https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Wed, 03 Jun 2026 23:19:38 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375773 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 10:04:14 +0000
You are the first person that I've heard of that uses a split pick-up that can sense lower and upper strings separately. Pretty cool! My guitar only splits the coil for in phase or out of phase within each pick-up.

Of course my ear is made of tin....... Excuse the parphrasing:

The tensions are on the back of the package! Okay, I'm an idiot!!! :oops:

Split p'up is part of the ARP Avatar synth I bought along with the Ibanez in '77. I will NEVER go back to mono...NEVER!!! I also have some six-way p'ups, too...made for me by a guy in Brooklyn (NY)...Paul Rubenstein: http://www.ubertar.com (from memory, but I think that's the addy!)

As for the tin ear...platinum's way better!!! Seriously, I went from 8% hearing in my left to 92% with something called a "stapedectomy". No fun...it hurts as if a cork screw were twisted in yer head and yanked out again...long (and WEIRD) recovery with odd freqs for a couple of months. But, I gotta say, I was never diagnosed properly until I came across a good GP that recognized my problem.

More than ever, I love the sounds from my light fingered playing. I am no virtuoso...but I write and play with more than I deserve...and the intervals and overtones that linger prod even the most reticent players to chase after these tones with a great deal of pleasure. (Hey, you long time DENIZENS are welcome to PM me with an email addy to get a sample of what I mean.)

Still...it's all a matter of your own preference...but with near 1500 reads on this thread...an awful lot of folks are finding ultras an interesting way past where they are right now by just going light and messin' with newer sounds and a more refined technique.

What the hell. You'll never ever get to the end of figuring out this marvelous instrument, no matter what gauge you use! :wink:

Cat]]> Guitar Players Discussion Cat https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375773 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375772 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:42:41 +0000
How do you do that? Well, if you use D'Addarrios it's easy. They have a pdf file on their site, which lists all their string gauges and their tension at specific tunings.

Just find the tension that fits and build a set from that.]]> Guitar Players Discussion greybeard https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375772 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375771 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 07:52:26 +0000 Guitar Players Discussion TRGuitar https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375771 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375770 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 06:20:48 +0000 the article's writer had to say. I enjoyed learning what string gauges Gibbons et al. use, but to base the article on a bogus argument about how you have to play .012s to be a great player is... bogus. I'll stand by that -- but it doesn't apply to you.]]> Guitar Players Discussion Crow https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375770 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375769 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 06:15:27 +0000
Peace]]> Guitar Players Discussion David Hodge https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375769 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375767 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 05:56:39 +0000 ...the mantra, myth, truth, cliché—whatever you want to call it—in strings: heavier is better. Surely, heavy strings produce better tone. And, surely, only a great player will be able to handle the thicks. So, it follows that if I play heavy strings I am great. And nobody with any brains over the age of 13 would draw that conclusion. Certainly nobody here is saying you can't play great without heavy strings. If anything, those of us who play fatties are an eccentric minority, and we know it.

Interesting rundown of who plays what. Otherwise a load of rubbish. ?????? I didn't even give an opinion on this I only posted a link to an article I found and got what appears to be a hostile response that seems to imply I have less brains than a 13 year old?????? Sorry ..... just thought I would see what other sources had to say about the subject. :roll:]]> Guitar Players Discussion TRGuitar https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375767 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375765 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 04:05:22 +0000
It lists the guage in English and metric and lists the tension in Lbs and Kg. On a 25.5 scale length.

You are the first person that I've heard of that uses a split pick-up that can sense lower and upper strings separately. Pretty cool! My guitar only splits the coil for in phase or out of phase within each pick-up.

Years ago, I researched the actual tension on a guitar neck because a friend said that there was like one ton of pressure on the neck of one of my guitars and I was curious about it. Found out that there is about 200 Lbs string tension alone. My experience is only through fairly large amps and not ideal acoustic environs when it comes to tone. It just feels and sounds better with heavier strings to me. I also agree that light strings and a light touch does a lot for nuances of certain songs as well as speed of playing. I like the effect of a quiet passage, played softly, and then dropping the hammer down and digging in to add dynamics to a song. Very effective! Think "Led Zeppelin".

