Super Light Guitar Strings: In Defense of 9s 

Thanks for checking this video out! I'll get it started (this is Scott here): right now I'm using our Balanced Super Light Plus (9.5-46) set on my number 1 guitar, and a bunch of different string gauges on my other guitars (11.5s at the heaviest, 9.5s at the lightest), depending on what I'm going for with a particular guitar. For me, it's always key to balance out full tone, with enough playability to do what I'm trying to, depending on the genre. I used different guitars for different genres precisely so that I can dial them in and find what works for me, for a particular playing style.

“We’re gonna talk about the people who have used them” Every 70’s Rock guitarist: “Let me introduce myself”

9's are pretty much standard for a lot of guys. I wouldn't consider them "super light"

One thing I don't see people discussing is how a hand injury can affect you decision to play with a lighter set. I used to play 10-48 but over the years have developed arthritis in both hands and have had to go to a lighter set (9-42). I have noticed a slight difference in how my guitar sounds, but I've learned to deal with it.

Interestingly, I break fewer strings with 9's than I did 10's. The simple fact that I don't have to push hard to reach the note I'm bending to means the strings rarely break. Go figure.

I've played 9s forever and love them....

I just discovered the Stringjoy RU-vid channel and am enjoying learning all about strings. The history lesson in the first 2:30 of this video explaining 9s and plain third strings was wonderful, and might make for a good video on its own with proper references.

Well , after 40 years of playing and battle with numbness went to 8,11,15,24,32,42 get good tone , and I do play with allot of vibrato . The bends I get are really great and it's true I can get around the fretboard quicker, this is just me your results may vary !

As a metal guitarist, I like light top heavy bottom sets. Good tight tension for the chords and open strings, then there's a good amount of flex for the leads and solos.

I started years ago w/D'addario xl120s. Lately I tried the SJ9.5-44which was ok. A little too light. I finally put my own custom set together 10-13.5-18W-26-36-48. I have fallen in love with this set. The wound 3rd is special and my USA Slash Les Paul Anaconda Burst has come to life like never before. I feel like I have a new guitar. I'm going to go w/ 9.5-13-18W-26-36-48 from now on. A little easier on the lighter two and plenty of chug up top. Just a perfect blend.

Great video, thanks Scott. I have been loving the "Husky Light Plus" strings since last year and have turned some friends onto Stringjoy! Very, very happy!

9-42 was what I started with on my first electric 40yrs ago. I thought that was the only thing to use for metal XL 120s. I recently have been educated by you and your channel to 10-46. Thank you for your time and attention to detail, not to mention all the hard work.

I like your videos Bro!- Great info.

Having recently put on a set of 9s its really taught me to play lighter on the frets. 10s and 11s are pretty lenient, but 9s tend to buzz out shift pitch with too much pressure.

I have been on a string journey the last 4months, I started with 11-52 then 11-48 10-46 now I'm on 9-42, and I love them. The lower end is so much tighter and clearer

Allan Holdsworth used 9's and don't think anyone would say his clean tone was weak.

I enjoyed your video Scot. I switched from 10's to 9s about 15 years ago. I find I actually break strings much less often, with them. I find I like the tone to be better for classic rock, & blues tones and they are so much more responsive to subtle manipulations. I'm tempted to try your 12B & 15G variation, but my wammy-bar is so tuned in to the old standard. I just ordered three "old standard" 9s sets. I was happy to see pure nickel, love that sound. Looking forward to testing them out.

I'm slowly getting back to using different gauge strings for different guitars. It depends on the guitar, and what I use it for. For guitars I play slide on, I want slightly thicker strings than a guitar I play a lot of solos on. A guitar that I use mostly for rhythm might end up sounding better with slightly heavier strings than the guitars I play solos on. It also helps differentiate them when recording.

I've been playing since I was 13 (I'm 29 now) and I've always used 9's. I've never even known that there was any criticism about 9's. On my strat I use fender bullets and on my epi les paul i use ernie ball classic pure nickels. Both sets are 9's.

I use the custom Stevie Ray Vaughan string gauge. The .013's. Never going back since I watched your video about them!!

