I tune my guitar at drop c i use gauge 11 strings but i find the low string a bit loose, i was wondering what gauge and brand of strings i could buy that would be as tight as standard tuning (or as close as possible). Any help please.
Also i use an Ibanez Rg with a floyd rose (which i never use). i palm mute alot and was wondering if there was any way i could set it up so there was as little movement as possible on the bridge. Thanks.

Well...a general guideline would be:
E:10s
D:11s
C:12s
B:13s
I personally use 13s for every tuning i play in, mostly E(standard), C# and B.

Whoa 13's for E standard? Bet your fingertips look like shredded beef!!

If they're too loose for you go up a gauge. As for the trem, just block it off. What model is your RG?

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Yea man, they used to constantly have that deadened white skin/callus peeling off, but now it doesnt happen much anymore since my calluses got stronger, unless i play a long time on really old strings that are rough from dirt and grime.

Its a 450 but ive replaced the pickups with seymour duncans, an invader at the bridge and a full shred at the neck so go to about a gauge 12 string. What exactly do you mean by blocking off the trem?

He means disabling the trem. You would put a wood block that would fit in between the trem and the guitar body, in the back cavity. This would not allow you to pull up on the whammy bar.

drop c eh... i play that and i'm finding 10-52's just SLIGHTLY too loose for me... the only good balance i've found is 10 gauge in E standard.
With the hybrid gauge strings though... powerchords across the 3rd and 4th strings sound wierd because of the drastic gauge change... i'm guna be upgrading to 12-54's for my D and drop-C tunings soon... i just have to oil my fretboard and adjust the truss AGAIN.

i must remind you of the downside of thick strings though, you loose some trebel in the upgrade, and gain alot of bass, and as they age, they loose a fuckload more trebel... I'm hoping that switching my 250k pots on my guitar to 500k or even 1megK should compensate for the trebel loss, because my guitar just gets straight up muddy... but if you have a 24 fret guitar that shouldnt be as much of a problem for you.

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Thanks for the replies

RESURRECTION!

anyways... i have guitar with a 1 piece (kinda like a badass ripoff) bridge. Would anybody know if it could stand up to 12 gauge strings when tuned to D standard? the reason i ask is i dont want the string tension to rip my guitar in half...

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For drop C try GHS Lo-Tune 58-11's. They're really awesome. I have one set in C# and it's slightly loose in the high strings but the low strings are tight, and they will work excellent for Drop C. They are said to be intended for Eb and D but they work fine for lower tunings even B(except for the high strings unfortunately), I'm really happy with em.

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Block your trem and use a heavier gauge string for the lower strings.

that sounds dead sexy... exactly what i need... Now i just have to find a place that has them >_<

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i know this is kind of old but i didn't want to make a new thread...anyway if i bought the Ghs Zakk Wylde set:Zakk Wylde GBZW 010 013 017 DY36 DY52 DY60 and the DYM set: DYM 013 017 DY26 DY36 DY44 DY56 could i switch out the smallest of the zakk wylde set with the dym set would that work so i'd have this: 013 017 026 dy36 dy52 and dy60 and the strings would be compatible so to speak?

www.stringsandbeyond.com probably. They're blue on the outside, very "old fashioned" looking, the packaging is just a thin plastic slip.

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This would be my guideline and what most guitar companies go by as well:

If you have a something like a gibson with a smaller scaled fret board 24 3/4 then obviously the strings in standard tuning are gonna be looser with 9-42's on them than if it we're something like a strat style guitar with the longer 25 1/2 length so here goes:

24 3/4 Scale (Gibson)

Standard - 10-46

D tuning - 12-54

C tuning - 13-56

B tuning - 14-56

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25 1/2 Scaled guitars (Strat style, Fender, Jackson ESP, Ibanez)

Standard - 9-42

D tuning - 11-52

C tuning - 12-56

B tuning - 13-56

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I'm currently using d'addario XL "nickel wound jazz light gauge" strings on my 6 string, tuned to Drop B.

I had it set up for Drop C tuning, so tuning it down a semi-tone doesn't hurt. The strings are 12, 16, 24, 32, 42, 52 and pretty much only the low B is "loose". It's not even that bad. I could probably stand to go up to a 56 but whatever. For now it's fine.

Only thing that kinda sucks is the pickups on that guitar (it's a jackson but I don't know what model) suck, and I get feedback REALLY easily. If and when I get it restrung (hah, just realized I had these strings put on like a year ago! and I play that guitar ALOT) I'll probably spring for some halfway decent pickups.

