Essentially better

Spent time with the AZES31 today. Ever since I owned it, I find the default single coil pickups in this guitar above average but there's one thing it's unable to manifest well - twang. 

The main suspects were the default 500K pots & 22uf capacitor as evident in this entry: CLICK Took it down to Beez today to swap them out for 250Ks & a 47uf capacitor. That humongous Orange cap happened to be the most proximate when I was looking for a replacement capacitor. Verdict: It went from good to great. I still believe that single coil pickups match well with 250K pots. Some of us might enjoy the extra crispy tones of the 500K ones but they will take away some twang factor, that's what I noted.

Gave it a fresh set of EB Primo set (.0095s). I bought this pack about a month ago & intentionally kept it away for some time to see if rust spots would appear on the strings but none were seen here. However, due to the delayed use, the 'slinkiness' were not as apparent as those coming from a fresh pack. Not a bad Tuesday after all. 

New Slinky-s

Folks, Ernie Ball has these new sets for you to consider.

PRIMO Slinky: 9.5/ 12/ 16/ 24/ 34 44

Nothing new here, D'Addario & GHS were among the names offering that in-between gauge. Unlike their counterparts, EB offers a 12 for their B string. Will definitely try this set (my PRS guitars all sport a set of 9.5s) as it's close to what I'm used to.

MEGA Slinky: 10.5/ 13.5/ 17.5/ 28/ 38/ 48

I currently have a set of GHS 10.5s in my Jaguar but the gauges are slightly different: 10.5/ 13.5/ 17/ 26/ 38/ 48. Will also give this set a try since 10.5s are something new for me. I dislike 11s in my Jaguar for standard tuning & reserve that for my extended scale length guitars for drop tuning.

MAMMOTH slinky: 12/ 16/ 24(W)/ 34/ 48/ 62

I have never tried 12s. As mentioned above, I prefer 11s for a slightly longer scale length instrument. For most instruments, a slight re-slotting of the nut is required for string gauges beyond size 50. If you wish to return to your preferred thinner gauge subsequently, bear in mind that the wider slot might cause buzzing. 

Good to know that EB has caught up with the other market players in offering a less familiar but in demand gauges albeit a little late. My beef with EB is that the slinky feel gets done with pretty quickly & strings feel dead thereafter. Also, EB is in my bad books for being unreliable in terms of string freshness; a new pack off the shelf doesn't guarantee a rust-free set.

Pic: EBMM