strat project finished

[Sprocket]

I'd be very surprised if switching to 0.10's makes too much difference to the guitar. Better to change them now than have them break mid-song! You must be doing some serious bends, lol

Okay, i'll do that then! I do do some serious bends

When you change strings on a strat, should you do it one after one, or should you take all the strings off first and replace them like that? I can't remember?
My trem is not floating btw

It is always best to leave atleast one string on, this will keep the neck tension consistent and you wont have to tune and retune repeatedly until the neck settles again.
If the bridge is floating, you definitely need to do this.
If you own a stop bar guitar, like an LP, youre gonna wanna keep one on just to keep the bar and bridge from falling out. (although these last two dont apply to you)

[edit]BTW, you never wanna replace string the day before a big gig or important performance...do it days in advance, a week if possible.
And the same goes for cars, you never wanna do any major repairs before the big trip.

[Bro]

Great thanks Sprocket, thanks for all the advice

[Sprocket]

I think youll be safe with the 10s, but you might check your action as well as your intonation after the strings/neck have settled for a couple of hours...and be sure to pre-stretch your strings so you dont have to keep tuning them over and over again after each song.

[ianjm]

I always used to play using .10s on my squier strat as I kept breaking the top E.
Since ive had my Ibanez it was fitted with 9s so I stuck with them so as not to upset my baby.  Now I only have to change them when they wear out (touch wood). Correction, I broke one about 8 weeks ago trying a dave gilmour mega bend!!!!

  Rotosound pinks,     love em

[Bro]

I always used to play using .10s on my squier strat as I kept breaking the top E.
Since ive had my Ibanez it was fitted with 9s so I stuck with them so as not to upset my baby.  Now I only have to change them when they wear out (touch wood). Correction, I broke one about 8 weeks ago trying a dave gilmour mega bend!!!!

  Rotosound pinks,     love em

Cool! My problem is that i do those mega bends without thinking about it, so therefore my 9s always break!

[64Guitars]

Have you ever tried a .0095 for the first string? They can be a good compromise between .009 and .010. D'Addario offers a set with a .0095 first string. So does GHS. You can also buy them as singles (if you just want to replace the first string).

To reduce string breakage, I'd recommend applying some Big Bends Nut Sauce to the saddles and string trees. Less friction at the contact points makes for less breakage.