I have been a 10-46 player for a long time, got used to them on a 25.5 inch scale, tuned to E standard. Ive switch to 9-42 and love them ! I feel that I can be more expressive with my left hand with them since I can have more control on their full sonic potential if that make any sense. Since there's less fighting, I can focus on the nuance and detail of my playing. I wound't say they sound thinner, if anything they seem to handle gain in a more controled way and give you less of that overloading sound that thicker string can provide. So definitely better in my case :)

Ive been using 9's since the 60's and Super Slinky"s first came out. I see no reason to change....easy to play and I am able to get great tone with them.

Insightful video, Scott! Thanks!

9s on all my Strats and 1 Mustang, 11s on my Jaguars, 10s on 2 other Mustangs, on a Jazzmaster, a Telecaster, a Les Paul and a SG.

I got a guitar that was new with brand new 9s and instantly saw why every guitarist I learn from uses them. Once I got those and a super thick 7 mm pick I started really really feeling like the instrument was one with me. I use 9 12 16 24 32 48 for my tele with the larger scale as I prefer slightly chunkier strings on the bottom but the top 3 will always be 9s for me

Superb! Thank you!!

I've been playing ax for 53 years, like 10's but 9's just feel great after using 11's on the 175 all night. Plus your right about the multitude of effects, bends, slaps, and they take a lot of abuse these high tech days.

After 35 years of playing the same brand of 10s on my SG and Strat two problems have cropped up: neurological issues have weakened my fretting hand, and the strings I used all those years are no longer made. It was time to try 9s. So I did. But they just don't have the same visceral feel as the 10s and that leaves me less inspired to play. But all is not lost. I've been playing more classical.

I have a 13 as a high E string. I broke the new 10 when replacing the old broken 10 so all I had left to fill the hole was the 13 of the old set. It makes me look tough but I'm just being cheap ;-)

I pretty much exclusively play 10s. I did recently try a set of (Ernie) 9s on one of my guitars. They were certainly more floppy, and I felt I needed to lower the action a bit to make ‘em more stable. I think it was the lowered action that made me more uncomfortable, so I’m back to 10s. But if you’re not as hamfisted a player as me you might actually really like the lower action and more sensitive touch the 9s give you.

I started on 8's, but eventually settled on Fender Super Bullets 9-40. However, they don’t seem to be as available as they once were. More recently I’ve been using NYXL Balanced Tension 9-40, which are a good alternative. I’ve been playing a couple of 7 strings lately, but I can’t find an equivalent set of string gauges. As far as breaking strings goes, I’ve never broken one on stage. I’m lucky not to have sweaty hands, and when I’m playing a lot on stage, I change strings proactively, wipe them down, and I always wash my hands prior to playing…

Been using 9’s for years…. Just ordered some Stringjoy strings to test drive 🎶😎👍🏼

I used to use 9s on my Strat, and 10s on my Les Paul. But then I got use to playing the Les Paul more often started over bending the lighter strings on the Strat, so I've gone 10s across the board

I'm going to try some 8.50 gauge because I'm trying to get the floyd rose to react more smoothly. I believe it will work. I've been using tens for a long time. it should be a huge difference.😁 I do like polywebs strings they are smooth and stay clean and last longer.

I'm trying 8's on my short 24" scale guitar rn...They are so fun to bend, but they are also pissing me off because they are so floppy lol. Will definitely be going back to my 10's.

again... great job, thanks

9s are super light? I been playing Ernie Ball Super Slinky .008s on my 1966 Guild Starfire V since I got it in 1967. I have resisted the temptation to try Billy Gibbons .007s... But some day, I might! 53 years with same guitar, and same brand/size strings...

I normally play on 13s because lighter strings feel like a trampoline when I use slide, but if the guitar is string through body or has a fender style vibrato then it's 12s because the guitar already puts extra tension on the srings

Started out many years ago with 8’s but soon moved on to 9’s. Been playing that gauge for years and years until just recently. Now I’m back to 8’s.

For most of my Electrics I use a set of 10's although I have 2 guitars set up with a light top/heavy bottom set. I really like those for heavier riffs. They sounds a bit fuller and drop d doesn't get flabby if I'm hitting the strings hard. I don't mind 9's on a guitar that I'm doing a lot of lead work with but I don't care for them as much when I'm playing rhythm.

I am but a learner. I've got my guitar setup with #8s. The theory behind that was that less finger pressure would be required.

