I am coming into this a little late. My SJ-200 came with 13s, just like they all do. When I first heard that sound, it was love at first site. The bass response is absolutely impossible to resist. Who does not love that sound. Now that we all agree on the power of 13s, here is my dilemma.
When you play unplugged that is exactly what you want; but when you play with a bass player, the sound needs to be less boomy, for my taste, to avoid competing with the bass. I play at church through a highend PA Bose system. I tried 12s, then 11s. I met a guy at a music store, who mostly plays electric guitar, and he said that he uses 9s on his Gibson SJ-200 and has been doing so for years. Well, just for kicks I replaced the strings with Elixir nano web 80/20 Bronze. So far, I like the playability, I am a finger picker mostly. Sounds good at home through Fishman Amp, let's see what happens at church through the PA. I have to like the sound to use it.
