allrighty- last december i purchased a new mim hss strat. i haven't owned a strat for years and i'm lovin it. the only thing i don't care for are the strings. they are just a little light for me.

while at guitar center (where i bought my strat) i asked for advice about going to 10's. i was informed that it would be necessary to have my guitar set up for the bigger size strings. my question is simply: is a set up necessary? i don't mind spending the 35 bucks if it makes a difference, but in my 49 tears of playing strats, les paul, ibanez guitars, i never had this done when i changed string gauges.

i know there are web sites that show you how to do this, but i'm not confident enough to do it myself.

Hello!

Yep, changing your strings for either a different brand (sometimes) or higher string gauge will require a full set up. Check out the following thread for more details

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=35650

Hope this helps

Andy

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I do all my own setups.It's not really that hard. if you are jumping 1 one size it should not be that bad , but i would get it done eventually.

Going to a heavier gauge string set on a Strat will cause the tremolo block to lift and the neck to warp in one direction or the other, depending on the proclivity of the neck grain and/or predisposition of the truss rod. Needless to say, the action and intonation would be right out. It should be noted though that in isolated cases such as but not limited to, a guitar being set up originally for 10s and having no adjustments made to it when 9s were installed or any time thereafter, there is a possibility that the guitar would react favorably to the restoration of 10s. (Obviously, this implies that the guitar was out of whack with 9s.) When I say, "favorably", that is not to say that the guitar reverts to an 'ideal' playing condition. Rather, it can simply be less off than it was with the 9s. YMMV.

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