What string gauges does everyone use?

well I've kinda settled on 10's for shortscales - 9's are definitely lighter than I care for but I hear good things about 9.5. as an alternative. Earnie Ball are 9.5 12 16 24 34 44 whereas D'addario offers 9.5 11.5 16 24 34 44

guitar wise, short sclae basses are awesome, got one of them longhorn basses too, if i pick up a short scale guitar those things are justn too small for m :)

That Longhorn's sweet! I'd worry about breaking a horn though 😱I remember Tom Petty using one with the Travelling Wilburys. What strings do you put on your Violin Bass? I have my eye on the Hofner Ignition Club bass which is functionally similar but perhaps a bit more comfortable to sit with.

https://youtu.be/UMVjToYOjbM

the violin has i think daddarios on it (from the ball ends) they are rounds which is good because i cant stand how flats feel, i got given that bass the necks a bit twisted. the longhorn is probably the bass i play most (has the stock rounds on it which are like 6 or 7 years old now) wont change them till they break its a bit fragile but i dont take it out of the house, id only go out with my p basses but the longhorn just tends to be the bass i pick up all the time, might be time for some new strings but i dont have any short scale strings about.

oh and i dont have the mustang bass anymore sold that one

D'addario NYXL 9-46. NYXL's have much better harmonics and last longer than standard issue guitar strings that most people use. There's a good reason why Tosin Abasi, Leda, etc. all use premium brand strings nowadays.

Currently I have been using D’addario chrome flatwound ECG23 on e, B and G and ECG24 on D, A and E. It becomes 10 14 20w 30 40 50. Plenty of character for low end and ease of bend on the highs.

I've been enjoying the D'addario NYXL 9.5 - 44 strings on my Mustang Special. They feel good under my fingers, easy enough to bend without being as springy on the short scale as the 9's it first arrived with. To my unrefined ear they sound as good as one might expect, even after a couple of months daily play. With that said I did perceive that they generally sounded brighter and more trebly than I'm used to and I've found that the humbuckers, certainly in split coil mode, benefitted from lowering the pole pieces under the G and B strings to tame their stridency.

Since I got wise that higher ain't necessarily better I'm still tinkering with pickup height to find my personal sweet spot. This Fender's Enforcer Wide Range HB reissues are quite hot so I'm curious to explore how low I can go and how that changes the tone.

I would've been happy to stick with the 9.5s but I thought I might line up a set of NYXL Balanced Tensions just to try before I settle on a favourite. I paid £12 for one set of 10's but what arrived was a five pack! ...looks like I'll be playing balanced 10-46's for a while yet 🙄😹

I used to use D'Addario 11s on my electrics, because I came to guitar from bass, and had a habit of breaking lighter gauges due to... well, lack of finesse. Now, I'm a much more skilled player, but I also suffer from extreme nerve and tendon damage in both hands. So I play 9s. Much lighter, much easier on the hands.

My acoustics are strung currently with 10s, mostly because I've not got around to replacing them. Need to.

Gods only know what's on my basses, as it's been a hot minute since I changed them, and last time I did I tried something different, and can't remember now what it was. Besides, we all know bass strings never really need changing anyway.

I use 11-48 power slinky's/ paradigm power slinky's some of the best strings ive ever used

Ernie Ball Paradigm .009-.042 on all my guitars at this point. They last so long it saves me about $20+ on guitar strings each year.

Generally, 10-46 on electric guitars, 12-53 on acoustic, and 40-95 on bass. However, I'm considering switching to a lighter gauge for my Tele and for my acoustic

I have 10s on my new Tele too - it arrived with what felt like suspension bridge cables, heavy flats fitted by the previous Jazz guitarist owner!

9.5's hit the sweet spot on my Mustang (short scale) after alternating between 9's and 10's a few times - That's my "bendy" guitar for blues and such like. I put 11's on my hybrid "Musuar" (also a shorty) to stabilise its Jaguar trem and bridge arrangement. The 11's feel a lot firmer under the fingers and I enjoy the contrast.

I like that each guitar feels and responds so differently. I find that I use the Mustang mostly for fingerstyle (blues), the MusUar mostly gets the pick for surfy twang and 60's jangle. The new Tele sits in middle for a bit of everything. I like having the choice between light, medium, and firm resistance under my pick and fingers. Having variety definitely inspires my playing. I've spent a little bit more on NYXLS now as I don't mean to experiment with these setups so often.

My Jim Dandy parlour acoustic is a dilemma. I generally prefer the feel of 11's but 12's seem perhaps better suited for fannying about with open tunings and slide guitar. Retro Monels arent as bright as the phosphor bronze strings it came with but I like their plain steel look and to my ear they sound a bit more even through my magnetic soundhole pickup - I'm not 100% certain though, it might just be wishful thinking. I'm still exploring with this one.

I guess I should update this, being on how it's been 3 years since I last posted here...

Strat Scale-Length: 9-48 in E, 10-52 in D#, 11-54 in D, etc.

Les Paul Scale-Length: 10-54 in E, 11-56 in D#, 12-62 in D, etc.

Short-Scale Bass (30"): 40-110 in E, 45-115 in D#, 50-120 in D, etc.

Long-Scale Bass (34"): 35-100 in E, 40-105 in D#, 45-110 in D, etc.

(Gauges are kinda intended to be different variations of Skinny Top, Heavy Bottom setups.)

Lately I've been messing around with a set of 13-62s & 14-58s on a 24" scale Squier Mustang HT, trying to get a good, bright, blues tone. Also been messing around with a set of 65-115 Rotosound Tru Bass black nylon-coated strings on a 34" scale Bass trying to get a nice, mellow Standup-Bass-type sound. What's actually cool about the black nylon strings, is because they're coated, you don't get Nickel/Steel in your fingerprints, making them good for short bits of playing without needing to scrub the metal off your fingertips.

Another thing I like to do, I do with my Short-scale basses. I'll take the old strings off my Long-scale basses, cut the tuner-curled parts off, and see if there's still enough length to reach the top tuners of the Short-scale... if so, I get a second use, and save $20 - $30.

Definitely! Each guitar does respond differently... 10s are my go-to strings for electric guitars in general, but now I'm considering 9s for my Tele to be able to bend the strings better, that's my real vintage guitar (it's the Jolana Iris, which is the 50 year old Czechoslovakian Tele with a Jazzmaster bridge). For my acoustic, I've always alternated between 11s, and 12s, I'm currently on 12s but may go back to 11s. I also use open tunings a lot, but also do a lot of finger picking, and for that 11s are a lot easier

Also applies to bass: I generally prefer flats, but my newest bass, a Cort Action Junior, actually feels and sounds better with rounds!

Also applies to bass: I generally prefer flats,

This. I'll never go back to round wound bass strings. Less abusive to my hands even if I gaige up and the sound. People say they're dark but this is probably a fault in the signal chain. They produce a more musical set of harmonics to my ear.