(Very) Heavy strings on a Legacy or other G&Ls?

[fretbuzzard]

Does anyone here have any experience stringing a Legacy with rather heavy strings? A lot of folks here seem to use sets starting at .009 - .011, but I tend to prefer sets that start with a .012 or .013 high e. I guess I'm particularly interested in your impressions of how the alnicos in the Legacy (or the pickups in any other G&L) respond to heavy strings, and your thoughts on setting up a DFV for use with these strings. Any available features on G&Ls (fretboard radius, frets, neck shape, etc) that you've found play particularly well with heavier strings? Thanks!

[darwinohm]

I don't see a problem as such, The pickups could be lowered if needed, A spring could be added to the DF and the truss may need an adjustment due to the increased tension on the neck. I have not tried them but I suspect they would have more of an effect on a thinner neck that on a thicker neck. I suspect they would work better with the flatter radius (Radii)?? This is getting into acoustic territory-- Darwin.

[smurph1]

it's been my experience that heavier strings equal better tone, but some would disagree..Legend has it that Stevie Ray Vaughn used 13's on his Strats..Best advice I can give is to fiddle around with pickup heights till you find that "sweet spot"..

[KenC]

When I got my first ASAT Classic last year I put 12s on it. That guitar was very unhappy, and had terrible tuning stability. I had been playing 13s on my previous go-to guitar (an old Epiphone), so I thought anything lighter than a 12 would feel too light. I ended up going down to 11s and then 10s, and the ASAT's performance improved drastically each time.

This might have been partially a function of having a BEM neck. I haven't strung any of my other G&Ls heavier than 11s, and haven't had any stability issues with them.

Ken

[supereiv]

Hi, my Legacy and my ASAT are strung with 11-49, there's absolutely no stability issue for the neck neither for the tuning. I haven't tried heavier gauge though. The sound is pretty good, I hear it especially on chording stuff, but, you have less of that vintage twang. Sometimes that sound seems just too big, but that's fine with me.