Hi there,

After a few years on metal 'Super Strats' and a couple on Les Pauls I've finally got round to getting my first 'Proper' Strat which is being delivered tomorrow, its a 2011 US Standard in black with maple fingerboard. (Some nice prices out there for this model before the 2012 comes in...)

Anyway, as far as I can tell the Strat ships with 9-42 strings which are a bit thin for my liking, especially as I tune down half a step to E flat. Currently I use Ernie Ball Beefy slinky's (11-54) on my Les Pauls.

As the Strat is a longer scale neck will there be much difference in putting the 11s on it or should I maybe go for 10s?

Also I'd imagine that Im gonna have to set up the trem, intonation and probably a truss rod adjustment too, maybe a term spring or two? Is this a lot of hassle on a Strat?

Cheers!

Shouldn't be any harder or easier than your other Strat style guitars........

Unless you had Floyd Roses n any of them then this should be a piece of cake but SSSHHHH you don't want to open that can of worms again.........

JUst set it how you like it. As far as trem springs go it depends what you are after with it. I tend to add atwo more and eck the thing cos I just am not all that keen on trem bridges and just feel, for me, that it is more stable as far as tuning goes to deck it but it's all down to personal preference.

NIce guitar anyways and post some pics cos ....well....we just like pics of other folks gear!!

btw I use 10s on my Strat and play in DADGAD and never had an issue.

_________________
speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

Stick with your 11-52's..... A significant drop in tone to 10's to my ears....

_________________

streetsleeper,

Congrats on the new strat. I have an american special with 11's on it tuned down half a

step and I haven't had any problems at all. Everything is pretty clear on how to set it up

and shouldn't give you any trouble. Pics when you get some.

Ha ha I have 2 guitars with Floyd Roses, a Japanese Jackson Soloist and a US Hamer Centaura both of which I hardly ever use these days. In fact I'm considering selling them so anyone in the UK feel free to message me about them! The Floyd was good fun, but setting the intonation was such a pain.....

For a brief period when i was a beginner I had a rubbish japanese Stratocaster that couldn't keep tune which put me off Fender for quite a while so I'm kinda hoping this one will be substantially better.

My thoughts are that I'll probably put some 11s on and see how it feels. Do you guys think that it's worth putting an extra trem spring in? I'm pretty good with Gibson Bridges and Floyds but have never really had much time on Fender bridges.

Somehow I'm not planning on doing a Stevie Ray Vaughan and using 13's just yet......

Thanks!

Hi there, another question if I may.

Will I have to alter the nut to accommodate the thicker strings?

Thanks!

Hi Sleeper,
You might likely have to change the nut or have it filed...especially for the fatties.
I broke two nuts when I went from 9s to 11s on the fat E side.
They were synthetic, not genuine bone, so that might come into play.

As for as trem springs go, yes, you may have to add one or two if going from 9s to 11s.
I had to add one because my bridge got pulled waaaaaay up.
Even tightening the claw assembly could not compensate.
Adding the springs is easy, just open up the back cover and small pliers will do the trick.

I do love the 11s, though, the Fender pure nickel, very nice sounding.
But alas, I had to drop down to 10s in order to sit in the nut properly.
Your experience may differ.

Good luck and enjoy!
david

Probably. I use Ernie 11's as well and some of the strings would bind. For me all I had to do was a quick file but my guitar came from the factory with 10's so it wasn't as big a jump.

I use Ernie Ball Power Slinkies (the purple package, not sure about the low E but they are 11s) on my strat which I keep tuned in Eb. Sounds great, feels nice and thick. Bends aren't that much more difficult than the same strings on my les paul. I also tightened the claw assembly and added 2 more strings for stability and ease of setup.

_________________
[08 MIM Standard Arctic White] > [Danelectro Fish n Chips EQ > Radial Texas Bones OD > Tonerider British Distortion > Electroharmonix Russian Big Muff Pi > Vox V847 Wah] > FM65R