Wound third - nice article

[FC]

Just sharing I nice article I read about wound thirds.

http://images.onstagemag.com/files/46/0202Setuptxt.html

[son of gumby]

i could see it on a 12 string, or a strictly rythm guitar.  it would suck for playing slide though.

[thatloser88]

interesting, i'll have to try this for myself, if just to see how significant the difference is. gotta say though.. ease of expression is more important to me than having a really prominent G string!

[breakfastime]

It's just become such a big part of the guitarist's lexicon to bend that third string...most folks probably don't even realize the shortcomings of the plain G string because they're too busy bending them notes.  wheedle-deedle-weeeeee!!!

[Meeeoww]

Am I missing something, or would the lack of tension be solving by using a higher gauge string?

I'm seriously considering moving up to .11s...I'm just scared it will throw everything else out of whack, and I have no idea how to set that stuff (filing the nut, mostly).

[GPW]

   I was just thinking of going from an unwound .017 to an unwound  .018 ...  easy ...  still not that hard to bend ...  more tension ... a quick experiment ...

[Franky G-String]

Am I missing something, or would the lack of tension be solving by using a higher gauge string?

I'm seriously considering moving up to .11s...I'm just scared it will throw everything else out of whack, and I have no idea how to set that stuff (filing the nut, mostly).

You're going to want to reset the intonation, mostly.  The neck might need the bow adjusted, but it might not depending on how stable it is and how picky you are about the action.  I doubt you'll have to adjust the nut.  I've put 11's and 12's on dozens of guitars and never needed to.  Using heavier strings is usually accompanied by down tuning, so if you're not be prepared to hurt your fingers bending. 

[Meeeoww]

You're going to want to reset the intonation, mostly.  The neck might need the bow adjusted, but it might not depending on how stable it is and how picky you are about the action.  I doubt you'll have to adjust the nut.  I've put 11's and 12's on dozens of guitars and never needed to.

How can the .11s not cause tuning problems if the nut was filed for .10s? Seems like setting the intonation/relief won't do squat as long as the nut is binding on every string like that.

Using heavier strings is usually accompanied by down tuning, so if you're not be prepared to hurt your fingers bending.  

When I moved from .09s to .10s, my fingers were killing me. Now, .10s feel like .09s, so I figure moving up to .11s will be the same process. I like the bite and snarl of higher gauges, and my luthier tells me the pickup magnets have more pull due to there being more metal, or something like that.

[FC]

Am I missing something, or would the lack of tension be solving by using a higher gauge string?

I'm seriously considering moving up to .11s...I'm just scared it will throw everything else out of whack, and I have no idea how to set that stuff (filing the nut, mostly).

My two guitars are now tuned to drop C with the same gauge as I had in standard tuning and I did not have to mess with the setup at all. If you increase the gauge but tune to the same pitch you action may increase a little due to the strings pulling harder on the neck, but then it may not be noticeable. If you go from 10s to 12s then you will have to make adjustments to the action, the tension or both.

[FC]

I like the bite and snarl of higher gauges, and my luthier tells me the pickup magnets have more pull due to there being more metal, or something like that.

Just downtune to drop C (without masking any other changes) for kicks and giggles and tell us how it went. You may be pleasantly surprised.

[Meeeoww]

I like the bite and snarl of higher gauges, and my luthier tells me the pickup magnets have more pull due to there being more metal, or something like that.

Just downtune to drop C (without masking any other changes) for kicks and giggles and tell us how it went. You may be pleasantly surprised.

I definitely like the tuning, may have to use it for my acoustic. But the strings feel like complete ass; it's hard to even fret a note without bending it out of tune, amongst other problems.

[FC]

I like the bite and snarl of higher gauges, and my luthier tells me the pickup magnets have more pull due to there being more metal, or something like that.

Just downtune to drop C (without masking any other changes) for kicks and giggles and tell us how it went. You may be pleasantly surprised.

I definitely like the tuning, may have to use it for my acoustic. But the strings feel like complete ass; it's hard to even fret a note without bending it out of tune, amongst other problems.

Hahaha, you get used to it. But the question is: Do you like the sound?

[Meeeoww]

Hahaha, you get used to it. But the question is: Do you like the sound?

Oh yes, love it. It's deep and rich (one reason I want a baritone acoustic). It's actually more in my preferred tonal range; I often times find myself needing another octave or two on the low end, while I rarely ever go above fret 14.