My tone done gone

[Plugger]

OK, here's a weird one:

Bought a new Mexican Standard (see thread "MiM Standard Strat - surprisingly good for the $$$" for my gush about tone, etc.)

Broke a high E string by over-enthusiastic bending practicing some Jim Page licks. Nothing odd about that...

Noticed the strings were Fender bullets... looked up the web page and discovered they should be .009 - .042 Super Bullets, if the strings are the factory shipped ones.

Put on a generic ball-end .009 to replace broken string, and was unimpressed; weak tone and volume on replaced string.

So, ordered a bunch of Super Bullet .009 - .042 sets. Arrived yesterday, put a set on to replace all the strings on the guitar, and -- the TONE DONE GONE!!!

Actually, it was very much like what happened when I replaced the .009 with the generic .009 -- the volume dropped somewhat and tone just left to go home to Mexico. Except now it's on all the strings...

This is weird -- I've never been a "string fetishist", strings are, for the most part, pretty much strings, in my experience. My first thought was that maybe I should have put on a heavier gauge, say .010 - .046, since the new strings feel perhaps a tad lighter and slinkier -- but the guitar shop assures me that if they were bullets on the guitar, they would be the ones that shipped from the factory.

Any ideas? Would (inadvertently) going from a regular gauge to a light gauge cause such havoc with tone? (BTW, to try to describe the tonal difference, the tone is now thin, lacking bass and depth. It's not just the extra brightness you get from new strings, it's more like the middle and bass have been abducted. Very uninspiring.)

I've played guitars for years, mostly the G-brand I must admit, and never had an experience like this. Very puzzling. Is this a Fender/Strat thing? Or have I just entered the twilight zone?

-Mark

[stratcat55]

I never liked the Super Bullets on my72 Strat. They always sounded thin and lack luster. They also always broke at the bullet end. If you like Fender strings (I don't) Try the 150 series. If you want good tone go with a heavier string as long as you're comfortable with them. I've noticed a long time ago lighter strings kill tone.

[FrankJohnson]

Bullets have Bullet ends......did these? If so, I believe they are unique to fender bullet stings.....I never checked to see how many variations there are, but would guess that nickle would be the way to go.

I have been using Musiciansfriend 10's for about 2-3 years now and scoop up about a dozen sets at a time when they are $1.99.............they play just fine for me. No one has ever said.....man - you should use these or those.......they just comment that my guitar sounds pretty good, weather I am playing or them........(more when it is them.....my playing doesn't really earn any wows....)

I like the fender strings, but wonder what happened, unless it was a guage change.......

[photoweborama]

I've never seen a reason to use Bullets. , but I did not have any tone problems when using bullets.

Was the Tremolo floating when you got it? and if so, is it still in the sam position at the bridge? 1/8" off the body for the bridge is the Fender spec.

If it was set right, and you had 10's on it, then the bridge will now be flat on the body.

One of my hunbuckers sounded great with 10's but sounded like junk with 9's.

[twenty4]

That happened to me once but it was the guitar cable gone bad at the same time, weird ah?

[twenty4]

I use super bullets or super 250's 009-042 and love them

[Plugger]

Was the Tremolo floating when you got it? and if so, is it still in the sam position at the bridge? 1/8" off the body for the bridge is the Fender spec.

If it was set right, and you had 10's on it, then the bridge will now be flat on the body.

Yes, the trem was floating when I got it, and it still is floating -- looks to be about 1/8" or so off the body at the rear of the bridge.

I know the original strings on the guitar were bullets simply because no other string has the distinctive bullet end. That at least takes out some of the mystery of what the original strings were. If you say going from 10s to 9s would have left me with a bridge flattened to the body, that possibility is eliminated too -- the mystery deepens.

To be clear, I'm not particularly wedded to the idea that I must have bullets on this guitar -- I just bought them because I thought that was what was on there when I bought the guitar, and I want to keep that tone! I'd buy any brand string, and pay just about any price, just to get the guitar sounding good again! This is weird stuff. I just posted in case this jogged anyone else's recollections of something similar happening.

What about pickup height? What are the specs for this? How can that affect tone? If they're too low, can the tone become thin and weedy? Mine seem a bit low, but I haven't touched the set-up (because I didn't want to mess up that great sound... )

-Mark

[CocoTone]

BOOMERS FOREVER!! .11-.50`s. Love `em!! Gotta change often tho,,I sweat alot.


CT.:ahem

[soapbarstrat]

You shouldn't say things like "I'll pay any price". These days all the companies rely heavily on what gets said on the internet.

I can see the new ad already : " New Ultimate Tone brand strings. They are a bargain at $100.00 per set "

Ok, I'm just joking.

What would be real handy is if you had some calipers to measure the strings. I measure strings that way until I'm blue in the face, because I often get used strings out of my big "string box" to use for guitar set-ups.

I would think that a visual look at a side by side comparison of the low E strings would give you a pretty good idea if one is a .042 and one is a .046

But, what if the original set is one of those "in between" sets , like .0095" through .044" or something like that ?

The new ones might just need to "break in". I don't know whether to agree or not, but some people claim that strings sound better after they've been stretched out and used for a while.

[Constellation80]

Well is the gauge of strings larger ? cause if there up there gonna put more pull on the neck. Which will cause more bow, which will cause the string height to be higer. and further away from the pic ups.. but vicer versa.. lighter strings will give you less tone and sustain. Like hendrix once said " you can't play with rubber bands"

[soapbarstrat]

Funny you write that quote of Hendrix. I've been wondering for a couple of days what gauge strings he used, but can't find that info yet.

[chuckocaster]

read my thread in the bass section about rotosound bass strings. they had a bad batch. stuck with playing some dead ass bass strings. try some other brands for now. they might come back around.

[photoweborama]

It is possible you got a dead set of strings. Fender stings are not sealed, so they could have been on some shelf to 5 years, and they would look the same.

The best strings I ever used are Firewire, but they are mail order, and expensive.

I'd say try D'Addario because they seal the packs so air can't get in to break the strings down.

I don't think you need to play with pickup height until you are sure it's not the strings.

[tonemonkey]

Strings, in my view, are anything but all the same. I have tried a lot of brands, and have always found a tonal difference, sometimes big, sometimes small, but something that is always there. Experiment to see if you can find a string that has more of your tone naturally, and bear in mind that with single coils a lower pickup setting will sometimes be tonally fuller and more natural.

[FrankJohnson]

I am not sure if it was mentined before, but I think ToneMonkey has a good point -

If you changed guage, everything changed slightly - recheck pickup height and adjust to see if it makes a diff...........

[Skip]

get some DR Blues 10's and have a good time!
they will fatten your tonal pallet -