String Gauge

I have a Washburn electro acoustic.
Factory strings were D'Addario coated Phosophor Bronze - 12, 16, 24, 32, 42 & 53
I have stuck to these exact strings but now fancy trying out some other makes. I have ordered some Ernie Ball Slinky 12s, thinking all 12s were equal. In this case not. the 5A is 44 and the 6E is 54.

Is this likely to affect the setup or is the change in gauge negligible? I know I could try and find out but I could always just take them back and exchange them.

Ta

Your guitar will play differently with these new strings. If the action is really low, you may encounter fret buzz where there was none before. Also, the increased tension of the strings due to the heavier guage may increase the relief in the neck, causing the action to rise.

If you are very particular about your setup (which many guitarists are), you might want to stick with a set of strings that match exactly the sizes you are currently using. What you could experiment with are the type of metal (bronze, phospor bronze, coated, uncoated, etc) rather than gauge.

Everybody runs into this at some point. Years ago, I bought a set of strings for my strat that I thought were the right ones - a set of 9's. I put them on and my bridge was sticking way up from the body and the action was terrible. Looking more closely at the package, I realized I had bought "heavy bottom" strings, which have regular treble strings but heavier gauge bass strings. Never made that mistake again :-).

Thanks Maggior. The guitar is really easy to play - I have no problems as a beginner playing the F barre chord whereas on the previous guitar I found it hit and miss. So I expect I may encounter some issues with the latter two strings if my guitar is low action as I expect it is. I Really like this guitar so I think I'll try different types like you suggested instead as I don't want to mess anything up. I seem to always use phosphor bronze, so think 80/20s next then.

With such a small difference in size you probably won't notice much change. Although it is always best to stick to the string sizes that the guitar comes with, above all it can affect the intonation of the guitar.

It's difficult to say "It's always best to stick to the gauge it came with." Because what if someone loves playing in Standard C? Or even Drop B? Or perhaps they simply like a 9 instead of a 10 on the high e. It's okay to change string gauge, but I will say it would be a great idea to have your guitar looked at and the intonation checked after moving up. The action is something most people can adjust on their own.

My best advise for changing strings is to try any set you want that is appropriate for the guitar. Try 9s, 10s and 11s if you want. The thickness and composition of the strings can have a huge effect on the guitar, especially an acoustic. That wood is a vibrating! Next is get proficient at adjusting the truss rod and action/intonation at the bridge. There are a million videos on youtube for instruction. Unless you start cutting or drilling or sanding, then you really can't hurt anything that badly. All guitarists should learn to to a basic set up on their axes. It will save you so much time and money and you will always be able to make your guitar play great and in tune after messing with strings.