I play 10-52 mostly. As soon as I go any lighter, it feels like I'm playing spaghetti or something. I used to have 11's but it was a little too stiff. So 10-52 was a good compromise. I use the black Dunlop 2mm picks as well and that combinations seems to work well without any string breakage whatsoever. I pick a lot and quite heavily and I wear those picks out like its nobody's business, but the strings always hold out. I use Ernie Ball strings too. They have a nice sharp, metallic sound that I like.