Heritage 535 and the G String

[jasonguyton]

Hello everyone. Im new to hollow (semi hollow body) body guitars and I have a questions that has been bothering me for months. I have a 2008 535 that I love. I play a lot of blues and jazz...rhythm as well as lead. I know that string choice has always been a preferred choice thing but I wanted to get your feedback. Here's where my problem is...I've always used 10's on my telecaster. I've tried 12's, 11's, and 10's on my 535. The 11's sound great but I'm always fighting the guitar when I bend the strings...and I bend a lot in my playing. So what do you think about 535 string size and string bending?

 

My second question revolves around the G string. It always sounds sharp when fretted on the first and second frets. So open E and A chords sound horrible. I've tried both wound and unwound G Strings. The wound G string seems to fix it but I loose the bright sound of the unwound string. I don't know if this is just how it is and I have to get use to it, or does my guitar need some work. I barely push down on the string because of the guitars high frets and it is still sharp. I live in the country so I can't find a good luthier to ask. Please let me know what you think.

 

Thanks,

Jason