11-52 E standard. Who knew?

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fuzzyguitars

fuzzyguitars

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I watched some Sylosis Josh Vids.

He has awesome tone and plays super heavy sounding stuff.

In E standard no less.

Then I watched some of his tutorial vids, in particular his string gauges.

I always play kinda heavy handed and my rhythms were kinda all over the place,

so for shits and giggles I strung up one of my older strat styles that i dont play much because it never felt right.



Well, Ill be......

really tightened up my rhythms and made it a whole lot easier to control those gallops.

lead playing was not that much harder.


ill be darned if it didnt make sweep picking a little easier too.



I have only tried it like this for a week, but I feel that my playing has improved because of this.

the funny thing is that when i switch back to my 10-46 e standard guitars, i seem to be playing them cleaner and more controlled as well.

pretty weird huh?


what other bands besides Sylosis play heavy in E standard that I should check out?

any of you guys using 11-52 e standard?
 
Yeah man. I switched to .11s back in '93 and haven't looked back (because of a Richie Kotzen article in Guitar World). For me, it makes alternate picking easier, and I feel I have more control in general. .9s and .10s feel like spaghetti to me now.
 
actually i used to play 11s in the 90's as well

but back then we were playing in new wave cover bands

echo and the bunnymen

smiths

cure

yada yada yada.

dont laugh too hard.

thats what the girls liked back then

our motto was "if the boobs ain't bouncing, we aren't gonna play it!"

reverymike":3d225x6e said:
Yeah man. I switched to .11s back in '93 and haven't looked back (because of a Richie Kotzen article in Guitar World). For me, it makes alternate picking easier, and I feel I have more control in general. .9s and .10s feel like spaghetti to me now.
Click to expand...
 
I bought an orville les paul custom recently and it got to me strung with a 11-56 hybrid set in standard.

I usually play in D# with 10s so you imagine the "shock".

Still after I got used to them I think they trully have a lot to offer in the sound mainly in the tightness department.

I also think they rob some of the guitar's treble region.

There is no real problem playing-wise but I am going to re strung it with a 10 or 11 set.

The real problem is alternating with my other guitars which are lower action, D# with 10s and they do feel like spaggheti now, overcooked!
 
there is definitely a change in the tone department.

its a lot fatter and less treble

there is also more rasp to the lower notes.

i eq my amps with a lot more treble and presence in comparison to the other guitars loaded with standard 10's

56 on the low e is getting close to what i put on the b string of my 7 stringers!

tech21man":4axmzn5m said:
I bought an orville les paul custom recently and it got to me strung with a 11-56 hybrid set in standard.

I usually play in D# with 10s so you imagine the "shock".

Still after I got used to them I think they trully have a lot to offer in the sound mainly in the tightness department.

I also think they rob some of the guitar's treble region.

There is no real problem playing-wise but I am going to re strung it with a 10 or 11 set.

The real problem is alternating with my other guitars which are lower action, D# with 10s and they do feel like spaggheti now, overcooked!
Click to expand...
 
No chance I could play 11s, maybe with an LP...tips of my fingers are crying just thinking about it. I don't think they would survive the bending.
 
I've got an old MIM Strat that was a bit TOO buttery with the tension, didn't really matter what I did with the neck and I shoved a coke bottle cap behind the bridge to block it off, so that wasn't causing the issue (an issue I wish I'd have with other guitars!) I was using 10-52 but went up to 11's and while it's still easy to play, I'm not bending everything out of tune accidentally anymore.

The tension is pretty much the same on the Strat with 11's in standard as my JEM is with 10-52's in Drop-C, only when ya get higher on the neck do you start to feel a difference.
 
Yeah for trem picking and most of the classic metal techniques I find heavier gauges on the lower strings are nice too. I usually go 9-52 then a 62 on my 7 strings.
 
That gauge is actually pretty normal for an LP for metal, even in E. I like my LPs with 11s just because of the shorter scale length, 10s are too floppy. Strats are good with 10s.
 
Didn't SRV play with heavier strings?


Anyways, good thread. Never thought about it except for drop, but I'm a ham fisted crap player, so might be worth a try.
 
I played 11-52 for years.

Then I bought a Les Paul and the shop set it up with new 10s instead of the 11s I asked for. The thing sounded awesome until I put 11s on it myself, then it sounded dull and didn't scream the same way anymore. Fought with it for a few months before switching back to 10s and that was that.

I'd rather play on 11s but 10s have the sound I'm after.
 
I did the same years ago, it felt like the string gauges were closer together, so the resistance between strings was the same across the neck. I loved the way it felt, but I didn't like having 5 trem springs and the stiffness of it. I also started to get carpal tunnel in my wrist from still pulling off Zakkesq vibrato, so I had to move back to 10s. On Eb and D, I still use them though and love it.
 
So I haven't posted on Rig-talk since 2011 - just a fun fact for you guys, but this is a topic I'm really interested in.

When I played 7-strings, I tuned to Eb with a low Bb and I used 9-42-56's. I have no idea how I managed. Right now I tune to standard - I no longer play 7 strings and don't use low tunings since my taste in music has changed a lot. I found that 10-52 in Eb was basically perfect. Everything intonates so well, but I inevitably end up returning to standard, and that's where the problem is. For me, 9's are too loose, and 10's are just a little too tight only as far as bends at the 22nd fret go. As far as picking and fingering go, 10's are brilliant provided your action is nice and low; playing thick strings with high action is my worst nightmare.

I think my ideal set of strings would be a set of .0095 - .050 set of Nanowebs!
 
I jumped up to 11s for a while but I do a lot of bending and they just felt too stiff and messed with my vibrato so I went back to 10s for standard tuning (I still use 11s on my guitars tuned to D).
I tried a set of SRV gauged strings...insanely difficult to play.
 
i think that you gotta have a guitar with good fretwork.

i also set my neck relief to almost flat.

the action is pretty low, so when i hammer from no where it can still ring out clear.

i could never play 11s with high action for sure
 
I have been playing 11's for a long long time. I am almost always in standard and if I drop I drop all strings the same amount. 11's just feel right to me no matter what I am doing style/tone wise.
 
fuzzyguitars":2it6cf8l said:
I watched some Sylosis Josh Vids.

He has awesome tone and plays super heavy sounding stuff.
Click to expand...

I took lessons from his guitar teacher for a time. He's a phenomenal talent. Even when he was in his mid teens he was setting the bar almost unreachably high for us. Mind you, he was a militantly focused perfectionist and deservedly earned his skill set.
I could be talking out of my hairy colon here but I 'think' he's left handed and plays right handed.
I know several artistically gifted left handers and those that play the guitar right handed are all very good players and seem to have a really authorative command of the fretboard. I'm sure there's an advantageous correlation somewhere. Josh also has one of the best right hands of any player I've seen.
Add artistic and creative ability to determination and perfectionism and you're bound to produce exceptional players like him.
 
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