How each of us uses their tools is what makes us different and isn't that the way we develop our own styles? I wish I had the experience and equipment you have, just like one of my students envys my old Traynor amp for its volume. Me I happen to like the clean response of it and the way it breaks up when pounded on.

Of course my ear is made of tin.......]]> Guitar Players Discussion racetruck1 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375765 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375763 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:51:43 +0000
First off...Race...HOW the ^&%$%^ do you know the weighted tension on your strings? :shock: :? :? :? I am in total awe...as are the rest of the world!

But, okay, personal taste aside, there is a big correlation between mass and tone. Yer spot on about that, matey. For those of us that "live" playing directly through the board and out through great phones (as well as the monitors) there isn't a more discerning way to hear your own playing. (Like "duh"!) What is missed over monitors is very prominent in the phones...which means you'll start hearing where the mass does make a difference...(C-24 board, Beyer 770 phones, Dynaudio monitors, ProTools...including my left ear stirrup-bone having been replaced with a platimum/teflon one.)

So...yes...I do "mix and match" my gauges. (There's a 12 string set I usually butcher.) I also use a split pickup (EAD panned to the hard left and GBE all the way to the right) and the bottoms do need more mass as I can see it...so I will go heavier depending on if I want a chunky sound or not. The high three...where all the finger finesse comes from (for me) is easier to take care of because it's on it's own EQ'd (and effected) output. I most often compress the low three and slightly reverb the high three (using the ProTools 'brick wall' reverb setting).

As for changing them often...

If I am just noodling...no, it doesn't matter. But if I am recording something...and need to get back to it...it's nigh on imposkibubble to get the EQ right exactly as it was unless I simply put a new set on. As for breaking the high E...okay, they go but not as often as you'd think. On ultra lights you just GOTTA play lightly...OR WHAT'S THE POINT??? The axe I use is an old Ibanez Artist...1977. The icon on their pickups have a guy's hand with butterfly wings on it. (Ya gotta love the Japanese metaphors!) Seriously, everybody, it's the VERY "up close & personal" sound I get from playing lightly that I like. Certainly, it's frustrating to get used to them...because everything is in yer face...including lots of finger scraping/string tapping/string releasing/squeaks/pops & inadvertant chimes. You can (and WILL) come to incorporate these sounds in your style once all this slop is able to be played "in tune" where and when you want it. But, for me, this is the TOUCH I'm glad to cultivate...just like the way my wife likes it! :wink:

Cat]]> Guitar Players Discussion Cat https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375763 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375759 Sun, 03 Jun 2012 23:04:01 +0000
Is there such a thing as a standard "span" between all the strings in a pack in relation to the guages? I noticed some players like to make up their own sets while others just go with the flow and use a pack the way they come. Cantankerousd waits for his .009 to break and replaces it with a .010 for longer life of the whole set. I know mass has a lot to do with the way a string acts and also with the tension of the tuned string. Is there a formula or tradition in determining how a set is set up? Or is it just set up by the average tension? Or "feel"? I know you need the greater mass of the lower strings for better bass response, (slowing the vibration of the plucked string in lower notes due to their mass?) Is it really critical to get this ratio right or can you go overboard on this and just pick out any guages as long as they are greater than the higher ones in the upper register?

I noticed that the range of one of my favorite set in relation to TENSION is about 28 lbs for the high E to a maximum of 35 lbs for the A string with the low E slightly less due to a smaller diameter core. Does this mean that string mass is the only real important determinant in setting up a set? I'm obviously assuming a well built and set up instrument.

Start cursing me and discuss! :twisted:]]> Guitar Players Discussion racetruck1 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375759 https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375758 Sun, 03 Jun 2012 22:10:01 +0000 It's like hunting, I guess. Squirrel needs a .22 and rhino a 45/70. It depends upon what you want out of the end product. Right. There is no single load for every target. Anything more than a .22 will give you instant squirrel hash; anything less than 45/70 gives you a very angry rhino. I've heard what Cat can do with .008s -- they suit his style perfectly, and he makes them dance. I couldn't do that, but then I wouldn't care to, because that is not my style (if in fact I have a style). String-bending is just not part of my vocabulary, beyond the occasional half-step nudge around the middle of the fretboard, and I'm fine with that. This is strictly about personal taste.]]> Guitar Players Discussion Crow https://guitarnoise.forum/guitar-players-discussion/using-008s/paged/6/#post-375758