I guess audio editing is a lot like proof reading text for me. I need to step away from it for quite a while or else I read right through my mistakes.  Reading what I meant, not what I wrote.

When I mention SRV and putting heavy strings on an old tele (breaking the nut). They were a set of 12's.  I kept saying 10's.  

10's are what I usually run on solid body guitars. I sometimes put 11's on hollow/semi-hollow type electrics.  You won't hurt your guitar going from 9's to 10's.  But, 9's to 12's, that is a bit of a jump. 

BTW, I did end up putting 10's on this tele. I also pulled a bit more of the relief out of the neck.  Then checked the intonation again after.  I've been plying the guitar ever since. I'm not sure how quick I'll be to give it away now. Its playing sweet.