but I noticed that there really wasn't much difference in my tone, the overall sound, and didn't need them. So I went down to 11's with 56 bottom and stay there today.
I think its funny how so many people argue over playing like SRV. First of all, he played like Albert King! listen to Albert King and he says he was his biggest influence. So he copies a lot of Albert King stuff. its all good. we all combing influences in our playing. But what people are confusing, I think, is that we want is TONE not to play like him. There is a HUGE difference. If you played an few basic chords on SRV's rig, you would sound pretty damn indistinguishable from SRV. What is amazing is the tone he had through his rig. I don't want to play the same STYLE as SRV but I want his tone because it was freaking incredible. There was so much variety and texture in his tone - so many facets. THAT is what people are looking for. Sure, there are some peeps who want to be SRV clones but I think most people really want that expressive tone that gives you so much to work with.
I find that string gauge is a very personal thing, if you heard SRV for the first time you would never know he used 12's (which is what I read online somewhere) unless you were told so, only the person actually playing the guitar itself will notice. I prefer thicker strings because I think they resonate more, are stronger and intonate better than thinner strings which I think are too flimsy and don't sound as good because they don't vibrate as well which is why acoustic guitars typically have thicker strings
Absolutely! And SRV used 13s (and sometimes as light as 11s)
Interesting video. I imagine he’s right about SRV’s high action, and the heavy gauges too. Both those things are evident in the recordings he made. You can’t get those great tones high up if you’re actions low. And he didn’t just sweep pick, he hammered those strings.
I've heard about Stevie and his custom 13s in the past. I'm secure with my D'Addario XL 9s. They sound good, bend well and fit perfectly on my guitar. Thanks for the video 🎸
I started with the daddario 9s, then i started using the ernie ball 10s. And I love them
@@oldtexasblues3605 Cool. That's good. I personally find Ernie ball anything to have a flat tone. My XL 9s have a great bright tone. Which I love.
I just use nicklewounds 9-40 balanced tension from D'Addario they work fine for me and my sound. I don't get the whole better tone thing w heavier gauges but I'll admit they're louder which is where imo this tone thing comes from.
For new players start light and find what you're comfortable with. Your fingers and guitar will thank you 😉
Been using GHS Boomers 9's since 1981 have broke maybe 5 ever since then and I was a beginner at that time . Every break I can remb. was usually when changing to new strings . I was self taught so didn't know they needed to be stretched while tuning up ? Like the Man said Heavier tones don't come from heavier gauge strings .
Very good info! I just moved up to 11s for tone purposes but I might get my back up set up for that custom SRV string gauge! Thanks for the good explanation!
Try a custom set gauges 11 13 18 28 38 58 it will get you the stevie effect without killing you. 🤟
Well rene martinez said in his interview with paul reed smith on their channel that he used 11 - 15 - 19p - 28 - 38 - 58.
Which is a custom set of strings that he preferred… i usually play 11 or 12 on Eb and that’s nonetheless pretty tough but I love the clean sound I get… could imagine he used 13’s just on a couple of songs…
Yeah, he's said different things in different places-makes it tough to nail down. From my research, SRV would go down to the 11 on top later in tours or when his hands were getting tired. It's possible later in his career he was doing this even more often.
I recently tried some 11 and 12 sets but found for me the best set of gauges for a Strat at Eb is 10-13-17-30-42-52
I've been using: 12 - 15 - 19 - 30 - 40 - 50 tuned to D (DGCFAD) for over 30 years now. They play like a set of 10's in E. For my E tuned guitars, standard set of 10's. I like the lower tuning for easier vocals. I feel Strats sound and play better with heavier strings, probably due to the longer scale, LP's and such (shorter scale) don't like this tuning so I use those for standard .....just my two cents. But, if you want to tune lower and still keep the same "feel"...try it. I order my strings through Just Strings dot com and buy them individually in bulk.
