string gauges

[jjang1993]

i restrung my cheap beater guitar with heavier strings. i noticed the action was higher i think because of the addition of tension. my beater guitar had these cheap nickel factory strings and i restrung them with Dean Markley Medium Light PBs. im wondering if i restrung my alvarez rf20sc or my harmony beater guitar with lighter gauge strings such as these Martins

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Martin-MSP4000-Phosphor-Bronze-Extra-Light-Acoustic-Guitar-Strings?sku=100054

or these ernie ball strings

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ernie-Ball-2150-Extra-Slinky-Acoustic-Phosphor-Bronze-Strings?sku=100601

now about the ernie ball "slinky" strings. does the slinky name mean anything or is it just a catchy product name?

[javaCat]

Well to answer one of your questions, yea when you put heavier strings on the guitar, the action gets higher, neck tension changes and could need a truss rod adjustment. If you lower the guage down to lights, youll be fine, some guitars/makers are very spesific to what guage you can use.

[DonK]

On the Ernie Ball "Slinky's", it's a catchy product name. They were one of the first to offer an electric set with a plain G string (up until the '60's virtually all sets came with a wound G), and hence the name "Slinky's".