Rickenbacker 12 string gauges thoughts

trancedental · Post by **trancedental** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:15 am

I was think of putting together a Thomastik flatwound set with a gauge similar to the standard Rickenbacker set?

I've tried the Pyramids & was not impressed stiff, wear out quickly & breakages, but have Thomastiks on my Rick 330 6 string which was set up for 46 gauge.

Thomastik infeld flatwound JS110 set
10.10, 14.14, 18.10, 23.14, 33.18, 44.23

Take the 44/23 out of the second pack & add an extra 12 & 16 for the D & G octave strings.

Rickenbacker set 10.10, 13.13, 20.10, 26.13, 34.20, 42.26.

All together this set is about the same thickness as the Rick set 235 to 237 so the tension should be very similar unlike the Pyramids which are 10% more.

Pity they don't do a 12 string set as JH (who likes Thomastiks)has asked them to?

loverickbass · Post by **loverickbass** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:17 am

John, I use those exact same T.I. gauges on my 12s. They are great! For the first few weeks they sound really close to rounds IMO. Mucho sustain! After they break in a bit they have the classic flat sound.

Cole

trancedental · Post by **trancedental** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:51 am

Thanks for the thumbs up JC, I'm going to try a set but they are out of stock at the moment!

Also found a few sets with very similar gauges below, some Nicklewounds .......! Sorry!

D'Addario Nickel Wound Electric 12 String

EXL150 Extra Light gauge: 10/10 13/13 17/8 26/12 36/18 46/26 =235

Ernie Ball 2233 Nickel Wound 09-46 12-String
09, 09, 12, 12, 20w, 09, 26, 12, 36, 20p, 46, 26=237

GHS Boomers GB-12L Roundwound 12 string electric

Light - 10, 10, 13, 13, 17, 09, 26w, 11, 36w, 17, 46w, 26w = 234

loverickbass · Post by **loverickbass** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 3:04 pm

I know you'll love 'um. I've had my set on for about a year and a half and still sound fabulous. You could prob get away with changing out the plain strings every few months and keeping the flats on. T.I. makes a wonderful string. I really like the fact that the plain strings are brass coated. They look really sharp.

Cole

karl_teten · Post by **karl_teten** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 8:17 pm

Here is the TI set I make up which is as close to the 60's factory Maxima gauges as you can get...

10p - 10p
13p - 13p
20W - 10p
25W - 13p
33W - 20W
39W - 25W

I gave these gauges to George Callins (The Textones) who says they make his 360V12 rock!

trancedental · Post by **trancedental** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 3:43 am

Was going to put togther a set from singles at http://www.juststrings.com but $35 shipping to Europe...............Ouch!

loverickbass · Post by **loverickbass** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 7:27 am

You mite want to contact T.I. direct and see if you have any local dealers over there.

Cole

trancedental · Post by **trancedental** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:59 am

Just found www.saitenkatalog.de they do singles including Thomastik & Pyramid flatwounds to let you make a custom set. Very large selection of guitar & bass strings on there.

milo · Post by **milo** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 1:21 pm

Just out of curiosity, has anybody tried the PRS twelve-string set on their Ricks? A friend just gave me two sets and I had never seen them before. They say that they have very light tension and the gauges are a little different than I've seen before at:
.010/.010
.013/.013
.017/.009
.026W/.012
.036W/.017
.046W/.022W

I'm wondering how much less tension they might have than the D'Addarios that I usually use.

loverickbass · Post by **loverickbass** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:17 pm

Jeff, are the PRS brand round core? Reason I ask is, that's what I always look for when I shop for strings. Round core strings seem to have less tension than hex core type.

Cole

milo · Post by **milo** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:23 pm

These came from Elderly and according to the link they're hex core. The package only says that they're "specialized custom gauges used on PRS 12-string guitars" and that they are "as light as possible so the instrument plays like a six-string without sacrificing tone and overly stressing the neck"

I just put a set on my 660/12 and they feel pretty nice so far. I'll have to pull out the old 450/12 tomorrow, which has D'Addarios and see if I can feel a difference.
http://elderly.com/accessories/items/PRS3140.htm

ted_williams · Post by **ted_williams** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 11:35 am

Don't bother with the Ernie Ball set - they sound terrible.

loverickbass · Post by **loverickbass** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:36 pm

I wish DR strings made an electric 12 set. They have unbelievably(sp?)low tension!

Cole

trancedental · Post by **trancedental** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:57 pm

"I wish DR strings made an electric 12 set. They have unbelievably(sp?)low tension!"

http://www.saitenkatalog.de You can put together a set on their site.

BTW Has anyone tried the La Bella 12 string sets?

http://saitenkatalog.de/catalog/default ... sort_order

markos · Post by **markos** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 3:15 pm

I highly recommend making up sets from the TI JS110's. I use Ernie Ball 10's and 13's to make up the difference. The TI's sound and feel fantastic, and they intonate correctly on my 360v64, unlike the Ric strings. I can't imagine using anything else now (Pyramids are too heavy for me).