Nov 10 2008
Choosing Guitar Electric Guitar Strings
Choosing the right stings is a matter of personal taste and gear. Depending on what style of music you play you will prefer different guitar strings. Strings affect your comfort and sound. Flat polished strings are easier on the fingers, flat wound strings are favored for smoother tone like jazz.
Many people use strings with a gauge .009 for the 1st string, and .042 for the 6th string. These strings are sometimes referred to as super slinky or super-light. These strings are easier to fret and bend. Some Strong fretters and aggressive pickers will prefer a heavier set of strings like .012 to .054 it’s only a matter of preference. Strings are cheap so you should pick up a couple of packs and experiment.
Popular strings
Ernie Ball and D’Addario are wide spread and very commonly used for rock and other types of guitar styles.
Jazz player favor Thomastik-Infeld, D’Addario, Elixir flatwound and roundwound strings with a gauge of .012 - 0.054-inch diameter.
Pure Blues electric guitar strings from DR Strings for you guessed it, blues.
Punk Rock players like dean Markley 10-52, Ernie ball regular slinky, .10 and .11 gauge is common.
But again these are just some people’s preference as you play and develop your style and ear you will come to know what strings you prefer. You have some tips to share for helping beginners pick the right guitar strings? Drop a comment, we’d love to hear you.
I like to play a lot of reggae and then switch it up to punk (usually in the chorus)… any suggestions for strings that could help me nail those reggae riffs on my top strings but still be able to pack a punch on my powerchords?
I usually just get the green ernie balls