Does string gauge have anything to do with how hard it is to make that F Major bar chord? Not sure if it's that, or my action. I was a dumb-ass and bought 12-56 strings because I wanted to jump right into metal, and had to detune my guitar all the way to C# standard just to feel comfortable lol.

10-46 pretty much for the last 30 years. Did try going up, 11's and even 12's, but getting tendonitis in my wrist ended that experiment. LOL I have a Tele and one of my shred guitars set up with 9-46, doing crazy pedal steel style bends on my Tele is a lot easier with lighter strings. Wanted to try something lighter on one of my shred guitars, used to use 9-46 for most of the 80's.

I use 9s on my strat and 10s on my les Paul

I am using 10s on a Les Paul right now because this guitar seem to like them more. I have used 9s or hybrid Slinkies for yonks though. it is not really for bending though, because I actually find a 9 too light for bending. The reason i prefer them is I do not like my low strings to be too bassy sounding. I prefer them to have a tone more like the skinny strings. Fat strings can be too thick sounding for some lead tones and that makes the bass in them dominate more than i like.

Gary moore uses to play 9 gauge, and he says that he uses to play 10, but he had an accident in his hand and change to 9. And he says that only feel the difference in the bottom strings. And he was really agressive player

I’m like Darth Vader - once I went down the dark path of heavy gauges years ago it’s now too late for me, my son. Recently ordered a custom heavy set of StringJoys 11.5-60 and some goofy gauges in between. Quite pleased, especially by the ability to get exactly what you want.

a friend of mine plays tens but has the 16 on the G string. Another friend had me set up his guitar with 9.5's which.... plays nice and sounds pretty good. I think I want to explore some options.

Hey there Stringjoy! Thanks for this video. What would I have to adjust in going from 9s to 8s on my Strat - the truss rod is one, I'm guessing? Will I have to remove a spring from the tremolo (currently 3 springs for my 9 gauge strings)?

I currently play 11 -> 52 in C#-standard. It feels very close to hybrid-9 sets in E-standard (I only had to tighten my trem screws a few turns). I do have a 22 wound for the "g"-string (g in quotes because it is now an e). I feel nothing holding my back for bends and vibrato other than the wound-G string, but the improved tone of a wound "g" is worth it, imo. The tone is chunkier sounding. I tried 12-64 (the Mammoth Slinkies) for C#-standard and it dulled out my tone. Now it is bright, snappy and has more chug than I was expecting (yes, I'm a metalhead). I am currently getting my wrist back into shape for 180bpm + metal rhythm playing and I simply hope that the lighter bounce on the 52 C# string will not hold me back. There are videos that demonstrate that going TOO high a gauge will make a tone duller. [EDIT/UPDATE] Ended up tightening them up to D-standard. Too much bounce, not enough snap-back for higher tempos

One thing I haven't seen discussed in the couple of your videos I have watched is floating versus fixed bridge guitars. In the past I used Fender 150XL strings on fixed bridge guitars. One of the main reasons is that I found that the 15 G balanced way better with the rest of the set. I just ordered a set of your balanced 9s to try them on a fixed bridge Ibanez I got yesterday. On my Floyd based guitars (Jackson, ESP, etc.) I have been using a different 9 set. 46 36 26 16 11 9. I have found that the heavier bottom works better on Floyd equipped guitars. Maybe you have a video on that topic too. If so I look forward to watching it and hearing your perspective. Thanks, Steve

I use barbed wire, damn it! (I use 9-42).

I tried 008's for a couple years, but they broke too easily. I have the pickups really close to the strings and at least to my ears the lighter strings did not stay in tune. I ended having to put the pickups further away from the strings.

I recently tried Picato strings (handmade in the UK). I play 9’s and they are the best strings I have ever played. I’ve played for over 40 years and have to say these babies have a very unique feel. Ritchie Blackmore calls them the best strings, period. Tommy Iommi uses them and Clapton used them when he was young and didn’t have any endorsement deal. They used to be impossible to find, but with “Strings Direct” you can get them real easy. Try a pack, you will not be disappointed.

9-12-15-26w-36-48-64 on 26.5 scale 7 string is my perfect set.

Just wait until you try a set of .07/38 Rev. Willy's 'Mexican Lottery Brand' strings. Wonderful tone and so easy to play, plus bend better than anything else available. I Can't believe I played on heavier strings for so many years, and probably will never go back again, with my injured hands/wrists I can now play all day again without pain or serious fatigue.

