Recommend some coated acoustic guitar strings

[Sean Sullivan]

Ok, I'd never put coated guitar strings on any of my guitars but my girlfriend has small hands and about half an hour into her set her fingers get pretty worn out. The fews time I've played coated strings they seem softer to the touch, so I was going to get her guitar set up and try a pair and see what she thinks.

Are Elixers still the standard? I know D'Addario started making them as well.

[KevWind]

I have tried both back to Elixer now.... MY wife likes the ultra lights .47 -.10 easer on the finger tips

[Sean Sullivan]

Thanks for the suggestion! Those are like electric guitar string gauges! How do they sound?

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by upinflames

Thanks for the suggestion! Those are like electric guitar string gauges! How do they sound?

Actually I suppose it might depend on the particular guitar, type of wood etc. But on her 712 Taylor as much projection as the .53-.12s that I use. Worth giving them a try any way, cause they are kinder on the fingers for sure.

[doncaparker]

Martin Extended Life SP+ for me. Light guage, .012 to .054.

[Jay Dee]

Take a magnifying glass some time and look closely at those coated strings after a couple of months of solid playing... see how the plastic gets frayed and fuzzy. Wonder what that's doing to your tone? Hmmm.

[Sean Sullivan]

It's a guitar we only use for shows because it has a pickup and if something were to happen to it, wouldn't be a great loss (it's an Epiphone I think I paid $120 for with a hard shell case) so it only gets played a few times a month, probably 3 or 4 hours total.

[S.F.Sorrow]

Personally I would rather try different brands of uncoated strings. I think coated strings are awful. Strings are very different in regard to how much they wear out your fingers. The same gauge from different brands feels completely different. I play mostly bassguitar so my advice may be wrong but D'Addario is one of the worst for your fingers on bass.

Coated strings just don't do it for me. I would rather try some flatwounds, even on acoustic guitar. They are soft as butter and some of them are quite bright. Maybe look for halfwounds or something like that, I'm not sure if that excists for acoustic guitars but it might be worth to check out. Flat on the outside and round on the inside.

[Roots Rock]

Originally Posted by upinflames

Ok, I'd never put coated guitar strings on any of my guitars but my girlfriend has small hands and about half an hour into her set her fingers get pretty worn out. The fews time I've played coated strings they seem softer to the touch, so I was going to get her guitar set up and try a pair and see what she thinks.

Are Elixers still the standard? I know D'Addario started making them as well.

I think the action on the guitar would have more to do with it than the strings. That being said, I love the sound of Elixirs on my Taylor.

[doncaparker]

Originally Posted by Jay Dee

Take a magnifying glass some time and look closely at those coated strings after a couple of months of solid playing... see how the plastic gets frayed and fuzzy. Wonder what that's doing to your tone? Hmmm.

Play some regular strings for that long and see how they look under a magnifying glass. And we already know how they would sound after being played for that long: dull with poor intonation.

There's no free lunch here. If you want to have a very short period of great tone, and are willing to change strings very frequently, then use regular strings. If you want the tone to be a bit more mellow, and have that tone last longer, use coated strings. Play any sort of string for long enough and the intonation will go sour due to the strings being dented by the frets.

[sound_music]

i've tried the elixer strings on my acoustic guitars, they're great for live use as they are really bright and last alot longer, but the brightness translates to "plastic sounding" the second you put a microphone in front of the guitar in the studio. IMO, for recording purposes you're better off sticking to normal acoustic strings.

[Elvis Christ]

Originally Posted by sound_music

i've tried the elixer strings on my acoustic guitars, they're great for live use as they are really bright and last alot longer, but the brightness translates to "plastic sounding" the second you put a microphone in front of the guitar in the studio. IMO, for recording purposes you're better off sticking to normal acoustic strings.

elixir makes a phosphor bronze acoustic string now. they are a much warmer sounding string. my favorite acoustic string ever.

[Sean Sullivan]

I picked up a pair of D'Addario EXP13 strings, they only had the Elixirs in medium which is a little thicker than she likes to play. If the D'Addarios don't cut it, I'll try the Elixirs, and if those stink it's back to regular strings. To be honest, I don't really notice the coating on the D'Addarios, unlike my experience with Elixirs.

