Do Most Guitarists Play 9s?

[BoringPostcards]

I put 9s on my Mustang recently and am really liking it. It doesn’t feel much slinkier than my SG did when it had 9s (it has 10s now, might go back to 9s now).
The Jazzmaster has 10-52 on it and feels great. My new Jag also has 10-52 and feels good.
I have a somewhat light touch, so these gauges have been working fine for me.

Dude, started rocking a set of 9-46s (EB Hybrid Slinkys) on my SG. Makes a WORLD of difference having that thicker bottom on such a punk rock guitar as an SG.

Yeah, I really like those EB hybrid sets. Been using them for about ten years now and won’t go back to standard sets. I can play lead and also dig in on power chords, if I need to.

[Embenny]

Just tried 9s for the first time in years, on one of my Flying Vs.

It's fun. Certain things are easier, certain things are harder. I'll probably keep it this way for a while and see how I feel.

[thisisnickpaige]

Just tried 9s for the first time in years, on one of my Flying Vs.

It's fun. Certain things are easier, certain things are harder. I'll probably keep it this way for a while and see how I feel.

That's exactly how i felt too. But once you lighten your grip and loosen up it's incredibly easy and smooth this way

[thisisnickpaige]

Yeah, I really like those EB hybrid sets. Been using them for about ten years now and won’t go back to standard sets. I can play lead and also dig in on power chords, if I need to.

That's exactly what i found! It's a good sort of gateway between the two. But now that i've gone full 9-42 i can't stop haha Barre chords seem so tough on this SG now. All must align....

[JSett]

Just tried 9s for the first time in years, on one of my Flying Vs.

It's fun. Certain things are easier, certain things are harder. I'll probably keep it this way for a while and see how I feel.

That's exactly how i felt too. But once you lighten your grip and loosen up it's incredibly easy and smooth this way

I really struggle to loosen my grip. I've been playing fat strings in Eb for so long I tend to grab the guitar like it's a weapon. Anything under 11s and it's out of tune city for me

[Embenny]

That's exactly how i felt too. But once you lighten your grip and loosen up it's incredibly easy and smooth this way

It's actually my right hand that's the issue, not the left. I play fingerstyle much of the time, and developed my right hand technique on acoustic guitar. I kinda depend on a certain amount of string stiffness for speed - when playing fast patterns, floppy strings feel kinda like quicksand.

I play classical guitar as well, I'm just used to using an "acoustic guitar" type technique on electric, and I'll have to adjust and/or switch to a slightly more "classical" technique.

For playing with a pick, I love the low tension already. I definitely wouldn't string all my guitars so light, but I'll definitely keep 9s on this V and maybe another.

I'm lucky to have enough guitars that I don't need any one instrument to "do everything." If I don't like fingerstyle on 9s, this can be a flatpicking guitar. My white Flying V is set up with 10s and for whatever reason, they feel like 11s on it, so that's the obvious choice when I want a nice stiff feedback for my right hand.

[thisisnickpaige]

I really struggle to loosen my grip. I've been playing fat strings in Eb for so long I tend to grab the guitar like it's a weapon. Anything under 11s and it's out of tune city for me

It's actually my right hand that's the issue, not the left.

Oh don't get me wrong! When i bought my newest Tele i wasn't thrilled about the nines. When i tried them at a gig I got so mad at the lack of 'fight'/resistance when i dug in, thought i was gunna snap the high e. I mean, i'm coming from the school of The Clash, Billy Bragg, and the Hives so for me it was both hands: death grip and hard strumming (consequently the title of my forthcoming memoirs ).

After that gig i swore to take them off. After a few weeks (and the cost of strings in Norway) i decided if Billy Gibbons and the like could reap the benefits, so could i. So i got me one of those hats and loosened up.

Now there's no way i'm back! The 10's on my jazzmaster feel heavy to me now. It so alleviated so many of my hand tension and overgripping problems. I know you've mentioned before, Johnny, that you've got hand problems after years at the gun. Well, I gotta say this did wonders for me in that arena; I don't even feel the difference now: The 9's are like butter on a hot English scone.

