What Gauge Strings Do Fender Stratocasters Come With

String Gauge on Fender Stratocaster

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1. In regards to the 1st string. Are most of you using 9's or 10's ?

2. In general, what are you using for your set gauge wise?

3. Any brand you like a lot?

I have my tremolo locked down here do no dive bombing stuff, just rhythm and occasional lead here.

Im thinking the tuning in first position and bar chords would be better with 10's since the tendency to push too hard and go sharp on some strings wouldnt be there as much.

You fail to mention what genre you are playing.

I like the twang semi-breakup of a strat. I experimented with strings way back and found that different alloys not gauges really impact the sound esp with single coils. Been using Fender Nickel 46-10s. 9s were too thin for my taste.

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D'Addario XL110...10-46 set for Fender scale length. XL115 (11-49) for Gibson scale length.

YMMV.

I work for D'Addario, so mine does not!

( my first post!)
Im a strat lover, and I used to go daddario 9-42 but did not have enough meat on the bone for the tone, so went to daddario xl 10-46 and now switched to:

Fender pure nickel 10-46 : AWESOME TONE, a little more tension that the daddarios on the low strings, but that gives a nice and tight feel, and those strings really sound great out of the box, not bright and zingy, but clear and round.

Gear Addict

10's for me 1/2 step down . I use R Cocco on everything .

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Real MC ➡️

You fail to mention what genre you are playing.

I like the twang semi-breakup of a strat. I experimented with strings way back and found that different alloys not gauges really impact the sound esp with single coils. Been using Fender Nickel 46-10s. 9s were too thin for my taste.

Genre is mix of pop/rock, funk and some country. No metal

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It all depends on your playing style light pickers can get away with 09's but if you say your going sharp when fretting notes you should probably use 10's.
Alltough if your experiencing tuning issues on the first frets only, that's a nut issue. Probably too high/filed to shallow.

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d'addarios for decades. I used 9's, now I use 10's. Both my strats are hardtails, I find trems useless . . .

Gear Guru

I think 9's on anything are useless, Gotta be 10's

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pasta4lnch ➡️

d'addarios for decades. I used 9's, now I use 10's. Both my strats are hardtails, I find trems useless . . .

Where on earth do you find hardtail strats? Thats what Id love to have. Ive even thought about switching to the Tele for that reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vodka gimli ➡️

D'Addario XL110...10-46 set for Fender scale length. XL115 (11-49) for Gibson scale length.

YMMV.

I work for D'Addario, so mine does not!

Think Ill go grab the XL110 and try them. Ive switched to DAddario for my acoustic already

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Ernie Ball Regular Slinky (10-46). Did not like the D'Addario or Fender Bullets as much.

I use 10s on my Strat and 11s on my semi-acoustic. THere's a decided tonal difference because of the difference in how you can play them as the strings get heavier. You aren't going to get those Townshend windmill power chords with light gauge strings because you'll just bang them against the frets if you play them too hard. The lighter the gauge the more you have to be careful about how you attack the strings if you aren't going to choke them.

So I use the ligher gauge on the Strat, which is the maple neck variety and it's a nice part of the Strat sound to get some of that quackiness and some fret rattle. The semi-hollow I use the slightly heavier guage so I can play a little harder and get maximum tonal variation between the two. I can dig into it a bit more. I might try 12's, I dunno. There's not really THAT much difference between 10s and 11s.

If I could afford more guitars I'd just set up various ones with various gauge strings.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by foxyguitars ➡️

( my first post!)
Fender pure nickel 10-46 : AWESOME TONE, a little more tension that the daddarios on the low strings, but that gives a nice and tight feel, and those strings really sound great out of the box, not bright and zingy, but clear and round.

That's what I use too, for the very same reason.

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Wow, I guess I'm the only one who shifted to lighter gauges. I like Hybrid Slinkys, lighter on top and a tad heavier on the bottom. I like the 9s for bending and trickery. Been playing about 23 years and my hands already ache enough without using heavier gauges.

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Yes, Pure Nickel sets, like our EPN110, are great sounding. A little softer than nickel wound, both in tone and feel. They are a little slinkier tension-wise, and softer so they do get dented up by frets easier. However, to tame a too-bright Strat or Tele, it's kind of like turning your tone knob to "8". All of the guitars we love from back in the day were typically strung with pure nickels. They sound amazing.

Another vote for D'addario 10's. Used to use Ernie Ball, but they broke all the time.

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i've been using titanium coated power slinkys lately on my strat. they're more expensive but they last a long time and sound great. thick, hard rockin tone. i think those are 11's.

9's sound too thin to me and since i use a thicker pick(.76 dunlop gator grip or my handmade ivory picks) i tend to break them easily.

I hate steel strings on the Strats. Always sound too rattly and brittle. I use nickel flat-wounds...specifically Thomastik-Infeld JS 110, .10-.44. They're really made for jazz guitars, but they work great for rock stuff when you want to smooth out the sound of the strat without losing the grit.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeball_kid ➡️

I hate steel strings on the Strats. Always sound too rattly and brittle. I use nickel flat-wounds...specifically Thomastik-Infeld JS 110, .10-.44. They're really made for jazz guitars, but they work great for rock stuff when you want to smooth out the sound of the strat without losing the grit.

cool.
i've been meaning to try nickel flat-wounds on my strat.
i think they might lend themselves to the style of one of my bands, which is like post-grunge/space rock.

Thomastik Infeld Swing Series 12-gauge flatwound on every guitar.

Funny how folks like differnt stuff.

I put DiAddario EXL110 10-46 on it today. I like it much better already.
Did the same with my PRS SE as well.

Gear Guru

John Pearse 2600 Jazz Light, .011-.050, wound G string.

Gear Guru

Quote:

Originally Posted by shanabit ➡️

Where on earth do you find hardtail strats? Thats what Id love to have. Ive even thought about switching to the Tele for that reason.

you can lock your strat bridge down, Mine doesn't move at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Musiclab ➡️

you can lock your strat bridge down, Mine doesn't move at all.

Mine is locked down here. I'm.sayin a strat with a hardtail bridge

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I'm running 10 Slinkies or D'Addario or Fender Bullets.

I keep the bridge floating on my Strat Plus even without using the whammy.

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Depends on scale length, tuning, and genre. I typically use 10's on Fender scale lengths, 11's on Gibson lengths, 12's on acoustic, and 12 or 13's for jazz (full hollow bodies).

Then, for lots of rhythm work, heavy bottom 11's.

Basically whatever keeps the strings from flopping around too much without tearing holes in your hands. I love thick strings.

Gear Head

Thomastik Infeld and GHS Boomers

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Thomastik Infeld heavy bottom 9's - ,46 Carl Verheyen Sig or SuperAlloy 10 - 46. Occasionally GHS Boomers.

What Gauge Strings Do Fender Stratocasters Come With

Source: https://gearspace.com/board/so-many-guitars-so-little-time/636882-string-gauge-fender-stratocaster.html

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