Its ok to use 1st string on number 2 slot on the electric guitar because i dont have any number 2 string, so it affect tone? Thanks God bless

I use 8s and I'm happy with them and it helps me play with carpal tunnel... which is why my acoustic lives in it's case.

I use 8s up to 12s. Depends on the guitar and the style of music. 9-46 is a great all around country, rock, blues gauge. Give 8s a try, they feel great! Now for intense blues or jazz get 10s or 11s.

Around 1970 I was finally able to finally get the perfect string gauges... 8, 11, 14, 22W, 36W, 46W... kind of eighty nines, of course that's just me, your results may vary.

007.-038 for years Can’t wait for you guys

if I switched from 9-46 to 9-42, would I expect to do a setup?

My local guitar shop tech gave me an extra set after adjusting my PRS. They are "X-Light Plus" ( .0095 .0115 .016 .024 .034 .044). Are the B- .0115 and G-.016 strings mismatched in your opinion even with a .0095 E ? Thanks.

I like 9s on Fenders and 10s on shorter scale length. I might consider those 9.5s. Thanks.

Good video. An interesting fact about SRV is that it was a custom set - it sounds crazy that he was bending on 13s but really as the strings got lower the gauges got more reasonable and it was more of a heavy first string set than a whole heavy set, plus being drop tuned to Eb his low 3 strings were action very low tension. But as for gauges if anyone is judging over gauges then they need to keep their opinions to their own guitars and not judge others. There are lots of jazz guys playing 10s (and 9s sometimes) with a great, thick jazz tone. Same with picks, some guys are using really thin picks for jazz and you wouldn’t guess it a lot of the time. George Benson has an interesting way to describe it which is like the lighter the string the heavier the pick and vice versa. He uses heavier strings and a medium pick from what I remember. I don’t follow that rule myself as I prefer pretty heavy for picks and strings but if I were starting over I would follow it because it really balances the tension and looseness ratio between the pick and strings and facilitates playing fast and clean as well as having a good tone.

Ha, zz top (billy) plays with 7's and so did BB king. I made the huge mistake of emulating Metallica when i started playing and my fingers where bleeding from the 11s (they play 11s-48) when i started to learn bending, and leads. yngwie's custom strings are the best for me, they go from 8s-48.

James Burton uses 8-38 set up. No lack of tone there! James Rocks!

put .008-.054 (.008-.038 on 1-6) on my 7 string to be able to do higher tunings (don't ask why) and i really like them. get around quicker on the neck. and it helps my hands that i've been having trouble with and i don't really tune down much on my 6s past D standard. so i'm thinking of going to 8s or 9s full time. good enough for Tony Iommi. good enough for me.

I swear by 9s on my electrics, I play country. I use 12s on acoustic, and love those too. Just need the lighter strings on electric for the different playing styles.

Been playing 2 years and got 9s on all of my guitars besides one with 10s, bending is so hard on higher and the sound isn't really better. I like jazz but not going higher

I camt finish the video, so im just gonna ask here. Idk if my 9 is fake coz its my first time using it. My 6th string sounds like a downgliding tone...u know? When you press lightly for example on the 5th fret, it produces a lower pitch, but when you press it a little bit heavier it sharpens the pitch...??? Tips and advices...pls?

Do you guys sell gauge-specific lap steel sets? Some useful chordal tunings for lap steel result in huge disparities in tension on adjacent strings.....

Can you recommend any other brands that have 9, 12, 15 in its set? Stringjoy don't seem to be available in New Zealand. Most I see, such as Ernie Ball, come as 9, 11, 16. Thanks.

Your 9.5s are gold, that's all I use.

Where do you get half gauge strings? I wouldn't mind trying a 10.5, but the only way I know to get one is in a Dave Gilmour set and I don't want the rest of that set. Also what do you reckon is the optimal set make up for 11's in terms of the B and G strings?