I think some people here are getting the wrong impression about this video. It's meant to inform on the gauge(s) Stevie used and the general tone possible with them. This isn't a tutorial on being or sounding like the man, at least that's not what I've taken from this.I did gain some insight on fret wire and string height in relation to Eb tuning. Thanks to all.
great info and presentation. played 11's for years because Stevie played 13's, but damn that's heavy! also, i was inexperienced and didn't realize that you could put together non-traditional sets of strings ala the peeps you mentioned and so was running into those jazz sets with a wound third...
Grand Master Flash said "it's not the equipment you use, but how well you know it, how comfortable you are with it". I like heavy strings, have been playing DR Tite-Fit 11 to I think 58 for over a decade on every guitar, single coil or 'bucker, acoustic or electric.
I also have strong, large hands, tune down a whole step across the board to make it easier on my limited vocal range, and am a student of David Gilmore's 'four finger bend' technique. I bend the shit out notes! Lighter gauge strings break easier.
I think it's important to remember that a lot of our heroes, modern and classic, often had to use what they were given on most occasions. Loaner guitars and amps overseas, etc.
I'm so glad the late nineties and NuMetal are over. "Heavy Strings, 7-Strings, Down Four Whole Steps, and chug that power chord!" Lol.
More likely, I stopped giving a shit about what other guitarists said about my gear ~.~
Appreciate the GMF quote! For what it's worth, David Gilmour actually uses a very particular custom gauge set of strings himself: .010 - .012 - .016 - .028 - .038 - .048
If he ever played 17's, it must of been for slide, on a guitar set up ONLY for slide.
But otherwise your explanation is spot on.
IMO, the slackening of the neck tension by tuning down a half-step actually makes 12's quite do-able for most guys,
although the first few days/week is absolute hell!
One thing you will notice: if used to playing on 12s, and your technique relies a lot on techniques ect
try going down to 9s or 10s and you will see the difference!
the notes just die off immediately no matter what you do, you will get NO sustain out of those suckers
unless you have a wall of effects and a good compressor at the end.
very frustrating.
For sure, if you gave a guy like stevie a 9 or 10 strung guitar hed probably either break the strings, break the guitar, or hit you over the head with it...or all three!
Thanks for the thoughts, I agree all around!
That's interesting, because with the exception of that .13 and the low .58, these gauges are basically the same as in a set of .11s. I wonder why went with those heavy strings for the Es. Maybe to eliminate the possibility of fretting out with vibrato?
Yep, that's what a lot of people don't know about the SRV set! It's all speculation as to why, but that's a solid guess for sure.
I have played in D standard which is much lower than Eb and I used 10-46 strings. Lower to Eb with 12 or 13s won't don't shit for you they are still towing cables.
Didn't he tune down a step to Eb? I think so. This would certainly help with tuning and string tension.
I use 10 - 52. Dean Markley. Nickel/steel.
Best strings I've used.
On my open G Tele I use 13-54. Very little bending required.
Hi sa a friend to Stevie I'm got use to this heavy strings. I'm to on high action and it gives more clean tone. But the guitar in itself have whit it to do as well! My 55 has 0,12-0,15-0,18-0,28-0,38-0,56
My 59 has a different set
0,11-0,15-0,19-0,28-0,38-0,58
Borth are Ash body but the 59 is rosewood neck. So it's a thing to fit for the guitar both my work horses have fat neck's that stand this heavy strings. Best regards to all! Good link 👍
I have been following Billy Gibbons and BB King's example and using the 7 to 46 for a couple years now. I went from using 10's and it took me about a year to readjust my playing to the lighter gauge. The changes I've noticed: 1. I can bend and use vibrato much more aggressively now 2. I almost never break strings while I used to break the heavier ones all the time. 3. I can practise far far longer than before. 4. What I've gained in playing ability far outweighs any loss in tone. (although I really can't hear a difference, but maybe I'm deaf! lol) I will never go back to the heavier strings. Before I changed strings a doctor said I had arthritis in my fingers and my cartilage was almost worn out. Now my fingers feel great and all the pain is gone.
