There is no doubt that strings greatly affect the tone and playability of your electric guitar. Let's face it, if you don't want it to be just another percussion instrument in your collection, you need strings.
And when it comes to electric guitar strings, there are a lot of factors to consider as you decide which set to purchase, such as the musical genre you want to play, how often you play and your guitar's scale.
In this piece, we'll break down everything you need to know to ensure you've got the right strings on your Stratocaster, Telecaster or any other electric guitar.
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String gauge refers to the size of the string, as in how thick, measured in thousandths of an inch. The gauges for a six-stringed guitar range from the smallest on the high E string and level up to the B, G, D, A and low E strings.
Generally, lighter gauge strings are easier to play, brighter, allow you to bend strings and fret notes easier, and exert less tension on your guitar's neck.
Meanwhile, heavier gauges give you more volume and sustain, allow you to dig in and play harder, and are typically preferred for drop-tunings and alternate tunings. Still, the increased size adds more tension and can be more difficult to bend and fret.
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As a rule of thumb, if you want to play fast leads and chords, light gauges may be the way to go (metal players with a preference for drop-D tuning would still need a heavy gauge for the lower strings or wound strings). Lots of blues and rock guitarists land on medium gauges that offer the benefits of both worlds, while jazz guitarists who don't bend a lot of notes tend to use heavy gauges, sometime with a wound G string.
Electric guitar strings are made of steel, so they properly transmit the string vibrations to the magnetic pickups. The low E, A and D strings are wound with various alloys, while the G, B and high E strings are tin-plated.
String cores are also made of steel in most cases. The core refers to the center of the string, with windings going around it to create larger, wound strings.
Fender Super 250 Nickel Plated Ball End Strings 250r Gauges .010 .046
Hexagonal-shaped wires have been used in more modern string construction, as they hold the outer windings in place and hold tune well.
A roundwound string uses a round wire to wrap around the inner core of the string, while flatwound uses a flat wire (think tape).
Roundwound is the most popular way of string winding, as they are available in the widest selection of gauges and materials. They are said to have a brighter tone with great sustain.
Fender 3155r Classic Core Vintage Nickel Bullet End Electric Guitar Strings
Flatwound, which are favored by many jazz players, tend to have a smoother playing feel and darker tone. Because of their flat surface, they can also be easier on the fingers.
Ball end strings work on all electric guitars. On ball end strings, the core wire of the string wraps around a separate piece, a tiny metal ball. This creates a small V-shaped area of slack fit in the two places where the wire loops around the ball. At normal string tension, this slack wire loop is taut and unbent, and the ball end is prevented from completely abutting the bridge plate.
Bullet strings attach a tiny cylinder of brass shaped like a bullet to the end of the string in a one-piece construction. There is no loop and hence no slack, and the business end of the bullet makes tighter and more uniformly solid contact with the bridge. Further, the nature of the precision-machined Bullet end design meant that the string returned to the exact same position every time, greatly improving tuning stability even after heavy tremolo use.
Fender String Guide
The string design was specifically made for Stratocaster guitars because the Bullet ends fit far more precisely into the tremolo block, closely fitting the circumference of the string channel, adding sustain.
Because electric guitar strings are made out of steel, they contain iron, which corrodes when exposed to oxygen. It won't be overnight, but humidity and the residue left behind by your hands can speed the process.
Luckily, regularly cleaning your strings will keep them stronger longer. Use some string cleaner with a special wipe, or simply a polish cloth, to keep things properly maintained. also offers the Speed Slick guitar string cleaner applicator that restores and extends string life with a few swipes up and down the string.
Fender Electric Guitar String .09, .010 Gauge (per Set)
The good thing about having a variety of strings for your electric guitar is that you have options. The best way to find out which is best for you is to try several types before you pinpoint your favorite.Switching up your guitar’s string gauge is a good idea if you’re looking for a different tone and feel, and it’s one of the cheapest and easiest guitar modifications you can make. But which string gauge is best?
