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Thicker gauge strings do require more tension in order to maintain the proper pitch associated with standard tuning on a guitar--but it's nothing that your guitar isn't already designed to handle. Over a very, very long period of time the tension of those thicker strings could cause some damage, but it's likely that you will have retired the guitar before ...

Short answer: Yes, you're in for more fret buzz, and the solution will require a truss rod adjustment. Long answer: The 10's have more string tension than 9's will have. This means the 10's will exert a stronger tendency to bow the neck than the 9's, and therefore your guitar tech had to tighten the truss rod to compensate. When you put the 9's on, the ...

Changing the gauge of string will change the tension which affects everything in my opinion. I've been playing for 20 years and for the first 16 of those I thought I was doing quite well setting up my instruments action, truss rod, etc by carefully following instructions found in books, magazines, and then eventually the internet. I was wrong. Then I ...

The change in tension is likely to cause a difference in the bowing of the neck, and adjusting the truss rod is the way to fix it. However, I don't think you should be too scared of tackling it yourself. Fit the new strings. Play. If everything feels fine, stop worrying and keep playing. If you feel there are problems with the action high up the ...

If you like the 9's or 10's Slinky from Ernie Ball, then you should go for the "7-String Super Slinky" (2623) with an additional .052" string or the "7-String Regular Slinky" (2621) with an additional .058" string. But, since you're using a dropped E and B string, normal gauges can get quite "sloppy". In this case, (and if this is bugging you) you should go ...

It's a balancing act between playability and buzz, given that the guitar is set up properly to begin with. Yes, if you are getting buzz with 10s going to a lighter gauge will likely make it worse. If you have an adjustable bridge, raising the action slightly at the bridge should improve things. Are the open strings buzzing? If not, then the action at the ...

"As close as you're gonna get... all electric guitars have some buzz when not plugged in" This is actually pretty true. Removing all traces from buzz requires a machine precision fret job, a perfect setup, and a ton of preventative maintainence (your frets wear, thus throwing the alignment off etc.). It also depends on how heavy handed you are. People who ...

Yup, a resetup is required if any significant change in string gauge is made. This is because the intonation and tuning will be all wrong on the guitar, and The action will also not be as you want it. Do not try and setup your guitar yourself the first couple of times. Find a local guitar shop that specialises in guitars (general music stores I have found do ...

If you played single coil pickups, then you would notice a gain in volume with bigger strings. I took my Tele from .012s to .009s and thought "Where did my guitar go?!?" That is the big reason that people go heavy. You have humbuckers and your benefit for big strings would be much less. I went back to .010s because I'd be bending sharp on accident and ...

12-string guitars going back 100 years ago were usually tuned to low C, a third below the standard tuning for the guitar. This is what the famous blues musician Leadbelly played. Many other folk musicians, notably Pete Seeger, played a lower-tuned baritone 12-string acoustic guitar as well. Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary used this C-tuning on his ...

You certainly can do all of the things you listed with relative ease. There aren't any real gotchas that I can think of other than the nut issue you raised. Anytime you do a major change in the string gauge you should reset the action, and as long as you get the guitar properly set up for the string gauges and tension that you are looking for it should be ...