Factory string gauge

stubby · Post by **stubby** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:26 pm

There's been a lot of talk here about who uses which strings but I'm not sure anyone has mentioned what string gauge new guitars are equipped with when they leave the factory. I presume they're the 0.10 - 0.42?

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 12:37 pm

Believe you presume correctly, Bill.

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:36 pm

Except don't the short scales come with either 0.12 or 0.13 gauge?

stubby · Post by **stubby** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 7:21 pm

I had a bit of an exchange with a guitar salesman at a an unmentioned shop today who insisted that the gauge was 0.10 - 0.46. I was also asking about stereo cords that ran to two mono outputs too, looking to find something that would emulate the Ric-O-Sound unit. He assured me that no Rickenbackers were capable of any kind of stereo output. Funnily enough, my 12 year old daughter Sara piped in and said, "but his guitar has two jacks and one is used to make the sound go to two amps." He looked at both of us as if we were 12 years old (he must've been only a few years older). Incredible.

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 1:20 am

Ah.. the knowledge of youth. If they haven't seen it or heard of it.... it must be wrong!

Nice story, Bill.... having a giggle here - only because I hear it so often when you mention 'Rickenbacker' to somebody who's either never heard of them or has the typical 'mainstream' fixation.

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 12:28 pm

The .10 - .42 string guage is unique, but does accentuate the jangle. The compressed quality I think has something to do with the tone and feel too. I think it makes a big difference!

As far as salesmen go, I've only ever been to one guitar shop (rocker guitars in SF) that has guys that know something about rics.

myfretless · Post by **myfretless** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:06 pm

RIC states in it's Manual that the gauge is 10 to 42 for "all 6-strings". Does this mean both electrics AND acoustics?

Am I supposed to use the same RIC factory strings on my 360-12 as on my 730L-12?

What strings do you acoustic owners use on your guitars? I haven't found an acoustic string maker with the appropriate gauge except for RIC.

loverickbass · Post by **loverickbass** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 2:31 am

Stock gauges for RIC acoustics as follows:

- Acoustic Six String Guitars Bronze
10-14-24W-32-42-54

- AcousticTwelve String Guitars Bronze
10-14-22W-30-38-46
10-14-9-12-17-25W

Cole

telebob · Post by **telebob** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:15 am

That's odd. My 360's info said it came with .008's on it. They were actually .009 - .042 (at least that's what they felt like) And when I replaced them with .009s the guitar felt the same.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:32 am

That bit of .008 misinformation was a manual misprint, now corrected. Your guitar came with .010-.042s on it.

My own Rick 730/12L came stringless, but now sports a custom set of Elixir Nanowebs. Robert at StringsandBeyond.com, in North Carolina, made them up for me and offers them to other Rick acoustic owners, too.

He packs each order along with some complimentary picks and a package of gourmet coffee!!

Yum...