Wizard of Wailing
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I was reading an article on Musicians Friend "HUB" section and it says, "Lighter gauge strings are prone to cause fret buzzing, especially on guitars with low action." Is there any truth to this?
Lighter Strings=More Fret Buzz?
- Thread starter Wizard of Wailing
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Wizard of Wailing said:
I think it depends on your playing style. I've always been a bit heavy handed and have strung 12-52 standard since I built up my first callus. But, I recently started working with some new musicians, who in turn referred me to even more musicians, and now my calendar is starting to fill up with bookings, meaning I've got to learn 60+ songs by the third weekend in February. Those 12's were starting to feel a touch heavy with all my additional practice time, so I decided to exchange the telephone wire for silly string and went 10-46 for a little while in an attempt to avoid the inevitable arthritis everyone keeps warning me about. When working on the songs at home, no buzzing, no issues. In fact, it hardly feels different at all. But at rehearsals and the Wednesday night jam, when I start to play like this:
arty07: I've noticed that all my picking goes sharp, everything is buzzing, and my gorilla grip of a rhythm technique is pulling all my bar chords out of whack. Perhaps I'll find a happy medium with 11's? :dontknow:
Cagey
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Wizard of Wailing said:
It depends on how well the neck has been set up. But, that's true of all string gauges.
Few guitars are set up properly coming off the wall. A good dealer will perform that service for you as part of the sale, but they're few and far between. Normally, you have to take/send the thing to somebody who knows what they're doing.
If you've ever paid any attention to Billy Gibbons playing with ZZ Top, you've heard somebody playing with spiderwebs. He uses 7s unless he expects to use a slide, in which case he'll use 8s. Does he sound "buzzy"? Of course not. But, he's got a full-time tech to see to his fiddles.His frets are perfect.
Strat Avenger
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Cagey said:
Not to change the subject, but I've been playing guitar for 29 years, and I nave never seen a "7" set of guitar strings. Who sells them? I've never seen them in any music store or any of the online guitar string dealers.
Back to the topic; heavier gauge strings require more tension to tune them to pitch, so they don't flop around as much and therefore buzz less.
Do a drop-D flat tuning with a 042 wound string and then do it with a 046 or larger and you'll see what I mean.
Try Dunlop Reverend Willy's.
They are so slinky it's hard to keep them on the fret board.
But I don't remember problems with buzzing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dunlop-Reverend-Willys-Electric-Guitar-Strings-12-Sets-7-38-Billy-Gibbons-ZZTop-/290950011689?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item43bdf8db29
They are so slinky it's hard to keep them on the fret board.
But I don't remember problems with buzzing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dunlop-Reverend-Willys-Electric-Guitar-Strings-12-Sets-7-38-Billy-Gibbons-ZZTop-/290950011689?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item43bdf8db29
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stratamania
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I've not found lighter strings buzz more on the frets. I use various guages on different axes, some with an 8 on top, some 9s and some 10s. At the bottom end it varies from 38 - 46, normally 42 being the lightest there.
When others play the guitars with lighter guages, especially if the board is scalloped, the problem they have is heavy handed-ness. It's never the guitar because they are all set up for the guage that is on them.
But a scenario to consider, let's say a guitar is set up for a set of heavy guage strings with a light relief, put on a light set and they are going to exert less force on the neck resulting in less relief. Add in the heavy hands and buzz may occur.
Conclusion light strings don't cause buzzing, incorrect set up for light strings and too heavy a touch can.
That said lighter strings can sound twangier for want of a better word, but that isn't buzz.
Street Avenger also made a good point, if you are doing drop D or tuning down to E flat you may want to go for a heavier string especially on the bass strings.
But what about when Tony Iommi, played Snowblind tuned down to C # he can't possibly use very heavy strings, due to his fingers so just goes to show do whatever works for you on your guitar.
When others play the guitars with lighter guages, especially if the board is scalloped, the problem they have is heavy handed-ness. It's never the guitar because they are all set up for the guage that is on them.
