D'Addario Guitar Strings - XT 80/20 Bronze Coated Acoustic Guitar Strings - XTABR1253 - Extended String Life with Natural Tone, Feel - For 6 String Guitars - 12-53 Light

First thing I look for is a brand or string set with a focused coherent note from the first and second strings (and 3rd if I'm using plains), then. second thing, I look for a set to give the right level of string brightness for a particular instrument. Then (three) I look for a string that will give longevity (the sea lives outside my front door) without sacrificing tone. I've been using D'Addario Nickel Bronze for that reason. But for at least one guitar I wanted a brighter sound and decided to try these XT. I'm delighted with them. They use the same NY cores as the Nickel Bronze and even with the anti-corrosion "technology" they are a better sounding string than the old uncoated pre-NY core 80/20 strings. Sound is always a personal choice, and even if you are not 100% won over with the sound of these strings, you will find them competent enough to that you tend to focus more on your technique and less on groaning about the sounds your strings produce. I currently have these on an all ash parlour they give a really sweet, almost bell like sound. I'm going to try them on my 00-28 vintage series now. I'm expecting they will work well with the rosewood back and sides.

Best strings I've ever used, been using light syrings - but changed to extra light and wow so much easier to play and don't hurt my fingers buying some more!

Great strings, I usually use Daddario so tried these last year and the sound great in my J45. The players Circle code within to add to your Daddario account for future discounts is also an added bonus when buying Daddario strings.

These were the most expensive set of strings I have ever purchased. I normally use Elixir strings, themselves expensive but normally obtainable at around £2-£3 per set cheaper. So I took off a set of Elixir 12-53 and put the same gauge XTs on my 2016 Gibson J200. First impressions; not quite as bright or as "ringing" as the Elixir. I play finger style using a thumb-pick and also strum using a plectrum. Playing in pubs and open-mic gigs I tend to be quite hard on strings and find with the Elixirs the coating starts to discolour and "shave" off after around 20 to 30 hours of playing. They still sound OK but I will usually change them soon after that. BTW 20-30 hours of playing is around a month or so for me. After around 10 hours of playing with the XTs the sound seems to have dulled a bit and the strings are starting to discolour slightly in the area over the sound hole where I use the thumb-pick most. This does not bode too well for longer string-life. I have to say, I think these are probably no better than, and maybe will have a shorter playing life than the Elixirs. If you currently use Elixirs 82/20s and are totally happy with their bright ringing tone then currently I would say stick with them. If you want to try something more mellow and you're happy to pay a couple of pounds more then it might be worth giving these XTs a try especially if you are not too hard on your strings.Update and I have to say these strings are really holding up well. They've been on now for over 8 weeks and are still sounding bright and clear. I play around an hour a day or so, mainly fingerpicking at home. so I've not been too hard on these strings. Looking better value for money as time goes on.

These strings are the best that I’ve tried. I used to prefer elixirs but these have a better tone and don’t go off as quickly . Expensive but worth the money.

I received positive comments about the tone and brightness of the guitar sound having fitted these new strings.

So far, I like how bright these strings are. But I’m highly disappointed by the fact that firstly, the colour codes don’t match the names. Blue is supposed to mean classical. But the blue code came for what were supposed to be acoustic strings. Also, what D’Addario don’t tell you is that buying 12 strings only gets you 1 set of coated strings. And the other set are in later. So imagine my horror when a string breaks and I go into the packet for a coated string. Only to realise it’s uncoated 😒 So for that reason, it’s a decidedly generous 3 from me

These strings were bought as a gift. The recipient seemed very pleased with these replacement strings for his acoustic guitar.