Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Howdy,

This summer I bought a brand spankin' new 360 to supplement my well-worn 330. I wish I could remember what string brand and gauge set I last put on the 330, because they suit my fingers very well. I've never had a problem playing this guitar/string combo.

I have had a lot of difficulty playing the new 360 with the factory strings, though. Trying to fret more than one string with a single finger is very hard for me to do cleanly; barre chords are out of the question - massive buzzing. I have very soft, pliant skin, even with callouses.

My current theory is that the factory strings are of a higher tension than the replacements on my 330. The action on the 330 is a little lower than the 360, which also affects the issue, but I really do feel a difference in the strings. If I were to change to a lighter gauge string set, might this solve my problem? Am I way off base here? What else might be the cause of my playability problem?

If you have a problem with those strings try a set of any brand that runs .009 to .042 .

These are a standard set and nearly every brand packages these .

They hava avariety of names , but the gauges or size of the strings are identical.

Example 1- Ernie Ball puts this in a Dayglo PINK package ,

example 2 = D'Addario uses a Purple ring on their blue pcks to designate this set .

EVERYONE , will habe these .

As to a guitar string with less tension , you won't find one brand to brand .
ALL the strings that are plain (unwrapped )use the same Swedish Steel wire as those strings and the core wire is the same material .
THe WRAPPED strings are where the THE differance is .

Tim-- Just for the heck of it, you might want to try a set of flatwound strings to see if they are more comfortable for your fingers. Whether you'll like the tone, I can't say. But a good quality set might be an acceptable compromise in deference to playing comfort.

I think some namebrands like D'Addario offer "groundwounds" or "halfrounds" that you might be interested in.

I'd second trying some flats. They seem to be a little easier on the fingers and cause less buzzing.

I don't get much fret noise on my 360 with 10 and 11 guage strings, but of course, I'm also not a barre chord or one finger for two strings type of player.

All the best.