But a scenario to consider, let's say a guitar is set up for a set of heavy guage strings with a light relief, put on a light set and they are going to exert less force on the neck resulting in less relief. Add in the heavy hands and buzz may occur.
Conclusion light strings don't cause buzzing, incorrect set up for light strings and too heavy a touch can.
That said lighter strings can sound twangier for want of a better word, but that isn't buzz.
Street Avenger also made a good point, if you are doing drop D or tuning down to E flat you may want to go for a heavier string especially on the bass strings.
But what about when Tony Iommi, played Snowblind tuned down to C # he can't possibly use very heavy strings, due to his fingers so just goes to show do whatever works for you on your guitar.
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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Not so much a yes or no because the rest of the parameters haven't been defined. It's all in the setup. Compared to a heavier gauge at the same pitch, they're not as tight, so maybe that's where they're coming from. If you play 8s, set it up for 8s. If you play 12s, set it up for 12s. If it's setup for heavy stringsand you put llighter ones on there, expect the neck relief and action to behave differently.
Day-mun
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Every time I "try out" a new string gauge, or a new arrangement/hybrid set, I know that I'm gonna have to go back to the simple, straight-forward instructions and guidance found in chapters 2 & maybe 3 of this here handy text:
If one loves playing guitar and experimenting with their most essential gear (the strings), then one (in my opinion) owes it to themselves to learn to be their own set-up tech. This book shows how; -undoubtedly worth its weight in guitar strings!
If one loves playing guitar and experimenting with their most essential gear (the strings), then one (in my opinion) owes it to themselves to learn to be their own set-up tech. This book shows how; -undoubtedly worth its weight in guitar strings!
For what it's worth, I completely agree with what has been said in this thread. It's all about the setup. I tend to run 9s on most all of my guitars. With a proper setup, there is no fret buzz. Just by simple observation over the years, I have noticed that the adequacy of the setup becomes more important is you go down in string gauge to eliminate buzz.
Larger gauge strings have more mass, and therefore are capable of greater vibrational amplitude. However, when tuned to the same pitch, they are under greater tension, which decreases the amplitude of their vibration. The net result is that, for the same pitch, the amplitude of the string's vibration goes down as the gauge gauge goes up. This decreases the likelihood of fret buzz. Conversely, going down in gauge increases the likelhood of fret buzz and makes a proper setup that much more important. The larger gauge string seems to have more "punch" in the guitar's output not because of greater vibrational amplitude, but because of the greater mass vibrating in the pickup's magnetic field, increasing the pickup's output.
In the same way, given the same gauge, and lower pitch tuning, the tension goes down and the vibrational amplitude increases, thus also increasing the risk of fret buzz.
Larger gauge strings have more mass, and therefore are capable of greater vibrational amplitude. However, when tuned to the same pitch, they are under greater tension, which decreases the amplitude of their vibration. The net result is that, for the same pitch, the amplitude of the string's vibration goes down as the gauge gauge goes up. This decreases the likelihood of fret buzz. Conversely, going down in gauge increases the likelhood of fret buzz and makes a proper setup that much more important. The larger gauge string seems to have more "punch" in the guitar's output not because of greater vibrational amplitude, but because of the greater mass vibrating in the pickup's magnetic field, increasing the pickup's output.
In the same way, given the same gauge, and lower pitch tuning, the tension goes down and the vibrational amplitude increases, thus also increasing the risk of fret buzz.
S
swarfrat
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Heavy gauge strings have more dynamic range than light gauge strings. This may not metter to your style. But if you exceed the energy input that a given string/setup is capable of, it will buzz.
A proper set up means the string tension and truss rod are in balance with each other, going down in string size will tip the balance to the truss rod allowing the neck to slightly bow back and thus buzz.
That's why a truly proper setup is done with the string brand and size you intend to always use
Along with everything else said above
That's why a truly proper setup is done with the string brand and size you intend to always use
Along with everything else said above
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