Joe Perry is 75, has early-stage arthritis creeping into his hands, and has exactly zero plans to stop playing. His solution isn't rest or therapy or a nice sit-down — it's a custom hybrid string set and a guitar he trusts with his life.
In a new interview with Guitar World, the Aerosmith guitarist revealed he's moved to a hybrid setup on his Fender/Warmoth "Burned Strat" — the so-called Rat Strat, which he played at the 2025 MTV VMA Awards during the Ozzy Osbourne tribute alongside Yungblud. The strings: .09s on the high strings, .08s on the lower three.
"That way, I can bend notes the way I want, and it also saves my hands because the arthritis is starting to kick in, but it's nothing I can't play through," Perry said. "At this point, it is and will continue to be my 'desert island guitar.'"
The lower-tension approach makes sense. Lighter bottom strings reduce the grip force required for full bends — something that matters a lot when your joints are starting to protest after fifty-plus years of wrenching on six strings. It's not a workaround, it's an adaptation. There's a difference.
Perry also noted that the Rat Strat with fat frets handled the entire Yungblud EP — "everything you hear I did with that guitar and just a few foot pedals." For a guitar that looks like it barely survived a house fire, it gets around.
Worth filing this one away. String gauge isn't just about tone or feel — as your hands change, your setup should too. Perry figured that out without making it a tragedy. Most guitarists wait until they can barely play before they're willing to change a single string brand. The same applies to picks: the gear you started with isn't necessarily the gear that serves you now.
The full interview with Joe Perry publishes in Guitar World on April 6, 2026.
Source: Guitar World (Matt Owen, 2 April 2026)