S-100! Strings and the low E

So what gauges are you guys liking on this baby?
(especially those w/ the early 70s ones)

I'm thinking of trying 11s or something to get a tad more tension.

Ever have the low e pop-out when you freak-out?

tomek said:

So what gauges are you guys liking on this baby?
(especially those w/ the early 70s ones)

I'm thinking of trying 11s or something to get a tad more tension.

Ever have the low e pop-out when you freak-out?

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Yes. And I popped the B out of the saddle the other day too.

I use D'Addario .10's. I tried .11's once on the '74 (tuned to D) but it was beyond my setup abilities, or what I was willing to mess with anyway. They were a bit thick for the saddles and I think I would have to widen the nut slots. Buzz city!

hmm. seems we gotta chill out a little bit -hehe

I was thinking I already like the string tension of 10s.
11 might be a tad harsh, and as you'd mentioned, perhaps too fat for the roller.

deep thoughts :lol:

tomek said:

hmm. seems we gotta chill out a little bit -hehe

I was thinking I already like the string tension of 10s.
11 might be a tad harsh, and as you'd mentioned, perhaps too fat for the roller.

deep thoughts :lol:

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Yeah, but the guy who works on my guitars set up the S-90 I sold to Tyler in Band of Horses with .12's, so maybe you just need someone with mad skillz. :lol:

danm man. I might just have to go down that route, we shall see.

Just thinking of some setups.

Perhaps a tad more relief...

I imagine your "rollers" are in good shape but still a popin' eh?
(was wondering if newer rollers would help)

D'addario's - 11's- Tuned down to C

So far so good. Didn't want to go to heavy on the old girl.

Ernie Ball .10-.46s. Been my strings of choice for some time now, and I love 'em.

When I got my '72 S-90, immediately strung it with Daddario XL 115, .11s, as I do with all the electrics. It just didn't feel right. Here are the gauges:

E 0.011
B 0.014
G 0.018
D 0.028
A 0.038
E 0.049

The guitar tech rooted around in the back, found an 0.0105 for the high E, an 0.013 for the B and 0.017 for the G. Put them on and they feel just right. Big improvement. I'm making my own sets for this guitar now, ordering from just strings. It's the only electric I own that doesn't feel perfect (to me) with .11s out of the box.

son_of_gloin said:

D'addario's - 11's- Tuned down to C

So far so good. Didn't want to go to heavy on the old girl.

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Good call about not going too heavy. I mainly tune to E, so ya 11s might be too much.

Thunderface said:

Ernie Ball .10-.46s. Been my strings of choice for some time now, and I love 'em.

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Been going through different 10s since I got this baby.

D'addario - I like the feel on the finger tips and the clarity (perhaps would like a tad more tension on the low E)
JOHN PEARSE - love the smooth and even frequency response but perhaps a tad on the dark side of tone
Ernie Ball - this is what I have on now and they might be a little too bendy. I don't think I'd popped the E out in the past, but that could have been my playing.

I would mind trying some Blue Steel on the this baby. Haven't tried those in like 15 years, but the shop across the street doesn't carry them.
(yes NJAMS move just half a block away! YAY!)

What I'm really looking for in the end I guess, is a tad more brightness on the top end, and a tad more tension on the bottom.

mad dog said:

When I got my '72 S-90, immediately strung it with Daddario XL 115, .11s, as I do with all the electrics. It just didn't feel right. Here are the gauges:

E 0.011
B 0.014
G 0.018
D 0.028
A 0.038
E 0.049

The guitar tech rooted around in the back, found an 0.0105 for the high E, an 0.013 for the B and 0.017 for the G. Put them on and they feel just right. Big improvement. I'm making my own sets for this guitar now, ordering from just strings. It's the only electric I own that doesn't feel perfect (to me) with .11s out of the box.

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Damn, I was hoping I didn't have to go that route. Thanks for the #s!
I was doing custom sets w/ my old guitar, but it kinda limits your string make choices so I'm trying to avoid that this time.
(yes I'm lazy, and trying to take shortcuts)

Why does everything I'm into have to be done the hard way? Much too fickle me thinks.. hehe
Thanks guys, just thought I'd get your opinions before bugging the hell out of the techs at the shop

It's interesting to see how others have their s-100 setup. I understand to each their own,
but also feel some guitars like certain strings best. (correct me if I'm wrong on that one)

Cheers, Tomek

Re: S-100! Strings and the low E

son_of_gloin said:

D'addario's - 11's- Tuned down to C

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tomek said:

I mainly tune to E, so ya 11s might be too much.

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Thunderface said:

Ernie Ball .10-.46s. Been my strings of choice for some time now, and I love 'em.

Click to expand...

Yes, drop tuning is the reason I tried .11's on the '74 - I keep it tuned to D (occasionally D/drop-C) and thought the thicker string gauge would help since the tension is so loose. But like I said, that will require someone with more setup skills than I possess.

The '73 and '96 are tuned to E and are good with .10's.

The '78 S300-A is tuned to D, but I'm going to keep .10's on it because it has much higher string tension with the tailpiece up closer to the bridge. The roller bridges were a little different on those too and might take .11's better, but I think the tension would be too much. It was almost too much with .10's tuned to E.

The M-80...hmm, I'm not sure. I haven't changed the strings since I got it from guildzilla back in February. They've held up nicely. Those might be .11's. Kinda feel like it, but I'd have to measure them.

