How heavy can I go with string gauge?

[slidincharlie]

Some say that a medium .013-.056 set is fine with a resophonic, but heavier high strings are better if one plays mostly with a bottleneck. In the latter case a 0.15 high-E string is advised, and the use of a heavier set is discouraged.
Bob Brozman suggests a heavy .016-.059 set for playing slide. I am using one such heavy set in my Delphi and I get a wonderful feeling under my bottleneck. I tune my Delphi always to open G or open D though.
I plan to use a .013-.056 set with heavier 1st and 2nd strings (.015 and .018) on the vintage Duolian that I have recently bought.
What do you guys like better in your recent or vintage resophonic guitar, both sound-wise and neck-safety-wise?
--Carlo

[Michael Messer]

16 to 59 is heavy, but can be great for some things. I used to use them on all my round neck resophonic guitars. For the past 12 or so years I have mostly used 15 to 56 on my round neck resophonic guitars. Trial & error - you need to try all these things to form an opinion.

Shine On
Michael.