someone here will give you a more educated answer. i recently switched from 10's to 12's on my strat cause my g string just didn't sound right and someone here offered that solution. it worked.
i'm probably wrong but i think sustain comes more from the pickups, amp and guitar body. i'm not sure the string itself is a big factor with sustain. i'm curious to read what others say. i know the 12's added more beef to my sound but i'm not sure it added more sustain.

In order to stay in tune, usually you just have to make sure the nut and bridge slots have a little lubricant on them and all should be good. More sustain perhaps, but I believe pickup height and proper action (i.e. a good setup) have more to do with sustain than string gauge. The main reason to change strings IMHO is for feel. If the 9s feel a little weak to you and you want some more metal under your fingers, 10s should do the trick. If the 9s feel good, then I'd say try rubbing some waxed dental floss in the nut and bridge slots (I believe nikininja came up with that one) and raise the action a bit to help sustain.

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

Changing from 9's to 10's will not aid in tuning stability but would actually make it worse as there is added string tension.
Personally I would find the issue by doing a complete setup and lubricating parts that need it.

As far as increased sustain and tone.... well that is up to individual if he hears or feels it.
Personally I don't think either changes going from 9's to 10's.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

I had switched back and forth from 9's to 10's in the past over a period of about a year, doing setups as required and I found there is little difference in tone between the two. What little difference I did notice was that 10's seemed to be slightly better for the bell quality of the tone but the 9's seemed to be slightly better for the jangle and quack aspect. Again those differences were slight. Mostly there was a difference in feel. 10's require a little more effort to bend notes. I did not notice any difference in tuning stability. Sustain? I really can't give a definitive answer. At the time I thought maybe the 10's sustained longer but if they did it was an extremely small difference. The amount of mass interupting the magnetic field around the pups is slightly greater with 10's so there is a small difference in volume/gain. This is also the same reason Fender 250's are slightly hotter on the wound strings than 150's. Greater mass of iron in the 250's with the windings being steel plated with nickel. I went with 10's for the feel as I play acoustic and electric about the same amount and like the fact the 10's feel closer to the acoustic feel and the switch seems more natural. I also switched my acoustic strings from 12's to 11's for the same reason. I know it's not extremely useful but I hope that helped somewhat.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

I'm at the point of also changing out the strings on my Tele as they pretty much had it. It came with 11s and I want to go down to 10s. The truss rod is at the end of the fretboard (CIJ). What do I use to adjust the trussrod...it didn't come with any tool. Is removing the pickups and pick guard a difficult job?

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Current Gear: Ron Kirn Barnbuster Tele,
Marshall: 1971 SuperLead 100>1997 1960-TV, bunch of pedals
and a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe named Veronica

Without de-tuning you remove all the pickgaurd screws and move the pickgaurd just enough to gain access to the trussrod adjuster. Should be just a flatblade screwdriver needed to make that adjustment.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Glad I could help in some way.

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Chet Feathers

Authorized TonePros Dealer
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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Glad you figured it out. I too neeeded someone to show me the correct way to install my locking tuners when I first got them. I had them in right, but needed a second opinion.

I have locking tuners and 10's on my HWY 1 Stratocaster. I was impressed on how much of a difference there was with the tone and sustain when I went up to the 10's. To my ears, just made it beefier, especially when I play without an amp. As many of you know I just got a American Special and cannot stand the 9's on it. I just got used to the 10's on my HWY 1. I can tell a difference when I go from playing my HWY 1 to my AS. So I will soon be putting 10's on it as well.

Strangely though, I have no issues with the 9's on my CV 60. The neck radius is the same, but the frets are medium-jumbo not jumbo like on the AS and HWY 1.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Glad you got your problems sorted. I used to always use 9s, but now prefer 10s.

Did you know that you can also get 9.5's?!

http://guitarstringguide.com/drupal/half-gauge-strings

BTW, Big Bends Nut Sauce is great for solving sticky string tuning problems

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