guitar strings

[Skacel]

what guitar strings are best to use for people who like to thrash their guitar and take the rage out on it?

i bought a new set of strings last week and i've only got 2 left on my guitar, fucking waste of money.

so is there such a thing as a heavy duty guitar string?

[Chris]

if you're breaking strings that quickly I'd take a look at either your guitar or your technique cause one of them's broken.

[Skacel]

if you're breaking strings that quickly I'd take a look at either your guitar or your technique cause one of them's broken.

haha yeh probably the technique

[spellchecker]

i tend to use ernie balls, i like their power / beefy slinky ranges. i've tend to stick to the beefy range since they've gone on sale. i downtune to drop B with a les paul, and the guitar also takes a fair beating, yet it manages to stay pretty reasonably in tune. it depends as much on your guitar setup as it does on the strings you buy. beefy slinkys are nice because they are very heavy down low, but rather medium towards the top.

what strings are you breaking most regularly? i used to snap a lot of D strings.

[Chris]

yeah you can't really go wrong with ernie ball. at the moment I use the skinny top, heavy bottom ones for my guitar tuned to B and hybrid slinkys for my standard tuned guitar.

The one i used to always break was the low E from prolonged palm muting. I honestly can't remember the last time I broke a string though.

[Hog]

I got some really heavy duty strings from R+B Music. They help a lot I think they were gauge 14's! Still snap them though, ask Tav what Im like for that lol

[Guest davetherave]

I got some really heavy duty strings from R+B Music. They help a lot I think they were gauge 14's! Still snap them though' date=' ask Tav what Im like for that lol [/quote']

Bloody hell Hog, gauge 14 strings, you might as well be playing Bass

To the original thread, as Hog said heavy gauge strings will help, also check there are no sharp edges on any parts of whatever bridge you have on the guitar, and when winding strings on your machineheads, wrap the string once round the post before putting it thru the hole.

If you have a heavy technique, try more flexible plectrums and try playing the strings nearer the neck rather than close to the bridge.

[JME]

Yeah heavy strings will help, and i think they are also easier to play on, although 14's are fairly intense Hog ! I prefer 11's or 12's. Also, although im not too sure about this but, if you have a really heavy technique then maybe you should check the action on your guitar, possibly adjusting the truss rod might compensate for the force you lay down onto the strings and consequentially the strain they put on the neck. Although i would just go and lay down some dosh for a set up

[N.M]

Currently using Ernie Ball strings on all of my guitar.

Seven string: Originally had a pack of 7 string power slinkys, but I didn't take to them that well as they seemed to flop around like fuck. So currently I've got a bit of a custom gauge going, with the lowest string currently .60 . It's actually pretty sweet to play on, which kind of surprises me.

Warlock: Not Even Slinkys! Fucking things hold well when tuned to G. What a set of strings. Deffinately going to buy a set for my 7 when I can be fucked going through the pain of restring and retuning it. Fucking floyd rose trems.

Ibanez S: Regular Slinkys on this wee bitch. Probably my best guitar, but I'm keeping it for more high end stuff. Unfortunately, that means it's barely in usage, since I'm currently going crazy for low end.

I've only really tried another set of strings and that was a D'addario set. Can't remember the gauge, think the bottom string was like .49 or something. They were pretty cool, but I find a new way to pronounce the name every time I mention them, so Ernie Ball seems a safer bet when buying. Heh.

I got some really heavy duty strings from R+B Music. They help a lot I think they were gauge 14's!

What type of strings are you using Hog!? I seriously need to get my hands on them! Tell damn it!

[Skacel]

i tend to use ernie balls' date=' i like their power / beefy slinky ranges. i've tend to stick to the beefy range since they've gone on sale. i downtune to drop B with a les paul, and the guitar also takes a fair beating, yet it manages to stay pretty reasonably in tune. it depends as much on your guitar setup as it does on the strings you buy. beefy slinkys are nice because they are very heavy down low, but rather medium towards the top.

what strings are you breaking most regularly? i used to snap a lot of D strings.[/quote']

yeh d goes quickly then g and high e the a decided it didnt want to stay either

these were ernie ball regular slinky gauge 10 i think

apparently you should stretch the strings before they are used but i was never aware of this so hopefully they wont break so soon the next time after ive given them a good stretching

[Chris]

apparently you should stretch the strings before they are used but i was never aware of this so hopefully they wont break so soon the next time after ive given them a good stretching

you stretch the string once you've put them on the guitar. this stops them going out of tune. as far as I know it doesn't help with breakages.

