Changing string gauges

[tommy p]

Hate to ask such a basic question, but...

I've strung all my guitars with 10-46's for over 20 years, but recently I bought a guitar that came to me strung with 11's (not sure of the low E gauge) and I really liked the feel and sound. It wasn't like it was any huge struggle to adjust playing-wise, but the sound just seemed fuller and maybe tighter for lack of a better word. That got me thinking about changing some or all of my other guitars up to 11's.

I know a setup would be a good idea, but I worry about the extra strain on the neck of guitars that I've been playing forever that currently have good action. I don't want to mess that up. I also wonder about the nut and bridge and whether the bigger gauge would settle in to the slots well enough or if those would have to be recut and or filed.

Any advice/insight would be appreciated.

[murkat]

More tension.

so, a twist or two on the truss rod.

check intonation.

Wound strings may need a smiggen open up on the nut.

Loosen string, pop off nut, place new, bigger string in the groove, see if it fits

prior to putting the new set on.

would not worry too much on the added tension.

acoustic guitars have been fine for many year withe bigger strings.

[Hamer Dave]

You should see the action rise a bit with the added tension. A small tweak (tightening) of the truss rod should offset this back to where you are accustomed to.

I may be going the same route. After a couple years of strictly bass playing, my guitars feel like mandolins with loose strings. Bigger gauges definitely 'tighten' the feel up, and you should get better tone as described. Check the nut slots as murkat suggests, hopefully they'll be ok, otherwise you may have to 'widen' them a bit. In other words, don't deepen them if they're already properly cut, or you may end up needing a new nut made. Simply widen them. Good luck!

[Brooks]

i've gone the other direction; 2003 to summer 2010 i did duo gigs every weekend w/ acoustic strings on the duotone (11 on top, wound G, 52 on bottom), and also played 10's or 11's doing jazz/funk/ska stuff w/ generic hustle. those gigs eventually ended, then i hurt my left pinkie in my bike accident oct 2010. so i switched to 9's, and started playing hard rawk w/ distortion (rush tribute, & wizard sleeves). slinky strings sound good w/ high gain (EVH & Iommi use 8's). now when i pick up my duotone which still has 11's it feels stiff.

does anybody want to trade a bunch of 10's & 11's for 9's?

[tobereeno]

for Floyds - 11-48. for open nuts, 10-46. Both my TLEs just feel and sound better with 10s. Virtuoso gets 10-46 due to the extra long scale. Lighter strings, like 9s or even 8s, do seem to do that metal scream and harmonics better, but they're just way too thin sounding for me at anything other than full distortion.

There may be a settling period after switching string gauges, if a guitar has been at a certain gauge for a long time. The longest for me was six months before the neck really settled in with higher tension strings (a Californian that had lived its life with 9s and I went to 11s). But it will - truss rod adjustments mostly, a little adjusting of the bridge, and patience. The guitar will adapt; I only own one solidbody with a neck that isn't shredder thin. Hell, my doubleneck has the thinnest necks I've ever encountered from Hamer, and it holds up to 12 strings (10-48, wound G string) no problem.

[Frank]

Going up or down one guage? Probably not enough difference to worry about. I did the same thing on my Strat. I went from 10s to 11s and never changed anything. I never noticed a difference in either feel or action.

[lincsman]

I went from 10-46 to 9-46 as I found 10s a pain for bending. All I had to do was tweek the intonation on the top E.