What gauge strings do you guys use?

10-46 D'Addario on Electrics
12-53 Elixir Nanowebs on Acoustic

I know the OP asked about strings but I'm really loving my new picks:

Long time Dunlop Jazz III user for electric/acoustic and Delrin Slick Picks for thumbpicks but I just got turned on to Blue Chip's Jazz 50 (very similar to DJIII) and their BCT-JDM thumbpick and I'm a new convert. These are expensive like Wegen or Red Bear, but worth it. The material is some kind of super dense yet slick material that makes them very smooth off the string yet very durable. They supposedly are used for months by busy bluegrass session players and artists.

It didn't take 5 minutes of use for either my electric or acoustic guitar and I was convinced these were my new picks. I still keep the Jazz IIIs as a cheap backup in case I lose the Bluechip, but I would replace it if lost. I have several Wegen picks that I bought but just didn't like the feel/control compared to the Jazz IIIs. I haven't tried Red Bear or the other boutique chip makers. Hey, for $35 and higher for one pick, they should be called boutique. And no, I'm not affiliated with Blue Chip in any way.
 
10-46 Elixir Nanoweb's on electric, 12's on Es-175-style archtop.

For those of you using Snake Oil Brand, what do you like about them? I tried some and honestly couldn't feel or hear a difference between them and other non-coated strings like GHS or D'addario.

and, has anybody tried Rotosound strings? I hadn't heard of them until I read somewhere that Guthrie Govan uses them.

Picks while we're on the subject: ultex Jazz III's, and occasionally a Red Bear jazz III-like pick but with grip holes and speed bevel.
 
Informative responses, thanks fellas. I've culled some workable ideas. Particularly those bluechip picks, strumzilla (great forum name), I've been looking for an alternative to those large stone picks for a long time and these have definitely piqued my interest.

http://www.bluechippick.net/

dk_ace said:
Used to be 12s for me, then 11s, now 10s, and I'm about to go to 9-46 on everything. I used to think I had to have heavy strings to get my tone. I've since found otherwise. The Axe-FX was a big part of that as I can now manipulate the amp so well and so easily that I have a much easier time getting the tones I want.

I also realized that many of my favorite guitarists used 8s and 9s on the recordings I consider benchmarks for tone, so that made me back off the heavy strings argument. I still want to be like SRV manhandling 13s occasionally though.
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This. This is pretty much right on the mark as to the type of info I was hoping to glean but that you presented right out. Especially the SRV part (lol), at some point in my formative years I heard the legends of Stevie using 18s and frightening stuff like that and I believe I began associating some form of admirable machismo with playing thicker strings. I guess I did this because of my simian-like mind.
But yeah, the idea that I could wring the same type of tones from 9-46 that I can from my 12-52's is wild I tell you, WILD, but I'm stoked to see someone who's successfully done it.

I've also observed that a lot of the players whose tone I admire use mild gauges strings as well as somewhat thinner picks.

I've convinced at this point that a good pick for me is more a matter of stiffness necessarily than thickness.
 
I use Ernie Ball 9-46s on all but 2 of my electrics (and I love guitars, been buying them since the early 70s, never sold one so I got 30+ now, mostly Les Pauls and strats).
I use D'Addario 12-52 flatwound on a Gibson Firebird that I only play with a slide (G string is wounded)
And I use 11-36 (Ernie Ball) on a 5 string 1952 (reissue) telecaster, tuned in open G (GDGBD), Keith Richards' style (5 strings, 3 chords, 2 fingers and one a**hole is all you need to rock the house :lol: :lol: :lol: )

Until recently I only used Dunlop .88 nylon picks, but I got some much heavier picks that are fantastic (classic shape, with speed bevel and grip holes, Extra heavy, from Red Bear Trading) and indeed this speeds a lot my playing. I was thinking of using them on heavier gauge strings, but lazy as I am, I'm still playing with them on 9-46s.
And actually I'm even thinking to go to lighter strings with those picks.

Those picks are expensive (15-25$ each) but they can change so much your playing in a good way that they should be worth a try :
http://www.redbeartrading.com
:twisted:
 
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