[spellchecker]

yeah i forgot to say that, i stretch mine. though it's hardly a comprehensive operation. i usually put one length of the string under my shoes, and then just pull on the notch at the end of the string for about 5-10 seconds. takes out any wind if anything.

[Skacel]

was just talking to one of the lads at uni, he reckons by stretching them then tuning then stretching and tuning again prevents them from tightening up when they are not being used. if they do this then when it comes to playing again they will be tight and will be likely to snap.

i'm not sure about this but i'll do it the next time and see if it works

[Chris]

yeah i forgot to say that' date=' i stretch mine. though it's hardly a comprehensive operation. i usually put one length of the string under my shoes, and then just pull on the notch at the end of the string for about 5-10 seconds. takes out any wind if anything.[/quote']

I usually just do some really big pitch bends once the strings are up to tension. Seems to work for me.

[Guest stuartmaxwell]

i use a strectching tool thing thats on my tuning head twister thingy

[/techincal]

[Dan G]

was just talking to one of the lads at uni' date=' he reckons by stretching them then tuning then stretching and tuning again prevents them from tightening up when they are not being used. if they do this then when it comes to playing again they will be tight and will be likely to snap.

i'm not sure about this but i'll do it the next time and see if it works[/quote']

The best way to stretch in strings is to:

After you have strung the guitar, tune the strings to the tuning you want. Then hold down a string at the first fret with your left hand and with your right hand pull the string up an inch or so off the fret board an octave up. i.e. hold down 1st fret, pull up at 13th fret.

Repeat this a fret up, i.e. hold down 2nd fret and pulling at 14th fret, and then do it all the way up on each fret until about the 10th and 22nd fret. Then retune and repeat until it stays in tune.

Then do it for all the other strings.

Like Chris I also do a fuckload of big bends just to check.

[Hog]

Im not sure the make of the 14's but they are in R+B. I use them for drop B tuning with Element and for Drop A tuning for Spike (although it doesnt matter what tuning im in for spike lol)

My other guitar is just 10s for standard E tuning

[Bent]

haha yeh probably the technique

Gotta agree !

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

Ernie Ball's all the way, I prefer Super Slinky in 80's glam pink. As for 14's, at first sight of that my brain was reeling, when i realised it was downtuned it made sense. Whats it dropped to though? fuckin B?, audible only to swamp creatures and moles?? Ah well if you dig it, I won't knock it, wouldn't fancy it myself though.

[Guest stuartmaxwell]

Whats it dropped to though? fuckin B?' date=' audible only to swamp creatures and moles?? [/quote']

er not really

i play songs in dropped A (gauge 12s mind) on a tele and you can make it out perfectly through my rig

[spellchecker]

yep, downtuned isn't always muddy rubbish. all dear john's songs are tuned down to drop B. if you play power chords all the time then it does tend to turn to sludge, but then we don't, so it isn't a problem. i think a lot of people associate down-tuning with the likes of korn, other old nu metallers, etc. it can give your guitar a great tone (we use mostly les paul's though calum's just bought a tele) with a decent amp behind it (probably more to do with the heavier gauge strings) it sounds bangin'. going out of tune can be more of a problem if you really hammer the fuck out of the guitar though.

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

Don't get me wrong, the end musical result is the only important thing, how it's arrived at is far less important. It just wouldn't suit me. Our bassist Steve once had a (really shit) 5 string bass, and you could use the bottom string for tethering small ships, so hefty was it.

[spellchecker]

yeah, they are hefty mo fo's. i play the bass in the band, so i'm the poor fool that has to shell out 25 quid for a new set of strings. though to be fair i've only done that twice since buying it in 2000. the B string originally was a 125 gauge, then second time round i put on a 130, then when restringing again i put on a 125 again but a different make and it sounded better.

i really like having a 5 string bass, it's great for recording, though sometimes i do long for a four string because i find them easier (and often more fun) to play. however, when all your songs are written on a five string ...

i wish i had more guitars.

[Skin]

both my main guitars are tuned to C, both are strung with d'addario 13-56, you wanna hear a parker fly with 13's on it through a triple rectifier, you're tone fucking kills