Epiphone Dot question

So I got my New Dot (1st Electric for me) and quickly noticed it has a woung third string wheras me mates mex Strat has a plain third

Whats the reason ?

Can I put his 'came with the Strat' guage strings on my Dot to make it as easy as his Strat ?

AFAIK, guitars always came with heavier gauge strings and wound 3rds until electric players in the 60s used a banjo string for the top e and moved the remaining strings down one position (B->G etc). This created light gauge sets with plain 3rd strings that are easier to bend. Sets with wound 3rds are still used when heavier gauges are preferred, eg on acoustics or for jazz.

Old traditoion, but it's quite unusual in an electric these days

Yes, but you might need the truss rod adjusted to compensate for the change in tension, if the strings on it are heavy.

Dear Milky,

As a Dot player, I would stick with the wound 3rd as you may well find the tone is better.

By the way - Dot's, ain't they the dogs swingers?!!

Giles (UHJ)

Hi You should restring it with the strings you prefer to give the feel and sound you want. If you want to do much bending, a wound 3rd will be a pain - the thin windings on a 3rd wear through quite quickly and play out of tune, and then break, much sooner than a plain 3rd. The set is likely to be 11 to 49 or heavier ( that's where wound 3rds usually come in most makers' ranges ). If you have been playing acoustic enough to build strength to play the 11's ( or whatever ) and you like the strong tone, you can get 11-48 or 11-49 sets with a plain 3rd. If you don't know what gauge to start from try 10-46 - they will be bendable, but not too weak sounding. If you go too light you build weaker technique through lack of resistance. If you change string gauge very much the truss rod may need adjustment, and the bridge saddles will need adjustment to play in tune. If you bought from a good shop they should do this first basic setup to your needs without extra payment ( apart from the cost of the new strings of course ). If you don't know how to do these adjustments yourself and want to, ask the shop to show you how. If they are friendly, and not too busy at the time, they should let you watch what they do to set it up for you.

Alex