My strats have .09's currently and was thinking about changing to a bigger gauge, is it worth it or will my playing suffer?

It really depends on what you are hoping to get out of bigger strings, Billy Gibbons uses .08's! and a quarter/metal pick to get his tone and its huge! Personally I use .11's but i worked my way up to it, switching to .10's you'll find that you can play just as well as you did with .09's but your fingers will hurt the first 3-4 days, however, you'll notice a difference in your tone for sure.
When i first switched I used(and still use) D Addario strings, I found that after a day or two of real good bending and playing loosens them up ALOT! this might be good for you, I also found that Markley's don't loosen much up

Good luck, switch to .10's!

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King Bee Guitars T-Type
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'78 Deluxe Reverb (Blackfaced)

If you do go to 10's you'll need to do a complete setup.

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Whether it's worth it depends on what you want out of it.

Have you played another similar guitar with a bigger gauge?
Are you not satisfied with your current gauge?

those are things to consider.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

I used 9's for two decades and fought hard to get to 10's recently. Tone definately improved along with the tuning stability of the Strat tremolo. The Injun is right though. You'll have to do a complete setup, truss rod and all.

It takes a little getting used to, but it's worth it once you do.

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I also moved from .09's to .10's. After a setup, it is 100% worth it.

It's personal preference.

'Run 11s on electrics (usually with a wound 3rd) and 'believe the extra metal gets a gob more out of the pickups and sends a better signal to the amp.

I used to go with .09s on everything that I owned. I recently switched over to .10s once I started playing Fenders more. They were a little bit different at fist, but now I love them. Setup isn't too bad going to .10s from .09s, more of a setup going to .11s

If you are perfectly satisfied with 9s, I don't change. And yes, your playing will suffer if for nothing else, because you aren't used to the heavier gauge. If you're simply looking for a bigger sound and feel a heavier gauge will get you there, so will a tweak of the amp.

I've been using 9s on my Strats since 1970 and I have no intentions of changing now.

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Your playing will suffer at first, but after a week it would be like it never happened.

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I used to use 13's. They took some getting used to but sounded good. Then I started having problems with my hands (not guitar related) and had to switch to 9's and one guitar with 10's. At the same time I started making my own custom gauge Flatwounds. With the Flatwounds I still get a tone that I like.

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

To me, 9s are much more open and airy than higher gauges BUT this is most noticeable (to me) with humbuckers. I have a P90 guit taht has to have 10s, even though I prefer the slinkiness of 9s.

Yes, some huge tones have been gotten with light strings (EVH, Gibbons), though Gibbons actually uses 7s! Recent interview I transcribed on my blog:

http://www.woodytone.com/2009/07/06/gib ... s-andamps/

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Addicted to chasing down tone info, and publishing all my findings at my blog: www.WoodyTone.com

Heavier strings give you better control of the string and your playing will improve.

No, it is not worth it as apparently you are comfortable with 9s.

Yes, your playing will suffer because you are contemplating something that is uncomfortable.

Reading between the lines here: A tweak of the amp will get your 9 gauge set to emulate a 10, 12 or beyond gauge set.

I've been using 9s since 1970 and have had no problems or shortcomings with them. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

This is merely IMO, YMMV.

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You dig?