...There's a lot more to it than whether Billy Gibbons or SRV was "right."
Greetings, tone hounds! I'd like to discuss two terrific YouTube videos Rick Beato and Rhett Shull recently made regarding string gauges. In Rick's video, a group of players recorded themselves playing the same Les Paul and Marshall JCM2000 setup with the only variable being four different gauged sets: .011, .010, .009, and .008. Both videos reveal the differences in tone between different gauges, and I'd like to expand on this by adding a few observations I've discovered over the years.
Everything affects everything.
In Rick's video, he mentions a discussion he had with Dave Friedman of Friedman Amps. Dave said because lighter strings produce less bass, they help tighten up the tone—and this was one of the catalysts for Rick deciding to make a video demonstrating the phenomenon.
Dave Friedman is an old friend, and we've had countless discussions about tone. He has a great saying: "Everything affects everything." In other words, each link in your signal chain impacts the overall tone: cables, pickups, amps, woods, pedals, and, of course, strings.
Each link in your signal chain impacts the overall tone: cables, pickups, amps, woods, pedals, and, of course, strings.
In Rick's video test, they went for a classic, raunchy rock 'n' roll tone with the Les Paul/Marshall setup. Had they used, say, a Stratocaster with single-coils, or even a P-90-equipped Les Paul, the results would have varied. If you prefer the tone of .009s in the video, it's possible you may have preferred .010s had they used a Strat. It's all a recipe.
Expanding on this thinking a bit, what if they'd used a 4x10 Bassman for a bluesy overdrive? The results would also vary. A hotter alnico-5 pickup would also change the tone, and if you were to use a ceramic magnet humbucker, the bass, mids, and treble would completely change! Remember to consider these things when contemplating a different string gauge.
You’re Probably Using The WRONG Guitar Strings
See and hear Rick Beato's video where he, Rhett Shull, Dave Onorato, and Ken Lanyon compare different sets of strings with the same guitar/amp setup.
Let's talk SRV.
In my estimation (and Rick mentions this too), it was Stevie Ray Vaughan who inspired many guitarists to use heavier strings. But Stevie played a single-coil-equipped Strat, mainly through Fender amps. He didn't use much preamp gain because he cranked these relatively low-gain amps until they broke up naturally. His tone formula consisted of a heavy right hand and heavy strings, combined with relatively low-output single-coils into a Tube Screamer that would add mids and cut bass. The amps he used are known for their scooped mids, so you see where I'm going with this? It's all part of the formula.
My takeaway analysis:
If you're after a fat, bluesy, loud, low-gain tone, the SRV formula—heavy strings, single-coils, a Tube Screamer, and a relatively clean, cooking, low-gain amp with scooped mids—works great. On the other hand, for a Marshall-style, midrange-heavy, tight-crunch tone, lighter strings with humbuckers and a gain-y amp—without too much bass in the preamp—will get you there.
Playability, bending, vibrato.
One last thing to consider: String gauge can have a huge effect on your bending and vibrato. Heavy strings can actually make players who have a tendency towards a "nervous" vibrato and over-bending sound more controlled. Rhett Shull commented that .008s made him feel a little more tentative on the guitar. I'm sure he could get used to them over time, but his preference for overall tone and feel were .009s. That's something to consider when switching gauges.
I Was DEFINITELY Using The Wrong Guitar Strings
Watch Rhett Shull follow up on Rick Beato's video with additional useful info about choosing the correct string gauge.
Thanks to Rick and Rhett for producing useful YouTube content like this. I encourage all guitarists to follow their example of learning through experimentation. Don't just assume—discover what works for you. Until next month, I wish you great tone!
