Setup for 10 guage strings on American Pro Tele

Onpar

I am looking at an American Professional Series Tele but noticed they come with 9 guage strings. What is involved and how difficult is it to setup the guitar for 10 guage strings? Truss rod adjustment, filing the nut etc. Has anyone else moved to 10 guage strings on this guitar?

guitars4you

Chances are the truss rod will need a tweak - Nut slots should be fine between 9's and 10's  - Assuming intonation is already okay, then generally no additional tweak will be required and min. at the most - maybe a tweak on the pick-up height to suit your own needs etc

Not sure how competent you are with such adjustments - the main one to get right is the neck relief so ask if you need additional info on this

Philtre

Put 10s on my American Standard 2016 Tele recently. Tweaked the truss a tad, adjusted some saddle heights on the bridge. All good.

Onpar

Cool. Did it make a big difference to the sound?

flying_pie

I use 10 gauge strings on my Tele. All that should be needed is to just adjust the truss rod to compensate for the extra tension. The nut should be fine.

I think 10s sound a little fuller and I like heavier strings as I play hard. But plenty of people get amazing sounds from all manner of different gauges going from 8s to 13s. 

You might as well switch and see if you prefer them. You can always switch back if you don't like them 

Alnico

I can't bear the sound and feel of 9's on any Fender. I've got 10-46 on my Tele and 10-52 on my Strat. 
It gives a stronger sound and gives a little more resistance with less flopping about when playing but neither feel too heavy for me.

Any new guitar will come with the nut slots not cut deep enough so you'll need to see a tech anyway no matter what gauge you prefer. 
When you do the tech will make the slots correct for the strings you want.
If you choose not to, the nut height will be too high and it won't play properly but many choose to do this and they seem quite happy.

It's all a fairly personal choice.

As others have said just try a set of 10's to see if you like them, they'll almost certainly fit the nut slots but do try to get it set up.

My American Pro Strat had an awful set up out of the box and the nut was way too high.
Now it plays like a dream.
Well worth every penny of the set up.

I chose to have the nut replaced completely. 
YMMV. 

Philtre

Onpar said:

Cool. Did it make a big difference to the sound?

It just feels right. 9s felt too weedy for a Tele, somehow. Took a couple of weeks to get used to it, but I love the girth.

On the other hand, I put 10s on my Les Paul and I still haven't got used to that yet.