It took me eleven years to get up the courage to change up a gauge on my Strat.

My original Fender copy had 0.010's attached upon purchase & at some stage I thought going down to 0.009's would make my life easier. Instead it just warped the neck until I changed them back.



Ever since, I've been wary about messing about with such things & all the manuals & magazines recommend consultation with a professional before taking an allen key to a truss rod. Since this is one of the major issues with changing string gauge I shouldn't have been worried. Due to various circumstances, I've made plenty of truss rod adjustments along the way.

I once had a frequency problem with my Stratocaster, which at certain points on the neck I would get an additional sound other than what I was playing. It was a reverberation which felt like the wood of the guitar was singing along out of tune. I eventually took it to a local specialist, but there was no way he could hear the sound. He kept it a few days just in case the temperature was a factor. Of course, when I got it home, it was still there & in frustration I started turning the key in the truss rod slot. It fixed the problem & it played better than ever. However, I was still reluctant to change my strings to anything other than what was installed by the manufacturer.



Eventually, I took the plunge & now wondered what all the fuss was about. Whilst changing from 9's to 10's isn't a huge jump (as we're talking in hundredths of an inch), the difference in feel is significance, as was the improvement in tone. The best part was, I didn't even need to attack the truss rod to compensate for the extra tension! Just a couple of intonation adjustments was all which was required.

It was the massive improvement in tone which made me think going up another gauge would produce similar results. Hell, Stevie Ray Vaughan used 13's & it was effortless for him, so If I went up a gauge at a time I should be fine! Wrong. The tension was harder on my fingers, but I also play an acoustic, so it wasn't something I couldn't get used to. The problem was, where did my tone go? Why did the sound suck no matter the adjustments? In changing the strings, the whole guitar, no matter what, sounded like it was trying to escape a vacuum, muddy & squashed.



After a week or so of trying to salvage a set of strings, they were removed & replaced with a fresh set of 10's & I once again had brilliant tone, which I'm sure the neighbours appreciated all over again! I do hate destroying a complete set of strings though, as they aren't cheap & I always know I can get months from a set & after sticking with the Fender brand, I haven't had a single string breakage in about eight years!! I tried a few other famous brands & couldn't survive a couple of weeks without having a string separate from itself & whip around in front of my face.

So, now I'm back to where it all started & I'm finally settled on using Fender 3250R 10's forever & a day.