How to make strings feel "slinkier"?

[Cooper Brady]

Hey guys, here's my issue. I have a Schecter Omen with a Tune-O-Matic body through bridge. I changed the strings the other day from a 9-42 set to a 10-52 set. And here's the problem: the strings almost feel too stiff. By which I mean they feel more resistant to bends and vibrato than they did with the 9 guage set. Is there any way to fix this? I like the low end on the 10-52s, but prefer the 9s for soloing. All responses are appreciated! Thanks guys!

 

[idssdi]

In principle there's no way to fix it while keeping the same strings. The thicker you make something the harder it is to bend it(as in more force/torque required to do so) that's simply how materials work. What you could do is look into hybrid sets. The 10-52 is already a hybrid set of 10s and 11s I believe but you could look into a hybrid set of 9s and 11s

 

[Jesse Salmons]

A. Strengthen your fingers or B. Try and find a hybrid set with 9s on the high end and 10s on the low end

 

[Donovan Etue]

Hey guys, here's my issue. I have a Schecter Omen with a Tune-O-Matic body through bridge. I changed the strings the other day from a 9-42 set to a 10-52 set. And here's the problem: the strings almost feel too stiff. By which I mean they feel more resistant to bends and vibrato than they did with the 9 guage set. Is there any way to fix this? I like the low end on the 10-52s, but prefer the 9s for soloing. All responses are appreciated! Thanks guys!

I felt kind of the same way when I swapped from 9-42's to 10-52's for a little while. Now it's become my standard for E Standard, E Flat, Drop D, and Drop C# on one of my 2 guitars setup with 10-52's. You'll get accustomed to it overtime if you want to stick with them. I personally have come to really like 10-52 for E Standard. I don't know if you are in the US or not but you can order custom sets of strings from StringJoy where you can select each gauge string that you want to get the ideal feeling for you. They're cheaper than buying a box of Ernie Ball Paradigm strings too if I remember right. Maybe try out a pack of EB Hybrid Slinky's 9-46. You get the low strings of a 10-46 pack while getting the lighter upper strings from a 9-42 pack. Another thing you could do if you're like me. If you've got a drawer with a bunch of packs of strings from packs you've raided for that additional string you need after breaking a string while changing strings on your guitar. Look through and see if you have any spare strings from a 9 pack. Swap out the top three strings from the 10-52 with the 9 set. I put a 9 instead of a 10 on one of my guitars for a bit since I broke the 10 and had no spare packs on hand with 10's. The 9 took a bit to get used to for me but bending felt a bit easier and less tension on that high e got to feeling pretty nice. If I had a guitar I was strictly leaving in Drop D or E I'd probably order a few packs from string joy with a 10-52 set with a 9 instead of a 10.

 

[Ashley Willis]

Ernie Ball Hybrid 9-46 would be close to what you might want. You can also use the set of 9s and leave the heavier 52 on the low E string, although that would have some uneven tension on the guitar neck.

 

[Firsty Lasty]

9-46 sets are fairly common but 9-52 are very rare. I've never tried it. A quick search shows me that Dean Markley makes a a 9-52 Orianthi set. That might be worth trying. All of the Dean Markley strings I've used before have been good.

I realized long ago that I would never be satisfied with standard sets of stings so now I only use 46 34 24 15 11.5 8 for standard tuning (+drop D).

 

[William B.]

I also use 8's, I should try a heavier lower e, it breaks most often for me

 

[Ryan Vega]

if you want looser strings you need to give it more slack before you wind them up at the pegs.
For example, after you pull the string from the bridge into the peg, you wanna pull it back out towards the bridge, not too much only like to the end of the first fret, bend it outside the peg so it doesn't slip back through and then wind it.
That's assuming you're just pulling the string through and winding it. I use 13's on my drop C guitar, those are some big strings, and it plays like butter setting it up this way, a schecter diamond, they're similar.

 

[carlosmqr]

If its a tune-o-matic you can over wrap the strings, theres a lot of videos on youtube on how to do it! I used to do that on my Les Paul and makes a big difference, I actually prefer over wrap than the normal way, way easier to bend, but I changed the bridge and saddle to black and cant do it anymore because will damage the finish for sure
But next time you change strings give it a try. And I use 10-52s as well.