Insane Guest

Don't attack me for this, but I'm still a novice when it comes to the actual sound of the guitar. When you turn on the amp, and start playing, do the strings actually change the sound. I'm talking electric guitar not acoustic. I use Ernie Ball, but I use them only because they are good on the fingers and could take some strong bends.

VEGANGELICA

All I know, xEMGx, is that thicker (higher gauge) electric guitar strings are supposed to give a better tone than the thinner ones (like the ones I use). Also, I've read online that different brands of strings do affect the experience of playing...someone said somewhere that he felt his pick got caught more on d'Addarios.

And here's an interesting quote about how string structure (how they are wound) affects the sound:

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GuitarBizarre

That thing about the pick getting caught doesn't convince me, I've never noticed a difference there. It might be the strings feel a little more 'stiff' to the touch of the plectrum, due to either high tension or stiffer metallurgy (Stiffer metal would me a string at the same tension would be harder to bend too, compared to a softer string)

But honestly, if your technique is good, your pick catching on the strings shouldn't be a problem. If it is a problem, even when you're not digging into the note, then you're playing with an inefficient picking motion.


Also, xEMGx - Yeah, they make a big difference. Brand-to-brand, between the same guages, the differences are slight, and mostly playability is whats affected.

But if you change how thick your strings are, or the type of winding (see above), you'll notice a BIG change in sound.


Of note - Thicker strings are harder to bend but can be set to a lower action without buzzing, whereas thinner strings are easier to bend but need higher action.

Sound wise, thinner strings can sound 'tinny', whereas thicker strings can sound 'muddy'. Which is better depends on the type of music you play. If you want super defined chunky rythm guitars where the sound of a plam mute stops on a pin, you might want thinner strings, but you'll lose the nice chunky tone that comes with thicker strings.

Conversely, if you want a brutal death metal sound, and you want to avoid it sounding 'fizzy' and brittle, you'll want to use thicker strings, but your palm muting technique will have to change to compensate, since the higher mass of the strings means more momentum and thus you'll need more effective methods of muting the strings with the picking hand.

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JakeDTH

I use Ernie Ball "Not Even Slinky" (.012-.016-.024p-.032-.044-.056) custom gauge nickel wound strings. I like them as I play in D# tuning and because they feel more like acoustic strings, which I like because I started out on an acoustic guitar. They also have more bass and won't break as easy when I play live.

I recently used to use Ernie Ball "Regular Slinky" (.010-.013-.017-.026-.036-.046) custom gauge nickel wound strings, but they don't work well with D# or really any kind of lower tunings.

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