[Updated 9/30/21]
- Guitar Shop 101: Happy Little (String) Trees - Premier Guitar ›
- Do Bigger Strings Really Make for a Louder Acoustic Guitar ... ›
- Guitar Pickups 101 - Premier Guitar ›
- Rig Rundown: Rick Beato - Premier Guitar ›
- Guitar Shop 101: Happy Little (String) Trees - Premier Guitar ›
- The Recording Guitarist: Is It a Sin to Scoop Your Mids? - Premier Guitar ›
- Pete Thorn Guitar Rig Rundown Gear Tour - Premier Guitar ›
The Hummingbird Studio EC features a mahogany body and sides with a Sitka spruce top, a Round SlimTaper profile mahogany neck, and L.R. Baggs electronics.
The Hummingbird has become more versatile and expressive than ever with the introduction of the Hummingbird Studio EC, Hummingbird Standard EC, and the Hummingbird Rosewood EC. Equipped with cutaway bodies that provide improved access to the upper frets of the Round SlimTaper profile mahogany necks, L.R. Baggs electronics, and shipped in hardshell cases, they’re ready for you to take them wherever the muse carries you.
Hummingbird Standard EC
- Mahogany body and sides with a Sitka spruce top
- Mahogany neck with a Round SlimTaper profile and 12” radius
- L.R. Baggs VTC electronics
- Gloss finish with full-color Hummingbird graphics on the pickguard
Hummingbird Standard Rosewood EC
- Rosewood body and sides with a Sitka spruce top gives more bass and harmonic complexity
- Mahogany neck with a Round SlimTaper profile and 12” radius
- L.R. Baggs VTC electronics
- Gloss finish with full-color Hummingbird graphics on the pickguard
Hummingbird Studio EC
- Mahogany body and sides with a Sitka spruce top
- Utile neck with a Round SlimTaper profile and 16” radius
- L.R. Baggs Element Bronze electronics
- Satin finish with one-color Hummingbird graphics on the pickguard
During routine quality checks, Blackstar has identified a problem with specific Debut 100 Series amps.
Statement from Blackstar:
"Nothing is more important to Blackstar than the safety of our customers.
During routine quality checks, we have identified a problem with Debut 100R 112 and 212 Combos with date codes from 2403 to 2411.
Due to cabinet production errors, a larger than intended gap between wooden parts of the cabinet can cause some electronic components to be accessible or partially exposed. As a result, in some circumstances a user could come into contact with safety critical internal chassis components. This poses a risk of serious electric shock.
Given the circumstances and our commitment to absolute safety, Blackstar has therefore decided to recall these affected products to resolve the issue. No other Blackstar products or Debut 100R date codes are affected.
Blackstar asks all customers with a Debut 100R 112 or 212 Combo to visit the following link to determine whether their product is affected: https://blackstaramps.com/product-recall/
We wish to thank you for your cooperation and to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
If you have any questions or concerns, or need any support regarding the details of this Product Safety Recall, please contact our team in the UK via https://blackstaramps.com/contact-us/"
Want the world to know about your pedalboard? Got a great story to tell about it? Fill out the form below for your shot at being in Premier Guitar's March issue! Not everyone will be used, so be sure to say why your pedalboard stands out. And be sure to include good hi-res photos of your board!
Submit your pedalboard below!
A more compact Cortex puts a universe of sounds and tone creation potential at your feet, at a price that’s a fraction of bigger floor modelers.
Fast, easy capture process. Easy to navigate top-level functions. Captures can sound very accurate. Extensive online community creates a trove of downloadable models.
No onboard screen means you rely on a smartphone or tablet for deep navigation. Getting closest possible amp captures via miking can take a lot of trial and error.
$549
Neural DSP Nano Cortex
neuraldsp.com
The complexities and capabilities of modelers like Neural DSP’s Cortex series demand certain tradeoffs. For starters, a powerful modeler can’t be the size of a postage stamp, at least if you intend to adjust many parameters and source numerous presets in real time on a stage. Neural’s newNano Cortex pushes back at the boundaries of that compromise. It's not much wider than two MXR pedals side by side. The $549 price tag, which is just about a third of the price of the Nano’s more capable big brother,the Quad Cortex, makes it an appealing proposition too.
