I didn't read every post, but here's a cheap quick tip on getting older strings to sound decent again. It also cleans the string of dirt, oil and rust.

Simply mix 50/50 WD40 and rubbing alcohol together and get a rag. Apply a little to the rag, just enough to wipe the strings down. Give it a few good swipes, then get a dry cloth and wipe it down again just to dry it off.

If the string are seriously old and nasty it may not be very beneficial. But normally it can liven crudy strings back up. I do this with my guitars, especially basses since those strings are a bit more expensive.

 Thanks guys or sharing some of your experiences and knowledge. The different string sizes have me curious as to which is the best.I guess that question is answered in different ways depending on the player and the guitar.
 
  The nut on my electric guitar neck has the high E string closer to the edge than some others, to the point that I sometimes accidentally push it off the neck when fretting. I have even thought about either having the nut reworked or getting another neck. It isn't horrible but it can be annoying sometimes.
 I'm wondering if the heavier gauge on the high E might help to stop that problem?

 I wish they made a string variety pack, where is Santa when I need him?

I had a guitar that had that same problem. Heavier gauge strings will not solve it, but probably make it a little worse.

As far as which gauge is best, it's pretty much preference. In my younger years, in the 80's, I used custom light 9. Then I started using plain 9's. Then eventually swithed to 10. Now I'm using 9 again.

For me and this is probably just my preference, but it really all depends on the tuning of the guitar. For standard, half steps and drop tuning, I pretty much stay with 9's. But if I was to tune lower than say a full step down I'd go with a heavier gauge.

Don't know if it'd solve your e string issue, but I usually find that the bigger the strings, the better the sound. 

I did switch from my regular set of slinky to hybrids recently - it was actually quite stunning to hear the difference it made, using all the same equipment. Plus, they seem to last me a bit longer.

If I had SRV's hands, I'd probably go for .13 to .52 like he did - but I don't so those hybrid (.9 to .46) give me a bigger sound on the lower hand and I can still band those b and e strings w/o breaking my fingers. I've tried .10 but I just couldn't play lead w/ those.

Only just (re) discovered this thread - for some reason I wasn't getting the emails to tell me there were new posts :-/

String guages - possibly the best clean(ish) Fender sounds I've heard live are Dick Dale, Keith Richards, Mick Green (sadly deceased) and Wilko Johnson. All use(d) pretty heavy strings, especially Dale - .016 high E anybody?

The blues players of the 40s, 50s and early 60s who pretty much invented the basics of modern rock guitar must have used (by today's standards) heavy strings because that's all there was.

Huge sounds, but you need hands far bigger and stronger than mine to cope with bending them much.

Mind you, Tony Iommi could sound pretty huge as well, while using strings like fuse wire (because of his damaged fingers).

Bflat5
 
 Simply mix 50/50 WD40 and rubbing alcohol together and get a rag. Apply a little to the rag, just enough to wipe the strings down. Give it a few good swipes, then get a dry cloth and wipe it down again just to dry it off. 

Hm. WD40 and fretboards tend not to have a long and happy relationship. Rosewood boards generally need a light dose of lemon oil once in a while to stop them drying out too much (say spring and autumn), but WD40....no.


Isopropanol alone works fine for cleaning strings (just keep it off the board). The lubricant in WD40 gets everywhere and sinks into the wood. Over time, over-oiled wood goes mushy, loses it's grip on frets and markers and either goes soft or breaks apart.

Over the years I've replaced one or two fingerboards for people who, having diligently applied an industrial penetrating oil, designed to help free corroded fastenings and dispel surface water to bare wood, ended up giving me a substantial amount of money to sort the mess out. :-/ 

Well, while you are correct that wd40 is not great for fretboards, I didn't actually say to clean the fretboard with it or saturate the cloth. Just enough to wipe the strings down. If there's moisture on the board then too much was applied.

This is just how I do it, which is a tip I received years ago from a guitar tech. I play mostly custom guitars and take exceptional care of them. I will say I don't generally "clean" my strings, just change them when they start sounding dull. However, I do tend to use this mixture more on basses, since I don't play them as often and the strings are more expensive.

I have used it on old, nasty, rusty strings. It will definitely clean and liven the sound back up.

 Bflat5  I am playing on 10s now so maybe I'll try the 9s to see if they work better. I am thinking that it might be a quirk of this guitar though,as far as the other problem is concerned.

 Rain I tend to like sound of the larger strings on  hybrid sets I have bought :) Some of those will still allow me to go with a smaller gauge on the high strings like you say.

 If I can  clean the strings and make them sound like a new pair after several months then I am certainly liking that idea. OTOH I don't mind paying the cost of strings every month or so if it makes the kind of drastic difference in my tone that I just experienced. 

When it comes to strings, tuning and tension I think the biggest problem is in how I was putting my strings on. Incorrectly wrapped or over wrapped strings can cause all kinds of tuning problems( I found that out the hard way).I would put too many turns on the strings and then couldn't figure out why they kept coming out of tune.