Do Most Guitarists Play 9s?

[blacktiger]

Went to GC the other day to futz around with different guitars to see how they played, but they were all set up with 9s, so it was a completely pointless endeavor. Do people really like their strings that light? Am I weird for playing 11s? I read somewhere that Hendrix played 10s, so I tried a set and nope, can’t do it. Too flimsy. I feel like most offset players play heavier strings, or they used to, at least. I can’t speak for The Kids. Anyone else have the same experience when trying guitars out in shops?

[rbrcbr]

Feels like a wet noodle to me, I'll pass. I'll keep my 11's and 12's, I can't really fingerpick on anything lighter than that. I also recently learned that I need medium low/medium action for it to feel right, so consider me probably not the most representative of how guitarists set up their guitar. Too low doesn't work for me, it gets way too buzzy.

That said, everyone is different. I'll never understand how someone like Billy Gibbons plays 7's or 8's though.

[Fiddy]

10's, anything higher and i get forearm / wrist / finger pains.

Anything higher isn't really enjoyable to me to play due to said pains.

[blacktiger]

10's, anything higher and i get forearm / wrist / finger pains.

Anything higher isn't really enjoyable to me to play due to said pains.

I can understand that. When I play lighter strings, it actually feels like the bottom two or three cut into my fingers. Sometimes my fingers hurt with heavier strings too, if I play a lot, but I think that’s because my set up is pretty crappy. I really need to take it in and have it done right.

[countertext]

I think the answer is yes, MOST electric guitarists probably lean to the lighter gauges. There’s just a lot of damn guitar players out there that aren’t really worried about it other than “light strings don’t hurt my fingers as much” and that’s good enough for them. Guitar Center makes a lot of money off of first-time buyers and those not-concerned players, so it seems reasonable that they (and more likely the manufacturers) would prefer buyers think all the guitars play as easy as possible.

Most folks at OSG, since we subscribe to the various mythologies of tone, go heavier. I like 10s on my Fender-scale guitars, and 11s on my Gibsons. I don’t have a Jazzmaster or Jaguar, but if I did, I would adhere to OSG proscription and put 12s or flats on it. I’m not looking to get kicked off the best forum on the web.

[Fiddy]

I don't subscribe to no tone bs.

[JSett]

I don't subscribe to no tone bs.

I wouldn't say no tone, but definitely a different tone. Lighter strings definitely have less of the lower harmonics and fundamental than heavier ones, that's just physics. 'Tone' isn't something quantitative that you can have more or less of, just a different kind of.

[Jonesie]

For the longest time I played 11s but last year I decided I'd give 10s a try again (with a heavier bottom) and I found that they feel great and there's no tonal change. I still play 11s on my Jag though.

[BoringPostcards]

I like 10-54 sets on my Jazzmaster and the SG, and 11s on the Mustangs.
I don’t have a Jag anymore, but am saving for one now. Will probably go with 11s for it.
9s feel nice for lead, but I don’t like it for anything else. I’d use 9s on a shredder, if I had one.

[molul]

I've used 10s since 2013. Before that, and during a couple of weeks recently, I used 9s and broke the 1st string annoyingly frequently. I've only broken a string a couple of times when it's been 10s.

I wouldn't move to higher gauges. I like bending a lot.

[GreenKnee]

I don't subscribe to no tone bs.

I wouldn't say no tone, but definitely a different tone. Lighter strings definitely have less of the lower harmonics and fundamental than heavier ones, that's just physics. 'Tone' isn't something quantitative that you can have more or less of, just a different kind of.

Perhaps this is more the flatwounds that (I think) you prefer? I think there are more things at play than string gauge for the amount of lower harmonics and the fundamental.
For years I assumed Iommi used big, fat strings to get that huge Sabbath tone, but he used skinny banjo strings!

[daemon]

13s on my JM, 11s on my Strat and Les Paul and 14s on my Baritone JM. I don't do a ton of bending so heavier seems to work better and I feel like there's more tuning stability but that could just be my imagination.

[GreenKnee]

In answer to the original post, yes I think most players do use 9s. Also, as stated earlier, companies put them on new guitars to give the illusion of them playing really easily which is the sign of a good guitar, right? Fender used to do something similar with the linear volume controls on their amps, where a DeVille set to 2 was blaringly loud and therefore the thought of the buyer is that "if it is that loud at 2 imagine how loud 10 would be!"

[JSett]

Perhaps this is more the flatwounds that (I think) you prefer? I think there are more things at play than string gauge for the amount of lower harmonics and the fundamental.
For years I assumed Iommi used big, fat strings to get that huge Sabbath tone, but he used skinny banjo strings!

I actually use standard issue D'addario roundwound 12-54. Lighter guage strings definitely sound thinner/more jangly to my ears. No necessarily a bad thing, just down to personal taste

[gishuk]

I think 9s are the most popular yeah.

Thats what I started on too but these days they feel way too floppy for me, I now use 10s on 25.5" scale and 11s on 24" most of the time.