[seriousfun]

Originally Posted by Jay Dee

Take a magnifying glass some time and look closely at those coated strings after a couple of months of solid playing... see how the plastic gets frayed and fuzzy. Wonder what that's doing to your tone? Hmmm.

They'd still sound a lot better than everything-else-equal uncoated strings by then.

Back when I was gigging nightly, I had to change strings daily on my most-used guitars. Not cheap. Not fun.

[WorldOfStrings]

Originally Posted by Sean Sullivan

I picked up a pair of D'Addario EXP13 strings, they only had the Elixirs in medium which is a little thicker than she likes to play. If the D'Addarios don't cut it, I'll try the Elixirs, and if those stink it's back to regular strings. To be honest, I don't really notice the coating on the D'Addarios, unlike my experience with Elixirs.

We recommend and use D'Addario EXP coated strings. They perform excellently compared to the rubbery and unnatural feel of Elixirs. They last longer, play better, and sound better than any other coated strings we've tried.

[lettenmusic]

+1 for the EXP's. That is all I use.

[vodka gimli]

I work for D'Addario, so all that follows is completely biased, but factual:

Some manufacturer's approach to coated strings is to essentially dip a pre-made string into the coating. This can leave you with out-of-round strings and the gap between windings can get clogged with coating.

At D'Addario, we coat the wire, then wrap it around the core. Our newest version of EXPs uses a new technique that has halved the amount of coating needed. They sound and feel as close to regular strings as you will find, and last 4 times as long. Definitely worth buying a set to check out. If you've tried coated strings before, you owe it to yourself to get a set of EXPs and hear/feel how far the technology has come.

YMMV, and it probably will, strings and tone are a personal preference, etc.

[sdelsolray]

Add Dean Markley Alchemy strings to the list, either the 80/20 or phos bronze. Quite nice strings.

[Classic]

I really like EXP.

[Bob V]

Taylor ships their guitars with Elixir's because they're going to be hanging on the wall at the store for weeks or months. I've never heard of anyone using coated strings because they're easier on the fingers, but hey, it's worth a try.

My preference is D'Addario EXL's for my number 2 acoustic since it doesn't get touched much and I might go months between string changes. The D'Addario coated strings don't sound any different than the real strings and they feel just about the same.

But from your point of view I have to say the Elixir strings feel very slippery, at least the wound strings with a coating, of course.

[CAGuy]

The best strings are Cleartone!! The BEST!

[PSM]

I haven't tried the EXP's yet (next on the list) but the Elixir Nanowebs sound pretty amazing on my Taylor. And even though they feel a little greasy compraed to non-coated strings, they're not nearly as bad as the old polywebs are and I personally like their tone more than any non-coated strings I've played. All personal preference, though. If your purpose is strictly to be easier on the fingers, try the polywebs. They feel super greasy/slippery to me, though.

[buzzjoe]

Originally Posted by vodka gimli

Our newest version of EXPs uses a new technique that has halved the amount of coating needed. They sound and feel as close to regular strings as you will find, and last 4 times as long.

That's interesting. Until now I have prefered the uncoated EJ15 or EJ16 to the EXPs. But I have to change my strings very often. When exactly did D'Addario change to the thinner coating?

Oliver

[nighthawk128]

All of the "usual suspects" have been posted. I know a very well know pro guitar player who changes strings every gig-the tuner-guitar handles does. He has a very light touch too. Never drives the guitar.

You really beat on the coating regardless of how good the strings may be. Go with lights-ultras can be tough on your fingers.
I play fingerstyle-very light. Change my strings every 5 gigs-not that big an expense thumbsup

[vodka gimli]

Originally Posted by buzzjoe

That's interesting. Until now I have prefered the uncoated EJ15 or EJ16 to the EXPs. But I have to change my strings very often. When exactly did D'Addario change to the thinner coating?

Oliver

Oliver, sorry to take so long to answer your question. We had been tweaking the formula for a while and finally announced an official revision several months ago. If you have tried EXPs before, and were not impressed, try them again.

[gtzack4]

The nanowebs sound amazing on my jumbo breedlove. They are slightly more mellow then non coated strings but this allows the high strings to cut threw better giving you a much more balanced sound.

I do like the EXP on most guitars but the did not cut it on in this case.