Dunlop Zakk Wylde String Lab (.010–.060): the Black Label Society signature gauge, reviewed

Dunlop built the Zakk Wylde String Lab Electric Guitar Strings directly with the Black Label Society guitarist. It's a nickel-wound, six-string electric set gauged .010, .013, .017, .036, .052, .060, SKU ZWEN1060, the heaviest of the electric gauge options Dunlop currently sells under Wylde's name.

Dunlop's own product page frames the pitch bluntly: a set "developed to withstand the punishment of the reigning Berzerker of Metal Guitar," with "extensive engineering and critical road testing by Zakk himself" behind the final formula. It's built around Dunlop's True Balance technology, tuned for "optimal clarity and feel at any tuning" even under a hard-picking attack.

The String Lab electric line also comes in three lighter gauges (10-46, 10-52, 10-56), plus two separate acoustic sets under the same String Lab name.

The story of this set is the gap between the plain strings and the wound strings. The top three, .010, .013, .017, are a standard light gauge, the same numbers you'd find on a fairly ordinary .010-.046 pack. That keeps bends, pinch harmonics, and wide vibrato within easy reach, exactly the lead-playing signature Wylde is known for.

The bottom three are where this set stops being ordinary. Jumping to .036, .052, and .060 on the wound strings gives the low end enough mass to stay taut and defined a whole step down in Drop D, without the flab or fret buzz a lighter set gets when detuned that far. Stringjoy's independent research on Wylde's working gauges credits the heavy low end with "improved punch and clarity from the meaty strings," strong enough to cut through a dense metal mix, plus the added string mass that helps drive his signature pinch harmonics.

That combination, light top, heavy bottom, is why this reads as a purpose-built gauge rather than a simple "everything is heavier" set. A uniformly heavy .011 or .012 set would choke off the bend feel on the top strings that Wylde's leads depend on. A uniformly light .010 set would go slack and buzzy on a detuned low string. ZWEN1060 keeps both ends doing their own job.

• Black Label Society-style Drop D rhythm playing. This is Wylde's own documented working gauge, built specifically to hold up under his tuned-down attack.
• Players who want a heavy low end without losing lead-playing feel. The .010 plain strings stay bendable even while the wound strings get serious.
• Aggressive pinch harmonics and wide vibrato. The lighter top strings are what make those techniques comfortable at speed.

• Standard E tuning. A .060 low E at standard pitch is unnecessarily stiff. Dunlop sells a lighter String Lab 10-46 set under Wylde's name for that instead, plus a String Lab 10-52 for Eb standard to Drop D.
• First-time heavy-gauge players. The jump to a .060 low string is a real hand-strength adjustment. Work up to it from a lighter set rather than starting here.
• 7-string or 8-string guitars. This is a 6-string set. See Ernie Ball's Cobalt line for other heavy drop-tuning options in different string counts.

ZWEN1060 is the honest heavy option in Wylde's signature line: light enough on top to keep his leads and pinch harmonics intact, heavy enough on the bottom to survive Drop D and lower without going slack. It's also one of the rarer signature sets with independent corroboration, Stringjoy's research on Wylde's actual working gauges lines up with Dunlop's retail numbers exactly. If your rhythm playing lives in Drop D or lower and you want the documented Black Label Society gauge, this is it. If you're in standard tuning, buy one of the lighter String Lab sets instead.

Zakk Wylde Approved

Dunlop

Zakk Wylde String Lab (.010–.060)

.010 – .060

Price tier: $

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