GHS Boomers Medium GBM (.011–.050): Prince's Hohner Mad Cat gauge

GHS Boomers Medium GBM is the .011 to .050 nickel-plated steel electric set that sits one step up from GHS's canonical Light-gauge GBL. It's also a documented piece of music history: Prince's guitar tech strung this exact gauge on his Hohner Mad Cat, the "clean" guitar behind Let's Go Crazy, every single night, per Guitar World's own rig breakdown of the song.

Same nickel-plated steel wrap over a round core as the rest of GHS's Boomers line, sealed in GHS's nitrogen-flushed Nitro-Pack to slow shelf oxidation. GBM exists for players who want more tension and low-end weight than GBL without jumping all the way to GBH Heavy.

Prince ran two different GHS gauges depending on the guitar. His Cloud guitars and Auerswald Model C "Rock" guitar got a fresh Light GBL (.010–.046) before every gig, restrung nightly by guitar tech Dallas Schoo. His Hohner Mad Cat, the Telecaster-shaped "clean" guitar he bought used in the late 1970s and reportedly preferred in the studio, was strung with the heavier GBM covered on this page, per a 1990 Musician magazine tour report and independently confirmed by Guitar World's own Let's Go Crazy tone breakdown, which lists "GHS Boomers Medium .011-.050/Standard" as the exact strings and tuning behind that song's guitar tone.

That preference for a straightforward, gadget-free signal chain shows up in the rest of the Let's Go Crazy rig too: a 1981 Mesa/Boogie Mark IIB set clean, Bag End 4x12 cabinets loaded with JBL D120F speakers, and a short pedal chain (Boss DS-1, Boss OC-2 Octaver, Boss BF-2 Flanger, a Colorsound Wah) doing the rest of the work the guitar itself doesn't. See Prince's full documented rig for the complete breakdown, guitars and amps included.

Stepping from GBL up to GBM doesn't raise tension evenly across all six strings. GHS's own spec table shows the wound D and A strings, the 4th and 5th, stay at the exact same .026 and .036 gauge on both sets. Only the high E, B, and low E change: .010 to .011, .013 to .015, and .046 to .050.

The extra tension on GBM sits almost entirely on the outer strings, not the middle of the neck, which is why players moving up from GBL to GBM usually describe the change as stiffer bends and a fatter low E rather than an across-the-board heavier feel.

GBM is actually the lighter of GHS's own two 11-50 Mediums. Its sibling GBTM ("True Medium") runs the identical .011-.050 outer range but steps the wound D and A strings up to .028 and .038, the same middle gauge both D'Addario's EXL115 (.011-.049) and Ernie Ball's Power Slinky (.011-.048) use. GBM is the outlier: every other 11-gauge medium set in this table, including GHS's own GBTM, runs a heavier D and A string than GBM does. If GBM feels a touch looser in the middle of the neck than an EXL115 or Power Slinky at a glance-alike gauge, that difference is why.

Players who've outgrown GBL's Light gauge but don't want GBH's full Heavy jump. Funk, rock, and pop rhythm work that wants more low-string weight without losing GBL's snap, the lane Prince's own Hohner Mad Cat gauge sits in. Eb standard and Drop D players who want extra tension without switching brands. Anyone who wants GHS's Nitro-Pack shelf life at a gauge above the standard Light default.

Beginners setting up a guitar for the first time: start with GBL or GBXL and size up once fretting-hand strength builds. Anything past Drop D: step to GBH (.012-.052) or one of GHS's heavier-bottom Boomers variants for tighter articulation. Players who specifically want GHS's heavier-middle 11-50 to match D'Addario EXL115 or Ernie Ball Power Slinky in tension: GBTM is the closer GHS match, not GBM.

GBM earns its place as the gauge behind one of the most recognizable clean-guitar tones in Prince's catalog, but it holds up as a working gauge on its own merits too: heavier outer strings than GBL without GBH's full jump, at the same Nitro-Pack freshness and Battle Creek manufacturing GHS has run since 1964. Pick this set when GBL feels thin under a harder pick attack, when funk or rock rhythm work wants more low-end weight, or when you're chasing the exact Let's Go Crazy "clean" guitar tone yourself.