Xraycat asked

"Does it affect the sound or just the feel?"

String gauge is to part and it definitely is feel and sound. In the feel department I personally have better control for string bends with heavier strings. I use (D'Addario XLs EJ21 012-052 wound G). As far as sound see my response below.

 " Also what is the difference in sound on the small gauge, the med. gauge, and bigger gauges?"

I have played just about every gauge from .009-.046 to .013-.056s over the years. I find with:

light gauge .009-.042, ,010-.046:

The sound lacks a fullness and has a much brighter sound than what I care for. While it can be dealt with by tweaking the amp eq to rid the brightness they still lack the full rich sound I like.

medium gauge .011-.049

Pretty much the same as above while the brightness is a tad bit less noticable it is still lacking in fullness.

heavy guage:

I classify anything .012 and above heavy. The big factor is the E,A,D,G which are usually wound. There is a fullness and rich tone that is not to much different than a light set of bass strings you would use.

Even though D'Addario calls the ones I use a light jazz string set EJ 21 -  .012,.016,.024 W, .032, .042, .052 I can honestly say there isn't that much of a noticable difference in the overall full tone, in comparion to:

EXL 145s heavy  which are .012, .016, .020, .032, .042, .054  or

EJ 22 medium jazz .013, .017, .026, .036,.046, .056   

I used EJ 22s for a number of years, and decided to try a little lighter guage the EJ 21s and found that they provide the same rich fullness and tone as the the EJ 22s without all the problems associated with heavier strings related to the guitar neck and truss rod adjustments.

Hope that helps you out.

Blzman

Liqour drinkin' dope smokin' mother ****in' Bluesman.

www.billchristyproject.com

Stu,

Excellent point which I totally forgot to mention. Lighter stings will definitely help to keep an inexperienced player interested.

Heavier string do tend to rip your fingers up pretty good until you callouses get built up. I find that with a proper guitar setup once you are used to playing and have the necessary callouses, heavier strings aren't any more difficult to play. If anything I think one has better string bend control with heavier strings but that is just my own personal experience.

B

Liqour drinkin' dope smokin' mother ****in' Bluesman.

www.billchristyproject.com

The Hammer.

VENI, VIDI, VICI.

Underestimate No One.

Thnx,

This helps, I think ill probably go with either medium strings or mabey find some between medium and heavy

What kind of bass you play X-Ray?   Medium strings would be 105, 85, 65, 45 . Medium Lights are 100, 80, 65, 45.   Lights- 100, 80, 60, 40.

Extra lights -  95, 75, 60, 40.  If you play  5 string  a low B of  135 to 120 would be used in proximity of the above sets.   

Heavies -  110, 90, 70, 50 .  5 string heavies, 140 or 135, 110, 90, 70, 50.  

 I hope this helps.       

The Hammer.

VENI, VIDI, VICI.

Underestimate No One.

I had a Samick, a cheap Greg Bennett model.

It was a good bass.  Better than a Squire thats for sure. 

The Hammer.

VENI, VIDI, VICI.

Underestimate No One.