... I will be playing more acoustic than electric on it but want the freedom to play some lead like on intro's and bridges on songs. My guess would be a light gauge elixir acoustic or heavy gauge electric? again, all help is very much appreciated. Thanks.
So it sounds like you will be biased more toward the acoustic side with the occasional foray into lead lines and maybe intros/outros? Perhaps, then, that wound G is to your advantage. That said, I'd stick with a plain G and perhaps try 11-49s, personally. Perhaps because I personally think the the T5 cops some pretty decent acoustic tone when properly EQ'd going into a board (or acoustic system), but really its electric sound is considerably better than it's acoustic tone, IMHO, and thus functions more as a versatile
electric that can do some good acoustic tone rather than trying to make it "more acoustic" with acoustic strings/wound G and then compromising its electric strengths.
FWIW, I've never owned one (and will obviously defer to these guys here who have done the heavy lifting with their T5s), but a very cool guy at an indy shop (on a slow Saturday afternoon) let me hang out and goof around with a T5 for quite a time. Through a good tube amp, the T5 sang nicely, with shades of stratty tone oozing warmth and chime (and I do own a lovely strat, so I dug it). Then went acoustic through a PA rig and it sounded pretty dang good. But it was very clear to both of us that the T5 is biased toward the electric guitar world that can cop decent acoustic tone much more than it is an acoustic guitar that happens to have a humbucker. And I'm just a weekend warrior. In the hands of a pro (say, Marc Seal of Taylor who I had the good fortune to see play at a Road Show), his
acoustic tone was better than mine (natch!), and again, this with electric strings (heck, he was even using the factory 10s). But with said electric strings/gauge, was far more capable of pulling off electric-style riffs and chops than one could with an acoustic set of strings, or even an electric set in 12s with a wound G. Not that Marc needs my piddly validation, but I totally concurred that the T5 rocks better and is more in its element with electric strings.
The final solution is, of course, in what suits you and your purposes best. I'm simply suggesting that you don't discount the benefit of sticking to an
electric set of strings/gauge, and simply finding the right solution for you to achieve the
acoustic tone you're looking for.
Edward
