Thomastiks 14s on a Jaguar

[Arc]

Hi everybody,
I have a question regarding the ancient and thoroughly discussed topic of string gauges. Every story differs from the others, so here I am asking for advice.
Background: I favour heavy strings, my gauge of choice is 11-47 for 25.5” scales, 12-50 for 24.75”. I tune down a whole step, so this counterbalances the heavier gauge.
On the Jag I had daddario chromes flats 12-52 for ages, then tried Thomastiks swing flats 12-50 and didn’t care for them. Went back to rounds ‘cause I missed the sparkle.

Issue: on my other guitars I use thomastiks bebop, I like the fact that they’re pure nickel with a double wrap of thin wire that makes them smooth compared to other rounds. They come in the same balanced tension gauges as their flats. The problem is that, with rounds on the jag I need at least a 55-56 to avoid string slippage at the low E (well D in my case) and I’m currently using daddario 12-60 with the 12 swapped for 13. Now I’m a sucker for the balanced tension thing, but I feel like that going up to the 14 set in order to have a 55 low E might be too much. With what they cost don’t really want to buy a 13 and a 14 set to use plain string from the former and wound from the latter.
Forgot to say I don’t like this set of daddario as I make too much noise going up and down the fretboard, and being nickel plated steel they push my pickups to much, I really really love pure nickel strings!

I guess that all I need to know is if somebody tried such a gauge on a Jag (they should feel more like 13 for me, cause I detune) and/or if another pure nickel/ round core /smooth feel set of strings exists somewhere. It has to be well balanced too, something around 13-17-21-32-40-55.
I looked for ghs nickel rockers and dr pure blues but nothing fits my bill.
Ah, I don’t bend much, more of a tremolo user.
Don’t want to change bridge either, tried Mustang and mastery (from a friend of mind JM) and couldn’t care less for their tone.

Thanks guys
Cheers

[Arc]

This silence speaks for itself! Nobody here is man enough to rock some 14s. Good to know

[ohm-men]

It's possible, ofcourse. Re-adjust the truss rod to take the heavier strings and do the setup and file the nut to take the bigger strings.
I had 0.13" 0.54" flatwounds on a Jaguar for a while, but to me they were overkill. First the string tension wasn't to my liking and the tremolo became a bit useless to me. (Japanese Fender trem) Also the guitar played (and sounded) very stiff. So, if you want to keep using the trem, perhaps a tighter spring wil be needed.
Nowadays I go with 0.11 - 0.50 (or even 0.48) on my Jaguar. Roundwound.
Ofcourse strings are a personal preference and have to suit your playing style etc...

And for a jaguar, bigger strings do not really make a bigger sound imho.
As the Jag kind of lacks sustain and is a more percussive kind of sounding guitar, the bigger strings do not make a huge difference.
Again a personal opinon and prefference

[Arc]

I might give them a try, but they probably are overkill as you say. The fact is that the only thing that I like about the daddario 12-60 is the stiff low E, ideal for downtuning. Sadly nobody does a wound string like that of the thomastik bigger than .055. I should probably go with the 13-53 bebops and call it a day! Thank for your reply!

[Horsefeather]

Here's a set I put together at Stringjoy, attempting to even out the tensions across Dick Dale's custom set. These come out to about 30# of tension per string (per the D'Addario calculator, anyway.) I use them on a Strat and I find them comfortable to play surf music on. On a detuned Jag they would be a breeze.

14 or 13.5
18
22p
34
46
62

[Arc]

That 62 low E looks huge my problem with gauges this big is that I squeak all over the fretboard. I know it’s a matter of technique, but I’m pretty ham fisted.

[HarlowTheFish]

Here's a set I put together at Stringjoy, attempting to even out the tensions across Dick Dale's custom set. These come out to about 30# of tension per string (per the D'Addario calculator, anyway.) I use them on a Strat and I find them comfortable to play surf music on. On a detuned Jag they would be a breeze.

14 or 13.5
18
22p
34
46
62

Stringjoy's got their own calculator, and I'll say their sets are sometimes not mathematically balanced (my heavy-bottom 11-58 set, for example, has a few pounds less on the 58 relative to the gradual increase on the other gauges) they feel super balanced. Toss one of their sets in and take a look at what the balance is and adjust it -- construction makes a big difference to string feel and tension, even with the same materials.

[HarlowTheFish]

That 62 low E looks huge my problem with gauges this big is that I squeak all over the fretboard. I know it’s a matter of technique, but I’m pretty ham fisted.

Honestly, I do that with small strings. Not enough string to put my uncoordinated paws on, I'm always overbending, and even though I have a pretty light touch on the fretting hand, they still go sharp when I'm fretting (bad) or digging in with a pick or fingers (which really doesn't work for me because I use that for accenting my playing pretty much all the time).

[N0_Camping4U]

I have these! Or maybe it's the George Benson 14's.... They're flatwounds, though. I have them on my Jaguar. I play a lot of surf music. I've had the pair on for ... jeez ... 4-5 years now, at least. I love them. I love big strings though. I always get big strings. My Stratocaster has 16 flatwounds on them. As Dick Dale used to say: 'big strings = big tone'. Or was that Stevie Ray Vaughan...

[Arc]

I pulled the trigger on the bebop 14, will report back as soon as I put them on. Never went that up on the trebles.

[Arc]

So today this bebop 14s arrived and I strung the little Jag right away. God only knows how much I missed the pure nickel strings. They work better for clean and fuzz as well, much more clarity because they don’t push the pickups too much. Tension wise I was coming from 12-16-20-36-46-60 with an hex core and didn’t find any increased tension on the trebles, even if they’re 14-18-22w-32-40-55. I must say that this wound g is pretty bendable, much more than what I expected. Highly recommended.