Anyway, multiple guitars needing strings are conveniently serviced by the 3-pack D'Addarios the shop up the road always has in stock.

I mentioned the '72 S-90 I sold to Band-of-Horses-guy: he had .12's put on and tuned it to C#. Yeah, go figure. My brain doesn't work that way. :lol: Also, his hands are surely bigger than mine as the dude is roughly 7-feet tall. Seriously, he towers over me, but probably weighs about 110 lbs soakin' wet. :lol: Anyway, I take my guitars to the same luthier he takes his to so I'm sure he could work some magic and get mine set up with .11's, but if he keeps any of the others as long as he's had my S300-A I'll never get to play my guitars again! (Actually, there's a very good reason for why he's had it so long, but I won't get into it).

My '71 has the "far away" bridge and I'm using 10-52s w/o any problem. I play fairly heavily at times and nothing's ever popped out. Then again, my neck angle is pretty good and the bridge is up fairly high, as a result. Were it down lower, closer to the top of the guitar, who knows...

Very good points.

I just brought her over to the shop w/ my concerns, and they mentioned some of the same things we have here.

Raising the bridge would increase the tension.

He suggested I shouldn't worry about 11s at her age, as she "is a work horse".

Perhaps my setup got a little whacked out overtime, or was a little too "shred" for my harder hitting playing style.
When they last set it up for 10s, I loved the lower action, but was bottoming out a bit when playing heavier.

I might just have to go up in action / string gauge. (can't have your cake and eat it :shock: )

We are going to try some d'addario 11s.
That should give a little more relief and tension so it might address my concerns.
(hopefully I can handle the feel)

I have a hunch we are creeping closer to the illusion of control :lol:

Will report back w/ the progress.

Tomek

Blue Steel. Either Lites (9-42) or Custom Lites (9-46), whichever is on the shelf, and sometimes LT/HBs (10-52). I prefer the Custom Lites on the '94 S-100s and the LT/HBs on the '00 reish. *shrug* Guess I am the only one that likes 9s. :lol:

mad dog said:

When I got my '72 S-90, immediately strung it with Daddario XL 115, .11s, as I do with all the electrics. It just didn't feel right. Here are the gauges:

E 0.011
B 0.014
G 0.018
D 0.028
A 0.038
E 0.049

The guitar tech rooted around in the back, found an 0.0105 for the high E, an 0.013 for the B and 0.017 for the G. Put them on and they feel just right. Big improvement. I'm making my own sets for this guitar now, ordering from just strings. It's the only electric I own that doesn't feel perfect (to me) with .11s out of the box.

Click to expand...

I have been rolling with Daddario .105's for years..... They work great for standard and drop tunings. They have a .48 on the heavy side. Special order unless you are in Kansas City... Lots of guys there use them.

The only strings I use are EXL 115s. They feel best on my S-90 and the 70 S-100. I do get the occasional pop-out on those two, but they sound awesome.

Dane:

Those XL 115s are on every electric I play. Wonderful strings. It's only the S-90 that seemed to need a little guage adjustment. Even then, I ordered all d'addario strings when piecing together my own sets. Plus several of the 0.105 sets as well.
MD

Well I got 'er back on Sat. AM w/ XL 115s on. WOW, what a huge difference.
Before I was pushing her around, and now she's giving me all the fight I could possibly want.

Now I know why all them guys on the TV there must be making those faces when soloing!
They must be fighting 11s :lol:

It's getting better day by day, and I'm hoping w/ in a month I'll be use to them.

Why bother?

-Much tighter string tension
(don't think she'll be popin' anytime soon, and I can hit way harder w/o buzz)

-Louder than 10s. I can hear way more string and longer sustain, she just rings and sings
(I might end up lowing the pups a tad so I can hear more guitar)

-stays in tune even better than before

-more / tighter bass, and thicker / stronger sound overall

-slowed me down a bit making every note count more now
(likely a very good thing)

-Just feel so powerful playing it. Muahahaha :twisted:

Thanks for the advise guys.

Looks like 10s are the general consensus but if you and her and hack it, try the 11s some day.
Both the '73s over here like 'em With a nice setup, it's just deadly. ohh the tension!

Gonna try and stick w/ 'em for the reasons mentioned.
Might go back to 10s, but I kind of hope not.

Cheers, Tomek

Madness:

I hear the .0105s. I've picked up those when I've seen D'Addario singles and they have a good selection. They were especially nice on my Jazzmaster. Oddly, I've even considered switching up to a .012 for the high E. I don't feel like I get even tension between E and B at .011. Always fun to play around with those things.

Re: S-100! Strings and the low E

Qvart said:

The M-80...hmm, I'm not sure. I haven't changed the strings since I got it from guildzilla back in February. They've held up nicely. Those might be .11's. Kinda feel like it, but I'd have to measure them.

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Yep, I finally decided to change the strings and the low E turned out to be a .49 so it got a fresh set of DiAddario .11's.

And since I was changing the strings I decided to disassemble the bridge and clean it out. These roller bridges collect some funk, fo' sho.



Before shot of the bridge:


After:


This will be another project: cleaning out the pickup switch.


Of course I took the opportunity to snap some other pics too:

Bridge p'up:


Neck p'up:


Cool detail on the underside of the tailpiece:




All back together, with some G-shield knobs I picked up (didn't care much for the original speed knobs):