String guages in standard tuning?

[Guitarist-Jonny]

Hi all,

I've recently been thinking of a new guage- what is the thickest standard guage (e.g. 10 - 46) that is recommended or you would recommend for standard EADGBE tuning?

Thanks
Regards
Jonny

[sofo]

.010 - .046 is perfect on 25.5" scale IMO. If you have really strong hands or don't do a lot of bending you might like a .011 - .048 but over that and things get really tight. I don't know what kind of guitar you play but a Wizard-like neck might not like it if you go too heavy.

[Dee]

I agree with Sofo. I wouldn't go past a set of 11's on a Wizard. I mean, Jeez, those are like steel suspension bridge cables! I can't imagine using such heavy strings, but anyway, the choice is yours. I think the neck will be fine with 11's but you'll be adding extra trem springs and tightening the truss rod quite a bit.

[jim777]

I use 12 gauge flats on my hollow bodies, but I don't really bend those strings as much as glide from one note to another. I'd never go that high on a solidbody though!

[sofo]

I was an SRV devotee for a while and used the GHS Nickel Rockers "SRV" set: .011 - .058 in Eb on one of my Strats for years. Heavy is good but you do feel the wear and tear after a while.

[djpharoah]

I tend to use 10-13-17-26-36-48 which is an increasing tension set that I works for me (oh and for my 7th I use a 64/66)

[Mike239]

Well i used to use 10's and that was fine, then i moved down to 9's (to do better bends ) and the 9's are fine aswell.

But like others have said 11's should be the maximum, for standard tuning.

If you do lots of bends and legato then the lighter gauges are better imo, if you just do chords and very little to no bends then go for the heavier ones.