subject: The Ways In Which The Different Guitar String Gauges Affect Picking Style And Sound [print this page] Doc Watson, and many other flat pickers (that means guitarists who utilize a plectrum instead of their fingers) tend to use thicker, medium gauge guitar strings, either 80-20 bronze, or phosphor bronze. It's considered that phosphor bronze have a more sustained tone and also last for a longer time, as the metal compound is more resistant to oil and moisture from the skin. It's a great idea to clean the strings after each practice, but it's easy to forget. As with all things, there are advantages and disadvantages for different types of string, and the various gauges. This is also affected by the performing style (light or heavy), picking method and if picks are used or not. A player who finger picks using plastic or steel picks will know full well that strings suffer such a thrashing that they either lose their tone, or break before too long and need changing frequently.
Players wearing picks, or other players using a heavy feel would also need to raise the action on their guitar, if they don't want the strings to make noises as they oscillate too close to the frets. Acoustic guitar strings are nowhere near as thin as electric strings, and there has to be a compromise between thickness against ease of use. Acoustic guitar lessons frequently include techniques such as vibrato or bending the strings in order to change the note a quarter tone or even more - this can be quite hard when applying chords close to the guitar nut. Heavier strings have the advantage of not moving too much, and also not going out of tune if pressed too much between the frets, which can distort a string until the note changes noticeably. All thicknesses keep in tune pretty well, if using a higher quality guitar, but thinner gauges could be affected more by temperature and moisture in the air.
Blues guitar tabs don't usually refer to string thickness, but leaves it to the preference of the musician. It's useful to study the old disks, and to search out old film clips of the players if possible, to try and find out which gauge string they used. Naturally, this will have an effect on their playing style (and yours!) Light gauge strings usually run from .054 to 0.011 of an inch, and mediums range 0.056 to 0.013. It's possible to buy custom string sets, such as the Blue Grass set, having a bass of 0.056 inch (medium gauge), but a light gauge high E string of 0.011 or 0.012 inch.
