# Will using guage 11 or 12 strings in standard tuning hurt a electric guitar?



## Gootar (Jul 18, 2009)

Will using guage 11 or 12 strings in standard tuning hurt a electric guitar? My guitar is getting its strings replaced and I asked for 11s but the guy may have accidentally put 12s on (the string package, now that I think of it, looks like 12s instead of 11s.I do not remember the exact guage and the guitar is at the shop now.) The guitar will be set up.

Thank you.


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## Metal#J# (Jan 1, 2007)

As long as the neck isn't bowing too bad or the trem (if it has one) isn't pulled right up you should be fine......But that's way too heavy for a standard E tuning imo! The last used PRS I bought had 12s on it in standard E and it was physically fine.......just played like shit. One problem you might be looking at now is that if you want to go back to (say 9s) the slots in the nut will be too big causing other problems.

J


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Unless it's fragile 12's shouldn't be a problem--a lot of people sue them, and some use 13's.
Most people probably use 9's, 10's or 11's--at least from I've seen online or when talking with others, but 12's shouldn't damage your guitar.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Acoustic guitars come with 12's standard - an electric guitar can handle 12's or 13's so long as the strings fit through the tuning pegs and the guitar is setup properly after the strings are on. My buddy uses 12's in E standard because he likes how it feels similar to his acoustic, and it sounds good to boot. Damn hard to bend though!


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## six-string (Oct 7, 2009)

i use 11s on all my electrics. sometimes 12s.
i don't know how you guys play with 9s?
feels like limp spaghetti to me.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

six-string said:


> i use 11s on all my electrics. sometimes 12s.
> i don't know how you guys play with 9s?
> feels like limp spaghetti to me.


that's the whole idea hahahaha


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

It won't hurt the instrument, but there is an outside chance it may require a minor adjustment of the neck trussrod. Normally, guitars are set up with a certain amount of "relief" in the neck, such that between the tug of the strings in one direction, and the pull of the trussrod in the other direction, the neck ends up being straight. Of course the extent to which that relief needs to be there is largely a function of the physical strength of the neck, including its thickness/width and the composition. A single-piece mahogany neck might need additional relief to compensate for a noticeably heavier gauge of string, but a wide and thick 5-piece laminated maple/ebony/maple/ebony/maple neck likely wouldn't.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

You may have to adjust the the action, otherwise no, it shouldn't hurt. If you have a floating trem, then you will definitely need a set up.


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## Gizmo (Aug 7, 2008)

12's are great when you get used to them, but some guitars feel stiffer than others because of scale/string length. The "stiffness" or tension for bending is not just a factor of scale length, but also due to the length of the strings between the anchor points, ie the tuning peg and the bridge anchor point, because when you bend you are actually bending that length, not just between the nut and bridge (unless its a locking nut). So for example a Strat with a reverse headstock will have slightly less tension on the high E than a normal headstock because the effective string length is less.

One thing you should watch for is if you hear any "pinging" when you use your whammy, it probably means your strings are sticking in the nut.


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## Gootar (Jul 18, 2009)

Thank you for the fast responses! If I learn to play in other tunings like drop d one day will the guitar require a set up again? Is that why I have heard of people keeping certain guitars in drop d or a certain tuning all the time?


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

I never witnessed a string guage hurting a guitar... setup such as relief and intonation and possibly action and tremolo will be required.


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