According to the popular legend, Paul used Gibson Sonomatics for the three heavier strings, a really heavy unwound banjo string for the fourth, and a couple of heavy strings from a .013 set of Fender Rock n Rollers for the first and the second.
However, according to our visitor Alen (see comments below), the bottom two strings were a .8 and a.11.
Of course, none of this can be confirmed, so take it with skepticism.
In the Melody Maker of 10 Nov 1973, Kossoff said “I use a Gibson Les Paul guitar with Gibson Sonomatic medium-gauge strings on 6th, 5th and 4th, a heavy plain 3rd and 2nd and a medium 1st.”
And in the Guitar Player interview from just before he died he’d said “At the moment I’m using Fender heavy or anything really heavy or stiff. Basically, I like Gibson Sonomatic sixth, fifth and fourth, a banjo third – I don’t know what gauge but it’s heavier than what a Fender Rock And Roll would be (un-wound), and Fender Rock And Roll second and first”.
Thanks Chris for the comments and the souces. I will update everything on monday.
Re: Strings – Drinking together in a bar in Tokyo 1971 I asked him how he got that vibrato and he told me he used a 9 for his high E. 11 for a B. I don’t recall the rest. But he had a heavy lower 3 gauge and high top 3 gauge strings. I have a napkin somewhere with him writing the gauges down for me on a bar napkin but I have no idea where the napkin is and can’t recall exactly what all 6 strings were. Didn’t seem important to me at the time. I will find the napkin eventually.
If you could thanks