A lot of the "temperament" that you talk about is actually related to the design of the guitar, and what the original string tension it was designed for, along with guitar to guitar variations.
One of the starting criteria for a guitar, from the day it is conceived of, is the tension it will be designed to handle, and what it is optimized for. A guitar may be able to handle (as in no structural damage) strings from ultra light to medium gauges. It will sound its best within that range with say lights, or extra lights. Even with those design goals in mind, guitar wood, being non-uniform, will vary in stiffness and weight (mostly the soundboard, but bracing to some extent as well). So, if a guitar is normally designed to sound its best with light strings, some guitars of that exact type and woods, will sound best with extra lights, or mediums. Think of a bell curve, for each guitar model, with the horizontal axis being string tension, and the verrical being sound quality, and you will get the idea. We are speaking of volume production guitars; luthier built guitars can be optimized to any set of conditions.
The other part to this, is that you can have guitars that "choke" on excessively high string tension, as in the tension being so high that it actually impedes the tops ability to vibrate. I ued to have a number of Lys guitars (precursors to today's Simon & Patrick and Seagull guitars), and most of them sounded best with GHS Laurence Juber Signature Bronze strings (now called Americana series). The exception was one model, which was cedar topped over mahogany. With the GHS strings that I used with the other guitars, it sounded like somebody had stuffed it with a blanket, and it didn't change much with more or less strumming energy. Before settling on the GHS strings, I had tried a bunch of other strings (John Pearse Earthwoods, Dean Markley, a few different D'Addario sets, and some Martin strings). None of them sounded anywhere as good as the GHS strings that I eventually settled on. Out of frustration, I put a set of Martin stings, and they also didn't sound very good. Again, tried the John Pearse, no go. Then I tried the D'Addario 80/20 strings, and the clouds parted, the sun came out, and the guitar came to life. The cedar top was not working well with the other strings, probably because they were slightly higher tension (all string were light (.012")). I used those strings only on that one guitar, and it worked really well. All of the other Lys guitars (spruce tops), Guilds, the Takamine, and the rest were fine with the GHS strings. The GHS strings were noticebly stiffer than the other string sets; may have been the cryo treatment that GHS uses on these strings (which I personally doubt) or GHS may have played with the core wire diameter (which I do believe to be the case).
Sorry about the lenght of this, but the point is, you need to find the correct strings for YOUR guitar. That some set works for somebody else's guitar really isn't something to go by. Even if somebody were to have the same model guitar, and only one serial number apart, you still have to find the best strings.
One of the starting criteria for a guitar, from the day it is conceived of, is the tension it will be designed to handle, and what it is optimized for. A guitar may be able to handle (as in no structural damage) strings from ultra light to medium gauges. It will sound its best within that range with say lights, or extra lights. Even with those design goals in mind, guitar wood, being non-uniform, will vary in stiffness and weight (mostly the soundboard, but bracing to some extent as well). So, if a guitar is normally designed to sound its best with light strings, some guitars of that exact type and woods, will sound best with extra lights, or mediums. Think of a bell curve, for each guitar model, with the horizontal axis being string tension, and the verrical being sound quality, and you will get the idea. We are speaking of volume production guitars; luthier built guitars can be optimized to any set of conditions.
The other part to this, is that you can have guitars that "choke" on excessively high string tension, as in the tension being so high that it actually impedes the tops ability to vibrate. I ued to have a number of Lys guitars (precursors to today's Simon & Patrick and Seagull guitars), and most of them sounded best with GHS Laurence Juber Signature Bronze strings (now called Americana series). The exception was one model, which was cedar topped over mahogany. With the GHS strings that I used with the other guitars, it sounded like somebody had stuffed it with a blanket, and it didn't change much with more or less strumming energy. Before settling on the GHS strings, I had tried a bunch of other strings (John Pearse Earthwoods, Dean Markley, a few different D'Addario sets, and some Martin strings). None of them sounded anywhere as good as the GHS strings that I eventually settled on. Out of frustration, I put a set of Martin stings, and they also didn't sound very good. Again, tried the John Pearse, no go. Then I tried the D'Addario 80/20 strings, and the clouds parted, the sun came out, and the guitar came to life. The cedar top was not working well with the other strings, probably because they were slightly higher tension (all string were light (.012")). I used those strings only on that one guitar, and it worked really well. All of the other Lys guitars (spruce tops), Guilds, the Takamine, and the rest were fine with the GHS strings. The GHS strings were noticebly stiffer than the other string sets; may have been the cryo treatment that GHS uses on these strings (which I personally doubt) or GHS may have played with the core wire diameter (which I do believe to be the case).
Sorry about the lenght of this, but the point is, you need to find the correct strings for YOUR guitar. That some set works for somebody else's guitar really isn't something to go by. Even if somebody were to have the same model guitar, and only one serial number apart, you still have to find the best strings.
