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’d be best to try a few sets for yourself and feel the difference.
Personally I don’t care about tone and I’m not of the opinion that you get much better tone with heavier strings (as some people claim) but string gauge is important if you do serious down tuning (I mean more than half a step) because the strings will get floppy and that’ll make playing a bit more weird/difficult if the string is flopping all over the place.
If you’re not tuning lower than standard E maybe try a lighter set next time (than the 10-46 you mentioned) and see how that feels. It should feel much easier to fret the notes and do bends.