I've tried several changes between .09's and .11's, and I am most comfortable with the .09's. I use .09's and .10's in standard tuning, but I have to tune down to Eb to use the .11's. I tried .08's years ago, when I first started playing, But if I tried them now, I'm sure my bends would go very sharp.

Changing your gauge by going to a thinner string won't be at all difficult.I've used 8-38s since 1969 when I discovered Fender Super Lights.Don't listen to people who say that thin strings give you thin tone.Jimi Hendrix,Billy Gibbons,Tony Iommi,Brian May and John Lennon all used super thin strings and I doubt if anyone could say that either one of them had thin tone.Thin strings don't create tuning problems no more than any other string,when you are putting them on you just have to be sure to stretch them as you tune up until the tuning is stable.I do real hard bends in the Buddy Guy,Jimi Hendrix,Albert King vein, sometimes over 3 tones and I use the vibrato arm without mercy and I never have tuning issues.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Thanks for the reassurance. I trust your judgement over most people on this forum. But I was just wondering, is it like a huge shock when you go to bend after lightening up a bit? Did you ever over bend a few times before you adjusted? Also, the damn seller on eBay used UPS ground. I could be out of playing for a month or more... (I order strings online now, so much cheaper than going to a store)

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

It's good to know that you have confidence in me Buxom,when you go one gauge lighter the difference isn't as great as it would be by changing by 2 or 3 gauges.You may over bend just a tiny bit for an hour or two but you'll get the feel of it in no time and you'll find that you'll be able to do much more extreme bends.Good Luck with it.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I'm on 10-46 Ernie Ball yellow pack but will eventually go to the 09-42 one's as they felt better on the longer scale of the strat. For me i hate guitar playing feeling like a struggle and with the heavier guages it's too hard and too much work. I like to make things easy for myself if i can

On a Gibson tho' i'd use the heavier guage, as the scale length of the instrument is shorter.

It doesn't take long to get used to any change, a couple of hours of readjusting is generally all it takes.

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.