New Strings

[btomlinson]

I have two Ricks, a 360 and a 360. I have in the past put Rick strings on them. I currently have a gift certificate and (am short on cash) for a popular musicians equipment website that does not carry Rick strings. If I know the Rick srings are 10-13-17-26-34-42. If I put a more standard 10-13-17-26-36-46 on the guitars, will the intonation go out?

Thanks for anyone's replies.

[jps]

You may need to adjust the intonation a bit but that is not hard to do, in fact, everyone should learn how to do these simple adjustments instead of paying a tech to turn a few screws!

[ric330]

I agree everyone should at least know how it is done if not learn to do it themselves and it is relatively easy.
If you over adjust you can re-adjust and get it right where you want it. The nut may be another issues though.
If it starts to stick in the factory grooved nut set up for the factory string guages this can lead to tuning nightmares.
If you have the right tools you can slot the nut correctly (with some practice on something other than your Rick)for those sizes changed but don't cut too much because then you will ultimately need a new nut.
Rule always a little at a time, play it in and lube the nut with graphite or guitar grease from Stew Mac or equivelant. Make sure your trussrod adjustment is correct before you start to fine tune your cut- If the neck has a bow and you cut too low then adjust your neck for straight you will probably buzz at the first fret - and that's no fun. You can always widen a touch more but don't cut deeper unless the string is riding high with proper neck adjustmant.