Taken at Face Value
The Nano Cortex is a streamlined piece of hardware. An array of five push buttons enables signal capture and navigation of banks and effects. Two rotary bypass footswitches also move through presets and effects blocks, and six knobs (with LED surrounds that display levels) govern gain, output level, EQ, and wet/dry effects blend. The big omission here is, of course, a screen that displays signal effects chains and preset names. That job, if you choose to use the Nano in that fashion, falls to the Cortex Cloud app and a smartphone or tablet, meaning you’ll need two pieces of hardware on hand to make the most of the Nano’s potential. You can use the Nano in performance without a phone or tablet. But you’ll need to have a photographic memory of what presets are made up of what amps and effects, which gets extra tricky if you use wildly divergent sounds designed to work at vastly different output levels.
Many sounds from the Nano Cortex are fantastic. Many of the factory presets—particularly those dressed up with a little gain, will probably fool listeners in a blind test when those sounds are situated in a mix, and can be fairly classified as authentic in most cases. Like any modeler, the accuracy of modeled tones doesn’t mean that dynamic interactions with those same models will feel the same way, especially if you use feedback and the overtones and harmonics generated via amp proximity in your expression. For guitarists that don’t integrate these methods into their playing, the Nano’s sounds will be more than satisfactory stand-ins for their analog equivalents.
A Captive Audience
Modelers love the convenience of capture technology—the ability to clone the characteristics of many amps and pedals in your collection, which you can then take on the road, to a gig, or practice in a compact floor unit. It’s a very appealing and practical idea, particularly if you’re playing anywhere where parking in front of the venue isn’t a given. Neural’s capture method is fast and easy. To capture an amp’s personality, you mike an amp (or send the signal via a load box) to the Nano Cortex, run a signal from the Nano to your amp, press capture, listen for the test signals and kick back for five minutes while the unit does its thing. The process is fundamentally easy. And it enables you to stuff an approximation of your favorite amp, or 10, in the pocket of a gig bag. It’s also what makes the tone library crowd sourced by the constantly growing and dedicated Cortex artist and user community so extensive.
“Nano Cortex’s capture process is fundamentally easy. And it enables you to stuff an approximation of your favorite amp, or ten, in the pocket of a gig bag.”
But while you can conceivably nail the sound of your amp, or pedal, to the letter in five minutes, achieving the best possible approximation can take many tries—particularly if you use the amp-miking method. Though I got close, I never quite hit the bullseye in my attempts. The same mic placement, amp settings, and audio interface all sounded more expansive and livelier when tracked live than via a capture. Would I love to have close-but-not-quite approximations of my favorite three different amps on a fly date? You bet—especially if I could situate a few key, favorite pedals on a small pedalboard with the Nano.
The Verdict
Though there is no shortage of serviceable sounds built into the Nano Cortex, the real action will, for many, be the abundance of captures and sounds created via the larger Cortex community. This is no bad thing—especially if you have the time to cruise and create these sounds at leisure. There’s no reason that any of these sounds can’t become solid foundations for core live tones. But time spent exploring an extensive online library of captures or creating them is time not spent creating songs. So, for many players, Nano Cortex will be a better bet for home recording than for performance or in a deadline-driven studio situation. This is made doubly true for the lack of the onboard editing interface and the Nano Cortex reliance on a smartphone or tablet for deeper editing. Adding a second piece of gear compounds the risks inherent in an already complex technology.
Still, the number of available presets is considerable, and players with gigs that require spanning multiple styles in a night will have so much to work with here if they manage without a screen and trust their phone. In terms of achieving sheer processing power in a small size, the Nano Cortex is tough to beat. And for those that savor the experience of creating and sourcing a huge library of sounds in a unit with the footprint of a sandwich, thrills and big-time dividends await.