I actually don't like getting new strings, I hate the feeling of brand new ones (though have to play em to break em in) and I hate the twangy sound. I like heavier gauges both because you can tune them down easier (and never liked standard, it's not nearly heavy enough and I like being able to play 9th chords and such in drop tuning) and they aren't as twangy and bright. I like dark, ominous low tones. I don't own an acoustic guitar but I think I'd like a B standard tuned acoustic.

you just need to fuck around to find what works for you. I use 12s on the bottom 3 and than 38 52 60 when I tune to c#. But it all depends on you. I have very heavy picking so in regular 12s i'm flopping all over the place. You'll find that you can actually play a hell of a lot faster the heavier strings you use.

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I tune my Schecter C1 Classic from B to C to C#, and for that I use GHS Zakk Wylde Lo-Tune Boomers 11 - 70. Everything else is just too light and loose for me. On my Ibanez RG570 with a disabled Floyd I use Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottoms (10 - 52) to go from D, Eb and E.

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Why don't you just roll down your tone knob, to kill the trebel/twang to a point where you like it?

I use super slinkies out of personal preferance it's like playing strings coated in margerine MMMMMMMMM

does anyone know what gauge hate eternal uses?

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No, but why should it matter? Use whatever gauge you feel the most comfortable with! Hell, Tony Iommi uses 9-38's for C# on his Gibson SGs (24.75" scale)!

yeah, i was watching hate eternal dvd and he was playing 3 plain, probably 10's or 11's. No wonder there so fucking fast.

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He uses GHS although I have no clue what he uses. I use the blue-packaged GHS Lo-Tune 58-11's in C sharp and it's perfect! I wouldn't be surprised if this was what he uses.

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What kind of strings are those?

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Guitar strings.

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I havent seen them. I looked on their website and and I have a catalog right here.

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are they boomers?

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No that's the thing, they're not boomers! They're blue on the outside, look kinda old fashioned, I'm trying to find a picture of it.

Here it is! : http://store.juststrings.net/ghs-1300.html

Took my a while to find, damn. Lovely strings.

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Right on!!
I think those are more for dropped tuning. Does the 38 to 58 fuck with you?
I was looking at The boomers low tune and they go 11 15 19 and then 33 43 53. Maybe those would have more of a flow. The heavier A and D strings should balance out the tension on my floyd rose

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53 is a little too light for a low E in C# tuning imo, especially if you're gonna be playing fast stuff with lots of tremolo picking, it would feel a bit flimsy.
No the 38 on the A string doesn't feel like a dramatic change in tension at all, the strings feel very nice, I like em for C# as well as Dean Markley 56-13's although sometimes I feel that's a little excessive for that tuning if you're gonna be playing leads specifically.

And fyi I am using a floyd guitar, balance ain't an issue, I just usually raise the lower strings' side of the bridge so the action is higher there and chords feel more resonant and I get no buzz.

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After maybe four years of playing in C#, a few months ago I looked into heavier guage strings, as the flimsy strings were getting a bit awkward for fast runs that would start on the g string, ascend to the high e and then descend back down the low E. Anyway, a dude in the guitar shop recomended something like "Ernie Ball Detuners" or something./.. Basically just a heavier guage one. I'm sure someone can clarify what strings they are etc, but they're definately an improvement, and through habit I'm normally not the best of persons to adapt to changes in the feel of instruments etc

If you've got a floyyd rose bridge thgouh, adjust the tensions springs as well in order to find the right string tension you're after. I even popped in a third spring along with getting thicker strings

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Thats cool, I think 13's are perfect but the top like you said is a little tight. So the 58 probably tightens up the rest of the strings. Don't you think having 33s and 43s instead of 28 38s will make the 53 feel tighter?

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defiler you mean those EB lo tune strings yeah. I don't like earnie balls, their tone loses all brightness within 2 weeks. And yeah spring tension is absolute key. I always have 3 springs regardless of tuning at all times though.

gradually: 13's are perfect for regular C or lower, above that and serious string bending on the treble strings is quite a hassle as you have to use high action to accomodate those thick strings. I am always more concerned with the tightness of the low strings because I do a lot of rhythm guitar with tremolo picking and I really pick hard when playing chords so I tend to bend chords out of tune with lighter strings. However I'm not a huge fan of those "beefy bottom, thin top" 52-10's though, I like the normal 52-11's in D.

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blue steels are good too. they are like.o2 thicker than normal on the top 4
(e-g). Right now i'm using their 12-54s but THe 4th 26wound is hard to bend. I was hoping the 11-53 low tune might be a little better for me.

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Changed out the last 3 and put in 11 15 and 19 ghs to go with my 34 44 54 blue steels. Sounds fucking great. Extremely easy to play.
YOU fuckers are great.
Cheers! ! ! !

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