Lighter string gauges

[JimN]

Correction:

Gibson Sonomatic Light Gauge (E340L) strings were gauged 11-52, not 12-52, as I stated above.

I think that those may be the ones that I discovered second time around, the first ones available were 13-56 .

I think the light gauge version was introduced to the British market by Selmer in the late sixties. They weren't a replacement: both gauges were available side-by-side for some years. At least until the mid-seventies.

[ecca]

The guitar I bought was a 61/62 Hofner Colorama
I obviously don't know if these were the original strings but they were rusty and tapewound so they're in all probability old, in fact they were so rusty I had to cut them from the tailpiece.
Out of interest I dropped a micrometer on them and they measured as per the following;

1st string missing.
2nd string .017"
3rd string .028"
4th string .035"
5th string .040"
6th string .054"

[Uncleboko]

Ah ha Clifford Essex strings - wasn't their shop in London?

[JimN]

Clifford Essex had a shop at 20 Earlham Street, between Cambridge Circus and Seven Dials. It was on the right going away from Cambridge Circus. Pretty near the pitch for Tubby Isaac's seafood stall.

http://tinyurl.com/ndj6u6y

[Stratgirl]

I have always used 10 to 46 Golden Sixties Srings since I was 12 years old. They were first introduced to the UK as Mustang Strings. They are hand wound in Germany and I have found them excellent. I did try the DR strings when Hank started to use them but found that some were dead so I gave up on them. The Golden Sixties are hard to get hold of these days so when my stock runs out I may have to think again. For me it is not about what Hank uses but what I personally like.

[Uncleboko]

Clifford Essex had a shop at 20 Earlham Street, between Cambridge Circus and Seven Dials. It was on the right going away from Cambridge Circus. Pretty near the pitch for Tubby Isaac's seafood stall.

http://tinyurl.com/ndj6u6y

Thanks, that was on a circuit of shops we used to frequent back in the early 1960s to stock up on strings, followed by James Asman's Jazz record store where we would wind up the assistants by asking for Shadows records! Then round to Denmark Street and Charing Cross Road guitar shops, ending up in a Spagetti House near Cambridge Circus, where we could watch punters going into various doorways!!! We would also go to Imhoffs record store in New Oxford Street to listen to LPs in a little booth with a record player and write down song lyrics - we did the Beatles' first album like that!

[Detailed Infinity]

Boomers

http://www.ghsstrings.com/