A string is a string, or maybe not?

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 2:43 am

I'm a newbie to this forum but not to guitars -- I've been playing for 40 years, but I'm finally stepping up to a guitar I've wanted since the hey days of Lennon and Townsend and the Byrds.

So, with a new 360/6 on its way, I'm a little confused by all this string business. It does seem to be a lot less confusing when it comes to buying strings for, well, those other guys' guitars.

I guess Rickenbackrs come with their own string thing in a 10-42 flavor. The 42 sounds a bit tiny for a good E string to me. I've been trying to make heads or tails about all this round, flat compressed, half-wound biz. So here's my question.

For more years than I can remember, I have used Ernie Balls' Hybrid Slinky (9-46) set on my electrics. I've tried 10s and 11s and always come back to these. I have short fingers and find the heaviest gauges tear my fingers up. The 46 is a comfortable and meaty enough heavy E for me and my style of lead playing, and a 9 is most comfortable (although I do like the extra oomph of the 10) for the high E.

So ... what can I expect from the Hybrids on a new 360, tone and playabilitywise? Would a flat wound set by XYZ company really work better than my ancient favorites?

Hey, I'm a soon-to-be father of a new Ric 360, so I looking for the voice(s) of experience to guide me on my quest for the perfect sounding string for my new "baby."

BTW -- this is a great forum with a lot of helpful (not smart A) advice. I'm happy to be a member.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 12:38 pm

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum, I hope you gain as much out of it as I do.
Strings are mentioned quite a lot here & the one thing that I've noticed is that everyone has their own ideas...whatever works for you. Having said that, my two penneth....In my opinion, 9s are not man enough for any single coil p/ups, no matter what the output & I don't think that you would get that 'Ric' sound out of them. I use 10-46 on my hi-gain equipped Rics (Fender bullets original), but strangely enough, I have settled on Ric 10-42s on my toaster Rics, as again, in my opinion, they add to the 'vintage' sound. I'm a very heavy player, but have learned to hit them just hard enough so that they don't oscilate out of tune (it's amazing how you can adapt). Some players (P.Buck for instance) use very heavy gauge strings. I don't think that there is much doubt that heavier strings do sound better in the long run & I have proved in the studio that the gauge of plectrum you use has a sound impact as great as the gauge of strings that you use.
P.S. 360s are the business...my favourites..what colour are you getting?

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:32 pm

Thanks for your response and your welcoming. It seems funny to have been playing guitar for 35 years and still catch that warm-fuzzy, beginner's kind of excitement again. After years of Fenders and Gibsons, I do feel like I'm about to enter a strange, wonderful new world ... like discovering the instrument for the first time again. A Ric is a different critter than the rest, so excitement of this sort (and at my age) is a welcome thing!

Anyway, I've been leaning toward a 10-46 string set after reading through the many comments scattered around this forum ... and for the reasons you mentioned. Funny you should mention the gauge of pick as well -- for my acoustic playing (Ovations) I find a lighter nylon gauge does best to produce a more acoustic tone through a sound system. I will go to a medium gauge pick if I need to do an acoustic blues riff on the bass strings, though. My experience with the typical (non Ric) electrics has been to use the heaviest gauge I can find. Maybe I'm strange, but I learned that once you develop a feel for the heavier pick, you also develop better control of your attack on it. I can make it sound mellow or loud. With that said, I'll have to see what works best with the Ric ...

... which is due for delivery tomorrow (Thursday). It is a Mapleglo finish and I can't wait to open the case and see what that new Ric smell is all about!!! Better yet, I can't wait to give it a work out.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 3:06 pm

Aaahhhh....that Ric smell! You'll love it. I don't have a m/glo at the moment, which is odd because apart from burgundy (the Lords gift), m/glo is my favourite colour.
A brand new m/glo 360....you lucky s*d! Your first chord should be an open G with added D....that's the one that does it for me!

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 3:07 pm

Paul, be careful of temperature changes if you are in a cold climate, you need to give the guitar proper time to adjust to the temperature of the house. Some recommend a 48 hour waiting period before pulling it out of the case, or the sudden change might cause finish checking. Just a reminder, I know those hours are tough!! !

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:49 pm

Absolutely -- we actually are in a warm (for us in southern New Hampshire, about an hour north of Boston) spell (upper 40s to low 50s) and it's not supposed to nosedive until Christmas Day, but you're right about adjustment time.

Ah ... and open G w/D added ... 'tis my favorite, too.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:09 pm

Paul, I figured you knew about the adjustment time, but you sounded so excited that I thought you might need a reminder

Congrats on the new Ric, all of mine have been used, never opened the case and had a brand new one in it. Enjoy!

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 2:31 am

I'm AM as excited as a little boy on Christmas morning. I never knew Santa Clause wore UPS brown!!! No, I didn't take offense, at all. I will keep y'all posted on the (soon to be, sometime today) new arrival.
BTW, I am really impressed with the tone of this forum and the folks behind it. The idea of respect seems to have been forgotten on so many other forums in Web-land.
I haven't even begun to digest the wealth of information in it, but hopefully I'll be able to contribute something as well. I may be new to Rics, but after some 35 years of pickin' and always grinnin', there might be some ancient nugget of wisdom I can pass on.
To all involved, great job! More forums should be run like this is.
And thanks again Steve and Tony.

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 4:37 am

Paul, it's good to have you here, and look forward to any contributions you have to make in the New Year. And ENJOY that new guitar!!!!!!

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:33 am

Make sure you post a pic of your new pride & joy Paul. We'd love to see it. See if you can post a pic of the smell too!

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:57 am

Where are you from Paul?

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:06 am

I was born, raised and live in Nashua, New Hampshire, deep in the heart of Red Sox Nation, and about 40 north of Boston, but ... I've lived in quite a few places (my favorite will always be San Antonio, Texas). I even spent four years in (what was then) West Berlin, Germany and two years in Iceland, compliments of the Air Force. Guess which one I liked best?

Oh, and yes, I will see about the photos -- I haven't quite gotten a handle on the odorama part of it, yet, though.

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 6:14 pm

My new "baby" was delivered by Dr. UPS at 3:34 p.m. Thursday, December 23, 2004, and her daddy is really happy! Trying to upload a photo, but can't seem to get it to fit within the size and dimensions allowed. Any ideas?

ken_j · Post by **ken_j** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 4:18 am

If you are using MS Photo Editor click on 'image' then, 'resize', then go to the drop down that says 'inches' and change that to 'pixels', take the highest number and change that to 500, the other will fall into it's right ratio. Save it. Then check the properties to see if it is small enough in kb. If not then click on 'file', then 'save as', then click the 'more' button in the lower left hand corner from there you can adjust the JPEG quality factor to reduce the file size to the allowed limit. Hope that helps. Merry Christmas!

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 3:13 pm

Thanks, Ken, and everyone. I finally got the photo thing figured out and you can find a photo of my new baby on the Strings thread.