Interesting about the V and the classical guitar Embenny/mbene85, whoever you! I starting on bass for years then migrating over to acoustic guitar with dips into flamenco and salsa. So i tend to use a hybrid finger style with a Jazz III between my thumb and pointer, and picking with the other three. The lighter touch only seems to compliment my acoustic and bass playing.

[Shane110111]

11s on my Jazzmaster and 10s on my Strat, anything under that feels weird to play.

[skeletonsmith]

I play 10s on all regular Models and 11s on the Shortscales and Paranormal Squiers with the 24.75 Necks.

[andare]

11-49 rounds on my Jazzmaster feel incredible.
Flatwound 9s on my Strat with high action.
I have 10s on a Coronet and I struggle a lot. I need to buy better strings first but as nice as light gauge strings feel I'm afraid they're not for my heavy hands, especially on a Gibson scale.

Btw now that I know how cramped 24.75" feels I can't imagine ever playing a 24" scale guitar.

[Synchro]

Yes, I made a generalisation, it's also an accurate one so it is fair, sorry that this doesn't match with your version of reality. Also, not my problem and nobody made me feel anything except amused, I'm quite secure with light gauge strings.

This came to prominence when SRV was around and grew after. Sure there were others before and after but he was easily the most famous and remains so today. Ask 100 guitarists who popularised of heavy string gauge use and the huge majority will answer him. I'm not actually a fan of his musical style btw.

I play a lot of very clean stuff (not a fan of high gain as a base tone, I like layered overdrive and fuzz but clean is the starting point) and have no problem with getting clean, clear tone with good sustain out of 9s even tuned down to D. It's about technique and practice. I actually started on classical guitar for my first 9 years of guitar so clean, accurate and light fretting was the basis of my technique. I also mostly play fingerstyle on electric nowadays as I find it offers more creative dynamism, I'd wager if you spent the time you could get the same tone with light strings too but obviously you are happy with what you're doing so it's not something you're going to try.

And sure, Dick Dale etc literally had only the choice of what was available which was heavier gauges with wound Gs - but limiting yourself to that now seems a strange approach, I bet you they wouldn't have as they pushed the available tech to its limits at the time.

Cheers

Much agreed. My personal journey started out with very heavy strings, real bridge cables, but I have moved towards lighter strings, and don’t hear any penalty in timbre. Like yourself, I had classical training and have long been aware of my technique. For s9me years, I played a Gibson Johnny Smith, with very heavy strings, but then I spent a number of years playing classical guitars, only. When I went back to electrics, I bought a Tele with 10s, and found it to my liking. Currently, I play mostly Gretsch guitars with Thomastik flat-wounds on the bottom 3 and .017, .013, and .010 up top. This works for general use, is bendable for Rock/Blues playing and stands up well for Chat Atkins fingerstyle.

On my solid-body guitars, I tend to go light. I had experimented with tuning one of my Teles in 5ths, so I had installed some very light strings up top. When I reverted to standard tuning, I found that the guitar sounded as good as ever, and I kept the top strings extra light, as in .015, .010, and .008. To my amazement, these sound fine, play in tune and are durable. I recently jumped back into Jaguar ownership, with a Squier CV Jaguar. It came with 9-42 strings, and to my surprise, sounds pretty good. It is my intention to restring it with Thomatik Jazz Swings on the bottom (.044, .033, and .023) and .016, .011, and .009 up top.

For the sake of full disclosure, I will state the I had to pay extra attention to not bending strings sharp when I first went to light strings, but these days, I’m accustomed to light strings, and it’s no longer a problem. It is also my understanding that B.B. King used 8s on his guitars.

[PapaB]

Can't play lite strings. 11s for me, on electrics always D'Addario Chromes, with 12s on all my acoustics. I practice on acoustics so it works out, as both gauges feel somewhat similar.
12 string acoustic guitars are custom, 11 D'Addario semiflats on the 6, the doubles are thin, 10s. (3rd is an .08 I think.)
High tension on my classical guitars.
I keep 11 roundwounds on very few instruments. One is a '62 Esquire with a lovely, vintage sound.

[wooderson]

Put 11-49s on my Jazzmaster, they seem perfect. Just got another guitar (Harmony Comet) and I'm not sure if the factory set are 9s or 10s but they feel weird and light, kind of hard to play as it is.