hi i got a strat with 7,25 radius. I usually used 0,10" but i want to upgrade my sound. I want to try 0,11" but all tuned half tone down (Eb) to get a more fat sound. The guitar has vintage frets (medium i believe). Should i put an extra tensor (better stability)?; If i use 0,11" that will hurt the frets more?

thanks a lot for any tip...

You can use 11's, or even 12's but you may need to file the nut with a circular file to get the strings to seat properly. I'm using 11's right now (tuned reg E,A,D...) and it plays like butter. It's very do-able especially where you're planning on tuning down a bit. I used the same strategy on my acoustic...big fat strings tuned down a step, sounds awesome and you'll be stoked on the extra punch on the low end.

Bear in mind though that if you widen the string slots in the nut, this is a non-reversible procedure and if you choose to revert to 10s at some future time, the slots may then be too loose.

Try the 11s without opening the string slots first. If it accomodates, fine. If not, consider the above before "surgery".

As to adding the extra spring, with a heavier gauge string set and a lower pitch tuning, I think it would be unnecessary as (unscientifically speaking), the tension would probably balance out to around where it is now. It can't hurt anything if you did so if it makes you more confident, do it.

A heavier gauge string will increase fret wear but in your case, I doubt very strongly if it would be of any dramatic proportion.

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You dig?

In most cases you can go up one size after that you will probably need a setup done.

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I put .10s on my Tele (which was set up for .9s) a while ago and just today I switched to .11s on it (standard tuning) and did my own set up. It fit the nut just fine, and I didn't notice much of a difference between the .10s and the .11s. I just had to raise the action a bit on the lower three strings because they were buzzing a little bit. I don't think that the fact that the neck has a 7.25 inch radius really matters for changing string gauge. Just try it, you should be fine.

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