by trguitar » Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:36 pm
[updated:LAST EDITED ON Feb-21-06 AT 08:39 AM (EST)]>Wow, those are some heavy strings. I am new at playing the
>guitar (2 months) and I have 9's (Ernie Ball Extra Slinkys)
>with a low action because I wanted to be able to chord and
>bend easily. I love all kinds of music and want to be
>flexible. Last night, I tried slide for the first time. I
>thought that I wouldn't be able to do anything due to the
>light gauge strings and low action, but it was fun
>nonetheless.
>
>I was thinking of moving up to 10s (Regular Slinkys), but
>maybe I should go heavier. I still want to be able to bend
>easily if I an playing without the slide. I need to
>concentrate on basic guitar playing over slide technique. I
>think I'll leave the action low for now, I don't want to
>fiddle with the set-up just yet.
>
>Allan
>
Myself, I like my 9's and low action, but as far as your setup goes Allan, I think you will find most folks here have more than one guitar. I'm sure as you move along in your guitar playing life you will own others also. I believe in setting them up and stringing them for what you intend to use them for. You can have both. My electrics have 9's but my resonator has 13's. I slide on the reso and the 13's make that much easier to do. The reso is acoustic, so no fast runs or big bends. The 13's don't slow me down a bit. Now on my electrics, I use a light touch, play fast and wanna be able to bend any string off the fingerboard, hence the 9's.
P.S. Some people can bend the heck out of heavy strings, just not me. lol