I’ve been spending the summer learning how to play the guitar. Last month, I bought a lovely Sire S7 and I’ve been having a blast playing it and learning guitar chords and playing with the modes on the couple of portable guitar amps I bought (The Fender Magnum Micro and a Positive Grid Spark Go). I know those amps might not sound that impressive, but like I said I’m still pretty new at this and when I get better, I’ll probably get an even bigger amp.
But that’s not why I’m here today.
I was on the Ernie Ball website thinking about picking up some spare strings (because I broke my little e string a few weeks ago), when I noticed they had different pack of string sets with different strings that were other than the typical 10-13-17-26-36-46 set, but had other gauges of strings.
Surely, the width of the strings would result in different notes as much as where you put your fingers on the fretboard, right?
So what would I be gaining or losing if I used a different set up strings? (I’m not planning on re-stringing my guitar any time soon, but it would be nice to know the significance of these other sets, what they are used for, and if there was a specific set ideal for playing certain genres or playing techniques.)
It’s all about tension. You can theoretically tune any thickness of string to any note. But thicker strings will be tighter than thinner. Sets generally are made to have relatively similar tension across all the strings, but some folks like some variations, so you can get sets that have more tension in the lower strings, for example.