I hear Howard Roberts used 15's for   high e.
...with strong hands I imagine it was a sort of damping factor for him...all his lines were so tight.

I used to gig with a guy (Ken Hays of Paris, Illinois) who used a .17 for the high e on a lovely Koontz archtop.  There wasn't a whole lot of bending going on, but the sound was pure smooth jazz all the way.  This is the same guy who plays rock gigs with a Howard Roberts Fusion (archtop) with a scalloped fingerboard, and just kills with it through a pair of Boogies.
 
John