General Music Chat

I want to change the gauge strings on my PRS from 9's to 10's..like NOW.. I regret when I bought it that I had the tech set it up for 9's because I did some research and all PRS's are made to sound great with heavier gauge strings and I need a fuller tone. I went for 9's on all my axes years ago because I have a little arthritic condition in my hands and made the full night gigs go a helluva lot easier on the ole mitts. My latest Les Paul was set up for 10's and it sounds and plays awesome.... ok.....here's the question:

WILL MY INTONATION GO OUT IF I CHANGE THE GAUGE STRINGS?

I have to record in a few hours and I wanna do it now.... the model PRS I have makes it a little difficult to do the intonation perfectly and 2nd of all, I really don't know much how to perfect it! I do know when I went from 10's to 9's on my Schecter, it didn't make one bit of difference.... Please give me an honest answer and some helpful advice for a quick fix, my friends!

Perhaps slightly, but perhaps not enough to bother. Why not just set the saddles by yourself? You can get them really close with a tuner, and then go over them again by ear if you don't think they sound quite right. The biggest thing would be that the strings could possibly get pinched in the nut groves, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

Thank you....the strings won't get "pinched" because it originally was set up for 10's.... Just trying to save $$ from having to bring it to a tech right now if it really isn't gonna change the intonation drastically...I know it will bend the neck a tad more and the string height might be higher, but I actually was gonna raise the string height anyway due to minor fret buzz.

Again, thanx!

Crip I dont think it will make that big of a difference. What is the top string size, I use 10s on all my guitars and just love them, 10-46 GHS Super Boomers is what Ive used for years.

Like was said just check the intone at the 12th fret and you should be good to go

Slacker's right. It will, but not a whole lot. The reason your Les Paul feels better with 10's is Les Pauls are a shorter scale than most guitars.. They actually should always have 10's if you ask me.

Intonation can go quicker than you think. Use a needle tuner if you have one. If not, focus with your ears a little more with whatever tuner you have simultaneously.

Put the guitar on your lap in the same direction you would play it. Put the tuner facing you as you would normally read it. Hit the open string, then hit the 12th fretted. If the needle moves to the right of center, move the saddle in the same direction, re-tune, and check again until both are center. Same if it moves to the left of center on the 12th. It's really just that simple. A Strat should take no more than 5-min. You can do a Floyd Rose in 20-min tops, and that would be if the saddles weren't even close..

**For lefties, you have to turn either the guitar or tuner upside down.

John, you and I use the same strings. Another great MI product!

That's what I use also...just changed them avout 20 minutes ago and stretched them... WOW What a difference one little gauge makes.. no more buzzin' and a much fuller sound. Good part is my LP already has 10's so I've been playing that since Christmas so I'm used to the 10's! Oh...and the intonation is perfect! Didn't change a thing!

Been doing it for years, intonation will change a bit but not much. Pity you didn't d3ecide to do it a day before recording, but I don't think you will notice anything seriously wrong.

I used 10's for 20 - 25 years, had to change to 9's because they started to hurt my long ago injured wrist. I wish I could go back, but I'd be in pain by the end of the night every gig...

That's exactly why I switched to 9's....ARTHRITIS! but I just don't like the thin, tinny sound on my PRS and Les Pauls with 9's.... For some reason they sound great on my Strats but not on anything else...but they do help lessen the pain....It's a lot easier to hammer and move around on 9's but a lot easier to "speed pick" with 10's!

Crip why didn't you just bring your guit over? There are so many reasons why some guits sound good with different strings. I've explained this a few times before, but it is like speaking to the hand.

If you have an hour, let me help you to understand the things guitar "TECHS" don't understand. You're right around the corner man, let me end your frustration with " GUITAR TECHS"

My door is always open to you, even if you " DE FRIEND ME, lol "

Talk to Ya Lata.

I've been using D'Addario XL Nickle Wounds RLG's .010 -.046 on my Goddess.
I like the sound and the feel.
My hands are small, yet pretty strong from growing up doing oilfield construction and maintenance.
I think I've avoided a lot of the ligament issues from the constant stretching in Chin Na training ( Chinese grappling )
Thought about producing a video on these exercises as I know so many people have issues with arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Intonation with a one piece bridge / tail piece is a pain in the ass compared to working on my Strats.

Sans you bring up a sick point, Is it age or is there another reason people over 40 are having so many problems?

The biggest thing I have with available string sets is that they are so unbalanced. If you want a booming bass string adjust the pickups, don't put a 48 or 56 on that is going distort the neck, and thus make it impossible to get a good tuning. Guitar necks are not made for UNBALANCED STRING SETS.

I love the sound of 10's. I think the sustain is so much better, and the strings don't snap as easily.

As for pain, well, both of my thumbs hurt a little, so I'm a little worried about getting problems when I'm older. The fact that I'm auditioning as a bass player soon has me a little worried. Plus the bass is heavy, and my back is jacked up from my meathead days.

For a long time I gigged with a Super 400 sized Arch top with 52-13 gauge strings. It hurt like hell to bend them, but I was used to it. When I went to 46-10's I couldn't believe how easy it was.
I tried 9's once but I would pull them out of tune by pressing behind the fret too hard. I went back partially because of the heavier sound also. I know guys that use super heavy gauge on the lower 3 , and super slinky 3 on the high end.

That would probably sound like thunder on power chords.

I might try that sometime just to see what it is like. Low E = 52 high E 9

Guys... Strats are known for always being set up with 9's.... I used to always play Strats before I got onto the Les Paul Band wagon back in the day....As a matter of fact, Yngwie uses 8's... I can see why if you have a tremolo system as the higher gauge strings will pull it out of tune more often. Then when I picked up the guitar 20 years later, my hands hurt like hell so I was advised to use 9's on all my axes... What sux is each axe was set up specifially for 9's...I even had the nuts filed down so there wouldn't be any vibration or play in the grooves. I sold a lot of those guitars since and the latest one that my wife bought for me (Les Paul) I decided to keep it set up for 10's after readin avbout the new "Plex" setup by Gibson.... I LOVED IT! My hands and fingers are finally used to that gauge because I practice for hours on the acoustic... Then I read that PRS's are specifically manufactured for high gauge strings yet I've been playing it all along with 9's and wasn't really able to appreciate that full sound! ( A lot of peeps are now tuning their axes to 430 and lower hence the reason for the thicker strings nowadays) After last night, I fell in love all over again with my PRS as the sound difference is night and day! I was wondering why my Paul was sounding fuller than a guitar that was worth about 4 grand It now has a nice warm tone and the power chords are defintely kickass.. I was told by my bassist that he has his PRS set up with 11's.... I can't do 11"s as a lot of my tunes call for some serious bending and I cringe after a 3 set gig with 10's on! lol I'll stick with the 10's from hereon in! Now.. anybody have any idea what I should do with my 10 pack of 9's?? Do you think GC wil take a trade for 10's??