I'm using a 9-46 set but with an 8.5 for the 9

I'm pretty much stuck with 9s, how else can I even have any hope of bending half a tone on my 30'' 9-stringer? :c

I play 9s on all of my electrics - would be interested in checking out your guages

I'm always a bit skeptical whenever somebody tries pushing the 9s. Not so much because I figure that they're still at "beginner" level... But rather because there are so many musicians unaware of how often they are out of tune. 9-gauge sets introduce a lot of increased challenges, in keeping your chordal tones steady and not all over the place. I used to play 9s all the time, when I was younger and mainly shredding all the time. After years of doing some jazz (and more chordal stuff), the switch to 10s was quite a relief. I wish I had made the switch a lot sooner, but I guess I was just in a mindset from when I was younger. Even when I was younger though, ironically, I thought that the thicker strings were great for playing the blues, as the extra resistance seem to make the bends have more of the sound you'd want for that style (as opposed to the neo-classical stuff I'd usually be doing back then). And now, over 20 years later, we've got internet videos about how such strings help with the bends. Honestly, I don't think I had ever thought that they really helped with that, but rather the legato I was doing, where the thinner gauges were easier to grip under my fingertips before all the pull-offs.

In the 70s, a lot of people played .08s. It wasn't until SRV that thick strings became fashionable.

9s for Fenders, 10s for Gibsons. One whole step bends easy on each. As far as gauges go, they change with the wind for me. What I like now I might not like later, especially if I change guitars. I do remember using an 8s set in my early Clapton, Jim McCarty period. Know what was available in my area? Gibson Sonomatics.

I'd love to see a 12.5 for B string. When you go 9.5-12-16-24-32-44 it makes the B string too light. Going to a 13 makes it slightly heavier and its noticeable between the G and E strings. a 12.5 would sit in a lighter range tension wise. I think i'd prefer the B slightly less tension vs. slightly more tension compared to the G and E strings. Theres only 1 company making a 12.5 so i'm forced to get a 9.5-44 set and add the 12.5 B string seperately.

I switched to 9s about 5 years ago and tried 10s again the other day and switched right back. It's nothing to do with bending or vibrato for me, that's not the reason I switched to 9s ...it's a tone thing. They have more brilliance and twang...much easier to get some bite out of a lead run also for me

I use 11s ernie ball power slinky set, and it's still too light for me, but on the low E string there is a buzz, please give a solution

I started out on bass and I keep bending and whacking strings out of tune with a pick (I try to improvise soem blues-rock type of stuff in open tunings like open D minor, DADFAD), so even 11s don't seem to be heavy-enough for me; I'd only use 9s with the 9 removed and a 56 added as the lowest. Which I might just try.

Shit I always thought 9s were considered pretty standard. I always use 9s and yeah I get crazy vibrato, I tend to shake the shit out of a string and noticed when I recorded myself to analyze my playing. I never break strings, I've had a set of 9s on the same guitar for 2 years because it has a Floyd Rose on it and can be a pain in the ass to string it up and for using the Floyd and the amount I do bending I think I'm doing pretty good on the string breakage. I've tried 10s recently and they felt too thick to me that I took them off the guitar, refit a nut and put 9s on it. I always just walk into the store and ask for a set of Ernie Ball 9-42 from the guy I buy them from. Been playing them for 25 years and I've always gotten complimented on the tone, feel and overall playability on the guitars I own. I've even sold a few of them and the last time I sold one the guy told me he was going to try and talk me down on price but after playing it he felt it was worth every penny I was asking and that made me feel pretty good. Today I've become familiar enough with guitars that I am now building my own from scratch and am the only one who touches them to do work on them, I will never build a guitar for myself that uses anything but a set of 9s. I actually had no idea they were viewed in a negative light, when I was a kid and started playing back in 94 I was under the impression it was what came standard on a guitar but then again I played only Fender back then so thats probably why cause 9s are standard for Fender.

Good video I'm going to drop it on someone on FB to review. Too much bad advice going around on Guitar payers group pages. Thanks for your very to the point discussions. Trying to help someone through the issue of - if he wants to change from 10s to 9s will he need a set up. I feel/felt as you stated just be sure you have no sharp edges. Also if you do a lot of bending yadda yadda. Some dude said you need a set up going 10s to 9s. I don't necessarily agree. This is where people give wrong info. And, they hurt more than help obviously. What is your take on it ?