I tried 7's and that was WAY too light. I could barely feel them and they just didn't have the punch I needed for my playing style, which is lower volume and minimal effects. I use 9's on most of my guitars, though I like 10's on my Strat.
I felt that same way as you when I first tried 7's. So what I did was switch from 10's to 9's for about 3 months. Then I went to eight's for about a year. Then I bought a pack of 7's and just changed that one string. It took a couple years from the beginning to the final change. The set I use now is custom and goes 7, 10, 13, 26, 36, 46. Maybe not for everyone but for me I have never played better.
I like to do 11s on both E high and B. It really lets you pull that E string around and let it pop
very good explanation! i use 012 daddario on my 69 strat , at 440
Cool video. I noticed this years ago reading Dan Erlewine’s notes from working on Number One and his conversations with Renè Martinez. The only huge strings were the 1st and 6th string. He had that monster 6th string so he could bang on the open E - a staple of his playing - without it buzzing or pulling sharp. Unfortunately, SRV has become more myth that man. Yes, he had large hands, but they weren’t the size of Andre the Giant or anything. His strings were large, but not haywire. Just a lot of exaggeration about him after he passed. Truly one of the greatest.
Exactly right on all counts. Things can always get overblown and folks will always seem larger than life in hindsight. SRV just did what he needed to do to make his guitar work the way he wanted it to, simple as that.
Hendrix had huge hands. They were the size of an NBA player's hands.
That's one thing that allowed him to do many unorthodox chord shapes
and fretting in general. He was not a mere mortal anyway, as we all know ...
I would not recommend 13s without stainless frets. I had a fender strat that I absolutely loved and played with 13s for about a year and wore the frets down in spots that where they were pretty much non existent.
I always thought SRV had a very low action... too low. Once I got a strat that was buzzing everywhere.. and it really reminded me like steve's sound.... that crispy metallic sound. Well it seems I was wrong
Stevie's gauges are what I use on my strat except for the 19plain. I use 22 plain because the 19 I feel is too 'twangy', not beefy enough to accommodate the other strings. He also did not have a 3rd string tree, which gives more flexibility...
And he played detuned. That makes a huge difference. I played 11's and 12's in Eb, but in E standard 10 is a far as I can go.
I think you’ve sold me on my first set of custom strings. Order coming next payday for a Stevie style, just to try it out.
Glad to hear it James, can't wait to hear what you think!
James Barros Post back to let us know how it worked out :)
I couldn't find the set as described on their site, so I wrote them, and asked them to create one for me. I'll do some before and after with my existing set of 10s (d'addario xls) before putting on the stringjoys.
full disclaimer, I'm a relatively new player, so NEITHER will sound as good as it would in the hands of a master.
Well, let me tell you, it hurts... and if you stop playing for 2 weeks it sends you back to beginner level lol BUT it also gives you tons of dynamics, if you hit hard it gives you actual volume, not buzzing... just dont stop playing for too long. If it is too hard go up progressively form .11 to .12 to .13... it is just like lifting weighs, for real.
the high action is probably in part because of the extra tension created by the heavier gauge, as I experienced this myself by putting some 13s on a strat, and the bridge saddles are already flush with the body, ( i can adjust the truss rod and shim the next which I haven't already, but a shim will affect the sustain and I don't want that) . He probably got used to the high action. From my experience (And I tuned down to D) it is so hard to bend and fretting feels like pressing my finger tips on a dull knife blade. Good thing i have calluses because the fingers look like shit after 15 minutes of playing, so I can imagine tuning a half step higher what the tension does
His guitar tech said he used heavy strings because he hammers the guitar with his right hand and broke strings like crazy , he was using 11-58 towards the end
Thank you, this helps a lot!