I build each guitar for specific string tension, and always have. This does not mean I nail the perfect structure in every case, but I do get pretty close to my target most of the time. Early in my career I built more lightly than I do now, and my string of choice was Tomastik’s medium plectrum, which is a sort of extra light silk and steel string. Not quite like what they make today. 20 years ago I built mostly for 12-53 lights, and warned that using mediums on those guitars was risky behavior. Lately I have moved more of the structure into the top, relying less on the braces, and the product of my last several years is more likely to work with 13-56, though I hear a choked and poor response in many cases. Volume may go up, but it is less satisfying to play an over tensioned guitar. Most, but not all, of my dreads are built for 13-56, and sound a bit thin with lights. Those dreads which were built for lights sound great to me lightly strung, but still don;t quite make the sheer power of their heavier sisters.
My point is: each guitar, no matter the maker, will have an ideal strIng tension for its particular structure, and it is probably not useful to generalize about a universally correct string.
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