In this article, I’ll explain the different string gauges on offer for acoustic and electric guitars, the pros and cons of thick and thin strings and some overall recommendations for different guitar models.
A guitar’s string gauge refers to the thickness measured as 1/1000th of an inch of the high E string. For example a set of 10-gauge strings will have a high E string with a thickness of 0.010 inches.
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The best string gauge for most electric guitar players is either 9 or 10 gauge, and for acoustic guitars it is 12 gauge.
The sets use the high E string as a reference, which is the thinnest string in the set. Of course, the lower strings will be thicker. For example, a set of 10-gauge strings may also be called a 10-46 set, which means the low E string has a thickness of 0.046 inches.
To make things simpler, the string sets are usually described as either super light, light, medium or heavy. These terms will vary depending on the brand and the guitar type (acoustic or electric).
Fender 80/20 Bronze 70xl .010g Acoustic Guitar String
Now let’s take a look at the average gauges used on electric and acoustic guitars, before we jump into the pros and cons of thick and thin strings.
On electric guitars, the most common string set is a 9-gauge set also know as a 0.009-0.042″ set. This is often referred to as a “light set” but is considered the average gauge, with many brands such as Fender, supplying their guitars with a 9-gauge string set.
Some brands such as Gibson and Epiphone supply a lot of their guitars, including the Les Paul with a 10-gauge string set which is refereed to as a “medium set”.
Electric Guitar String Gauge: What Should You Use?
Electric guitar string sets vary from 8-gauge to 14-gauge, with the most common sets being the 9-gauge and 10-gauge sets. They are often referred to as either super light, light, medium and heavy, although some brands use different terms to describe them.
There can also be some variations, for example, some brands supply 10-gauge sets which go from 0.01″ to 0.046″, and others supply sets which go from 0.01″ to 0.048″. Although the examples listed above are the most common.
The only other variation, is for 7 and 8 string guitars. Typically, these guitars will use 10 gauge strings, so here are examples for 7 and 8 string variants.
Fender 70xl Extra Light 80/20 Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings, Ball End.010 .048 Gauges, Set Of 6
Most acoustic guitars have 12-gauge strings and are often supplied with this set as standard from the manufacturer. Acoustic string gauges can range from 9-gauge to 13-gauge to suit different playing styles and scale lengths, and to produce a different tone.
A set of 9s on an acoustic is pretty rate, and much more commonly seen on electric guitars, however, you can fit them with this gauge if you prefer. Generally, acoustic string sets come in 4 sizes: 10-gauge, 11-gauge, 12-gauge and 13-gauge.
Acoustic guitars usually use thicker gauge strings than electric guitars, because they produce a louder sound. Electric guitars generally use thinner strings to improve playability and because the extra volume is not needed as the guitar will be plugged into an amplifier.
Vs 10 Gauge Guitar Strings: Which Should You Use?
Now we’ve been through the basics, I wanted to talk about the differences between light and heavy gauge strings, to help you decide which will be best for you. Here are the categories I’ll be comparing them in:
Different guitars have different scale lengths, which refers to the distance from the bridge to the nut of the guitar. For example, the Stratocaster and Telecaster have 25.5″ scale lengths, and the Les Paul has a 24.75″ scale length.
On guitars with a shorter scale length, the strings are under less tension. In order to compensate for the weaker tension, shorter scale guitars are often fitted with heavier gauge strings because they will create more tension.
Corde Per Chitarra Elettrica ▷ Trova Le Corde Adatte
String gauge has a big impact on how comfortable a guitar feels to play. Thicker (heavier gauge) strings, are harder to fret, and require more finger strength than thinner strings which are much easier to fret. Thinner strings also bend more easily and make the guitar feel “faster” to play.
Thicker strings create more tension, making them more difficult to hold for long periods, and perform bend. Often you’ll see older players who previously used thick strings, switch to light gauges because they
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