Finally able to drive this amp

[backwardlefty]

All I did was put .010-.046 strings on my Strat, going from .009-.042. I really can't believe it. The boost in tone is amazing. The strings are much, MUCH more balanced. The signal from the pickups is so much clearer, fatter and more balanced that I can really drive this DRRI. If I drove it too much, before, the sound would just turn to mush, as the highs would get buried by the mids, and the whole sound would fight with flabby lows

I know I've said how much this setup sounded good before, and it did sound good, but NOTHING like this. I could hear this sound in there, but wasn't able to really bring it out. I thought maybe I was just used to the hot JJ 6V6's, and I needed to tweak it a while and get used to the more delicate Tung-Sol's, but now I'm able to drive those Tung-Sol's to the edge of breakup without losing any articulation. In fact, it seems to become even more articulate when driven! I'm pretty excited because this is the first time I've ever experienced driving a tube amp like this. It's starting to sound like some of those souped up vintage DR's they got over at Fenderguru. All this from going up one gauge in strings!!?! I'm very pleasantly shocked

[ashcatlt]

Not sure this really belongs in the Amps section, since it's more about strings, but...

It's almost a cliche now, but that old saying "heavy strings plus high action equals great tone" is no less true. Honestly, it's not really the size of the string, though, but rather the tension. Most strings sound best to us when they are just about tight enough to snap. I'm not exactly qualified to comment on the physics of it. Something about a more pleasant and balanced series of overtones, less "noise harmonics", something... Anyway, it should be obvious that a heavier string requires more tension to reach a given pitch, and that's why heavier strings sound better.

All of my standard tuned Fender scale electrics are strung with 11s, while my (shorter) Gibsons have 12s. My mini-strat has 11s also, but I tune that up to A... I'd imagine your fret hand will strongly disapprove if you jump to 11s just now, but give yourself a couple months to get used to the 10s and then try to move up again. If you're happy with the tone now...

[backwardlefty]

ash, It's hard to figure out which category to post in because they all work together lol. Thanks for putting up with me

I never considered the tension influencing the tone, only the feel, but that makes perfect sense! A more floppy string would definitely be a more noisy string

I don't know about going to 11's though. These 10's feel REALLY good, and sound amazing! I actually played with 11's for a bit. Didn't really dig it though. I was using a flatwound set, however, so that may have had something to do with it. I do like to feel the strings, but I don't like to work too hard at it. 10's feel perfect to me right now