Guitar Reviews 4U - D'Addario Strings -
Should you put heavy or light gauge strings on a guitar to get 'vintage sound'?
Here's a look at whether to go 'heavy' on string gauges and what this could do
to your guitar to get the 'sound' and the potential damage to your guitar.
Most of my Stratocasters run with these 9-42 strings -
a mix of standard 9 gauge Light top and 10 gauge bottom strings works great.
D'Addario also make 9 gauge acoustic strings which I use on some acoustics
string packaging with the Brooklyn Bridge 'gauge' of string tension loading -
you can easily see just how much more load you create by going heavier!
There has been a fad over recent years for some players wanting to recreate a more 'authentic' they perceive guitar sound, by using heavier gauge guitar strings.
The reasoning often being that in the past, heavier gauge strings were only available and used then as standard fitment as the lighter string gauges were not then available.
Back in history, guitarists such as Eddie Cochran and James Burton used to get around this situation of heavy strings by using a light gauge Banjo string on the top E string and by discarding the low E string and installing the rest of the the strings A,D,G & B on the 6,5,4,3 & 2 positions with the 'ultra light' by the standards of the day string on the top E string position.
This allowed James Burton to get his famous sound. He could at least bend the top strings in his lead guitar work much easier.
On the Shadows tour in 2004, guitarist Hank B. Marvin of The Shadows used one of his Stratocasters strung with heavy gauge strings with a 13 gauge top to replicate his early 1959 Stratocaster sound for some of the old 1960's numbers played. His other stage Stratocasters on the tour were strung with more 'normal' modern 10 gauge strings.
Normally Hank might play a 10 top set, sometimes with a 52 bottom E in a 10-52 set rather than a 10-46 so he could get the heavier bass string sound of the old days without the need to fit the complete heavy gauge strings of a 13-56 set. This would allow the lighter '10 top' string unwound 3 strings to be used which are easier to play.
On this subject, some of the heavier sets now offer a wound 3rd like the early 1960's strings, Hank's early Stratocaster strings had the wound 3rd and some 'purists' use those to emulate the sound.
Going to heavy 13-56 range strings will appreciably load up the string tension on a guitar and in so doing, will put more strain on the structure of the guitar woods and the hardware. It does also make the guitar harder to play, there is more string tension to overcome when bending strings or using the trem arm.
I have used D'Addario strings since 1984 and I have also tried other string makes - Fender, Gibson, Ernie Ball, Rotosound and a host of others. Ernie Ball and D'Addario are really my primary choice now as they have a relatively low string 'pull' tension - I tend now to only really use D'Addario strings and Ernie Ball on a Buddy Holly style Stratocaster.
On a Stratocaster, changing makes even of the same string gauge range say 10-46 in both sets can cause problems, installing Fender 10-46 vintage strings for a tryout on a Stratocaster pulled my Trem block up some and led to me having to do some adjustment of the action.
When I put a new set of D'Addario 10-46's on a guitar that is new from a music shop and has the original 'from the factory' 10-46 strings on, the D'Addarios have less tension and sound much better.
Over the last 40+ years I've tried different string makes and my conclusion is that the D'Addario strings are easy to play, have lower string tension and stay bright and in tune much better than others. Quality does not vary from set to set and I have only broken one top string in all the years playing them.
Back to the original question - heavy or light gauge? So, we consider the player wanting to replicate an artist's 'vintage' sound- they buy the guitar of their desire and decide to install the heavier gauge strings.
Yes, you might get a louder sounding instrument with the higher mass strings, but you will find the strings harder to bend and perhaps harder to play, the guitar action will need adjustment to compensate for the string change.
The real issue for me as someone who has built and repaired guitars is the added load on the instrument, especially a vintage guitar made decades ago. The heavier load strings will put added loading on the structure of the guitar and may cause damage to the structure. Some old guitars were constructed using animal glue that can give out under heavy string loading.
Older Gretsch guitars have tenon joint necks with screw location and these necks can move with age, so increasing the string gauge is not kind to them at all! It might have been ok when the guitar was new but some of these classics are now 60 years plus old and that has to be considered.
Personally after 40+ years of playing, I use a standard 9-42 set on most of my mainly Squier and Mexican Stratocasters and a 9-46 set on those I want a more vintage sound with the slightly heavier bottom strings such as a custom shop Maple neck 1959. My Tokai guitars have 9's on now a couple of 1983 TST 50's and a 2014 Goldstar Sound TST50.
I use 10-46 universally on my Gretsch guitars - although the 5420's now come new with 11 gauge sets fitted, I usually swap those right away in any case and often as I install a Tunamatic roller saddle bridge and often swap the B60 Bigsby for a B6C 'V' style unit - all of which improves the sound and tuning stability greatly.
For acoustics, on acoustic 12 strings I use a 9 gauge set, on standard 6 string acoustic I have used the 9 gauge D'Addario strings and the 10 gauge set - the 9 gauge is a lighter string with less volume but is kinder to guitars I play less frequently. The 9's on a six string do have less volume but it is a trade off and I use them at home only. My Gretsch Rancher from 2013 has 9's on and sounds and plays very nicely. One of the best guitars for playability and sound.
To compensate for 'vintage' string sound you can if you use an amplifier modeller and a mixer as I do a lot, ramp the gain up (and presence if that is on your modeller) a touch and this will give a bit more 'alive' and 'loaded' vintage type sound.
An example of this vintage sound being found on The Shadows 'Man of Mystery' it is a great recording from 1960 and Hank's 1959 Stratocaster has the original heavy strings on, into a Vox AC15 and it really sounds fabulous.
Modern technology can to an extent be used to simulate the 'heavier' string gauge and that would be my route to follow rather than load up your instrument with strings that are more difficult to play and could also cause problems for the guitar structure.
