Quote:
Originally Posted by The Old Gaffer
There isn't a set answer. My advice is to put a set of lights on your guitar and see if you like the sound.
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I actually do, and advise, the opposite. Find medium gauge strings you like. Then try the same set, only with lights. I have had a number of dread guitars and the difference in tone between meds and lights has always been enough for me to avoid the lights.
It's kind of like those cartoons where the wimp punches the bully in the face, and it has no effect. Light strings are wimpy. Dreadnaughts are bullies. You want your strings to be beefy enough (mass and tension) to "rock" your guitars soundboard when they "hit".
The decreased tension of light strings just aren't worth the trade-off for me. And I actually prefer the feel of heavier strings. With light strings, I don't know if it's real or if it's only in my mind, but I get the "wire cheese slicer" thing going on with my finger tips. The heavier strings are actually more comfortable to me.
The thing to do, no matter what gauge strings you use, is to get your guitar set up properly. Truss rod, nut slots, saddle height. People tend to worry only about saddle height, but in my opinion, the biggest X-factor is the height of the nut slots. You want those babies practically as deep as you can get without causing the string to buzz on the low frets.
Fret your guitar between the 2nd and 3rd fret on the low E, and look at how much space there is between the top of the first fret and the bottom of the string. You want that space to literally be so small that you can't even see it.