Wes Hauch's guitar strings: the Alluvial / Thy Art Is Murder rig, sourced
Alluvial / Thy Art Is Murder · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Wes Hauch uses Ernie Ball Cobalt Slinky sets across his 6-, 7-, and 8-string guitars. Documented gauges: .010–.046 Regular Slinky Cobalt on 6-string, .009–.062 on 7-string (with .046 high E for Drop tuning), and custom sets up to .072 or .074 for his 8-string. Hauch quote on Cobalts: 'best strings ever.' Extended-range death metal and djent rhythm work across The Faceless, Alluvial, and Thy Art Is Murder.
Strings Wes Hauch uses
Sourced by Sleuth · last verified 2026-04-20
What's on the guitar
Wes Hauch's rig covers the widest string-count range of anyone on this page:
- Guitars: Multiple 6-, 7-, and 8-string guitars across various builders. Primary 8-string is an Aristides with Fishman Fluence pickups.
- Strings: Ernie Ball Cobalt Slinky. 6-string: .010–.046. 7-string: .009–.062 (.046 high E in drop tunings). 8-string: custom sets up to .072 or .074 on the low F#.
- Tunings: Drop C / Drop B (6-string), Drop A (7-string), Drop E (8-string).
- Pickups: Fishman Fluence Modern (active) on most extended-range guitars.
- Amps: Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III and Kemper profiles.
Hauch is one of the clearest case studies for how the Cobalt line scales across string counts. Most extended-range metal players run dedicated string sets from different brands depending on the instrument; Hauch stays on Cobalts across all three counts and builds his custom 7- and 8-string sets from the Cobalt singles catalog.
Endorsed vs. verified use
Hauch is a documented Ernie Ball Cobalt user with a direct on-the-record endorsement: the "best strings ever" quote is attributed to him via the Wired Guitarist "Geared: Keith Merrow and Wes Hauch of Alluvial" coverage. Equipboard lists Ernie Ball Cobalt Slinky 10-46 as his documented 6-string set.
Why Cobalts across three instruments
Hauch's material requires rhythm consistency across 6-, 7-, and 8-string arrangements in the same song at times. Sticking with a single string line's voicing, the Cobalt upper-midrange bump and tighter palm-mute attack, keeps his tone cohesive across instruments. Swapping to a different string brand on the 8-string would introduce an audible voicing shift that would have to be compensated for in the mix.
The 8-string .072 or .074 low F# is the bottom end of what the Cobalt wrap was engineered for. Beyond that you're in baritone-scale territory where string-makers often recommend specialized sets. Hauch's Aristides keeps his 8-string on a conventional 27-inch scale, and the Cobalt .072–.074 custom holds up in that context.
Sources
- Equipboard: Wes Hauch gear database. https://equipboard.com/pros/wes-hauch
- "Geared: Keith Merrow and Wes Hauch of Alluvial." Wired Guitarist. http://www.wiredguitarist.com/2017/01/28/geared-keith-merrow-and-wes-hauch-of-alluvial/
- Fishman Fluence artist pages.
Re-verified on each Alluvial or Thy Art Is Murder album cycle.
If you want this rig
Regular Slinky Cobalt (.010–.046)
Why this one: Hauch's 6-string set. The .010–.046 Cobalt in Drop C or Drop B is a common anchor across his extended-range rig.
For 7-string material, pair with the Ernie Ball 2730 Cobalt Slinky 7-string (.010–.062); for 8-string, build a custom set from the Ernie Ball Cobalt singles catalog.
Next steps
- Full Cobalt breakdown: Cobalt Slinky review.
- Adjacent extended-range rigs: Mark Holcomb, Jason Richardson, Keith Merrow.
- Drop C tuning guide for the 6-string context.