I use 12-56 ernie ball not even slinky on my 25.5 scale strat in half step down and they feel so great to play and bend lol. I originally had nine gauge strings on this guitar, but i started getting back into playing acoustic. Which has 12 to 54, and I have an Ibanez RG 370 DX With A Floyd Rose set up for drop b with 12 - 60, since I was so used to high tension I could no longer play with 9’s or 10’s. I got my KH602 LTD with a floyd in standard set up for 11 to 48, Had nine gauge strings on it, and I’m getting my Schecter hell raiser c1, 10-46, Set up for DRDD set up for DR DDT 13 - 65 because I am planning on going to drop C, C standard and drop a#. I had shows 13’s because I feared that 12s for me, for us to use standard I have shows 13’s because I feared that 12s for me, for these tunings. Would feel too slinky for me haha. So now all of my guitars have thick strings and I am satisfied with my playing haha.

Why aren't there many manufacturers making lighter wound 3rd string sets? Most are heavy jazz sets with a 22w. Why can't I get a 15w or at least a 17w for my electric guitar?

I use 09,11,16,24,32,42 and a good setup :) now the question is whether I replace the 09,11,16 for the 09,12,15 the setup remains the same? or should be changed?

Are 9s super light? What are 8s and 7s then?

most people start on 9s i went up to 10s on a les paul 9s on a strat or prs! then uppd them to 10s after a while a lp felt too loose so that went to 11s stayed that way for years!

Switching to 9's was a gamechanger for me after years of playing 10's. Makes playing less of an effort and it really altered my playing style. Vibratos are so much easier to do.

Great for blues,Hendrix. Bending strings into each other.Sax sound on guitar.Tons of expression only done with light guage strings.

all 10s except: 9s on my strat because i picked the wrong set. I may keep using 9s(*) for this one. The overcooked spaghetti feel is less with longer (fender) scale. And they are great for bends and expressive solo playing, and percussive techniques. (*)Perhaps 9.5s would be great. And flatwound 12s on a 335ish that sound and feel great with. They don't deteriorate nor break over time (years!), so i don't consider a change. Those are great with high gain or even fuzz. I do say. Heavy gauges are also good because they don't bend easily: when one play difficult chord or rapid chord change a stray bend may occur and ruin it. Heavy strings make it less likely. Against common wisdom lighter string may be more difficult to control and not a beginner choice. My two other, LP and SG, on tens have a calibrated feel to my vibrato and overall playing. I also got a fifth guitar with currently no string on. The best sounding one .

Are lighter chords easier to barre with a lighter gauge. I have pretty small hands, and that definitely effects it, but I’m having a hard time with barre chords. I’ve been playing for two years now, entirely self taught, but I’ve started to get more serious, and I’ve noticed it’s now becoming a huge barrier to my playing. Sorry for this weird rant, if anyone could respond I’d appreciate it.

Check out Alex Hutchins 8's and Jim Campilongo 9's Monstrous clean tone through a Princeton using a tele. Use what feels best to you and remember cats like SRV gigged every night and was match fit but tuned down which makes a big difference. I use 10's most of the time but as I'm getting older 9's don't fatigue me by the end of the night. I've been gigging 35+ years. Just enjoy playing people.

Something I didn't get from your web site promotion of balanced strings and only understood from this video, is that by balanced you mean - equal output signal, not balanced tension. So how does this work with Fender style staggered pole pieces (complicated by the fact that the original 'vintage' stagger was for heavy gauge strings with a wound third)? And isn't this what pickups with adjustable poles are intended to fix? Speaking of balanced tension, I always thought it was odd that string tensions within a set usually vary by over 40%. Wouldn't guitarist actually want strings with equal tension for the best feel and ease of play? Although I can see how this would perhaps conflict with any attempt to balance a set for equal output. I also have a suspicion that most electric guitar players pay no attention to individual string output levels. Possibly because once the guitar is plugged in to an amplifier at normal playing volume then individual levels are flattened out by compression and overdrive clipping.

I like 9s because then there is less bass and more clarity that I prefer. And it makes playing guitar more fun.

Steve Vai pays with a set of 9s. Yngwie Malmsteen plays with a set of 8s. I used to play with 10 to 46 for years and I always had issues with the G string, even with intonation set properly. Recently I tried a set 9 to 42 Optima Gold strings and it's a night and day difference. They have more tension than a standard set of 9s, so there is not that huge difference with a set of 10s. Moreover, after the intonation set nicely I don't have the issues I had before with my G string.