Dig it! I had an obscene revelation over the past week / weekend and it all started when I got that PRS guitar, and this could change... everything... forever

If trying different gauges of strings on a guitar is done without adjusting the truss rod, it’s a failed experiment. Some players fear the truss rod. It’s job is to adjust for string tension.

Assuming you start with a guitar that’s been setup correctly for the strings that are on it, including proper intonation, if you simply swap heavier strings for lighter, without making an adjustment to the truss rod, the lower tension will automatically lower the action on the guitar. This can lead to string sizzle. Also, if the truss rod is not adjusted to compensate for the change in string tension on the neck, the intonation will now be out of adjustment as well.

@smurfco did it right. He adjusted (loosened) the truss rod to compensate for the lower tension with the lighter strings. The opposite needs to happen if you put heavier strings on a guitar. The truss rod needs to be tightened to compensate for the increased tension on the neck. Otherwise, the action will be higher, the intonation will be off, and the neck will have too much bow, which tends to cause fretting out (sizzle) on the higher frets.

I hear differences between heavier strings vs lighter strings. I hear differences between high action vs low action, and good intonation vs bad. After hearing lots of different players who use different gauge strings, both live and in recordings, I’m convinced that what sounds best is player dependent.
 
9's work really well for me overall. 10's are too much, 9's give me a much nicer buttery :grin: feel.

At one point I was using 9.5s for shreddier stuff because fast picking was a little easier since you have a little more resistance to work with (again 10's were too much). But I still went back to 9's, I just like them best.

Slightly separate topic, I've been using D'Addarios for years. Was using Ernie Ball a while back and while they sound fantastic for the first hour they seem to deteriorate *really* quickly. D'Addarios seem more stable although the EB's sound better at first. Just my take. YMMV!
 
I pick string gauges based entirely on feel, not sound. I got lucky that lighter gauge strings happen to tighten up the sound. Heavier gauge strings have a preponderance of bass.

Half my guitars are tuned down a half step. The other half are tuned standard.

My 24.75” scale length guitars are 9’s for standard, 10’s for half step down.

My 25.5” scale length guitars are 8’s for standard, 9’s half step down.

I have one LP tuned to standard with an Evertune bridge. The Evertune is set in zone 2.99 to allow boomer bends. Because of the way Evertune works set in the allow-bends zone, 9 gauge tuned standard always felt a bit heavier than my other 24.75” scale length guitars. So, I just switched the strings to 8.5’s and adjusted the truss rod. Now, it feels the same as my other 24.75” scale length guitars with 9’s.
 
I've been loyal to the Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkies for decades. Even now, I tend to really dig into the low strings and I like the extra beef on them.
 
I've found that there is variation not so much in the top E string (if, for instance, you put 9's on there), but in the guages of the OTHER 5 strings.

For instance, one brand of 9's may have quite different guages for strings 2-6 than another brand of 9's.

They're both listed as 9's, but a certain brand may resonate differently and feel differently than another, due to the thickness difference.

I just stick with D'Addario XL 9's. Been using them for years on my guitars and it's what I feel comfortable with.
 
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