Yeah, I never knew that he used that custom set either, interesting!

I've been using 10-46 and higher action than most for the last 40 years or so on all my guitars, I need it to fight back a little. Makes it hard to try out new guitars in the guitar store because they always string them with 9's and have the action too low (for me).

SRV and a few other players, Kenny Wayne Shepherd is a modern example, use heavy strings and high action, I think Stevie used 12's or 13's, but then tune down 1/2 step to reduce the string tension.
Joe Bonamassa, my current favorite player, uses an 11-52 set.