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description: Audio advice and discussions with audiophiles and professionals. Free discussion forums, open to all and frequented by industry experts. Ask questions and get advice on stereos, speakers, hi-end amplifiers, pre-amps, home theater, tube hi-fi, turntables, vinyl, tweaks, music, films, video, DVDs and more.
items: Elixir strings or...?
items: Re: Elixir strings or...?

Elixir strings or...?
type: item
description: Do we have any other guitar players on the forum? I have a Taylor acoustic that came with Elixir strings and I'm wondering if I should go back with those or if another brand might be even better. Thoughts on guitar string brands? Recommendations?
creator: Pioneer
date: 2015-01-07T23:01:07-00:00

Re: Elixir strings or...?
type: item
description: Pioneer, in my opinion Elixir strings are a good choice for the way most people play their guitar. Most play their guitar daily or at least quite frequently, and Elixirs will allow you to go much longer between string changes, just as they claim. For those individuals with uncommonly acidic skin oils and sweat, Elixirs retain their tone long after other strings have went dead. That is, of course, until their coating begins to fray and wear away. If you have a guitar set aside just for live gigs and use a different one for practice, coated strings will get you through a few more gigs before they go dead enough to change. But for studio work, most would prefer uncoated strings for the very best tone (read below). Now, the bad part: to my ears they're just not as ultimately crisp, chimey and harmonically complex sounding as most strings, and also lack just a bit of the razor-crisp percussive attack of uncoated strings. But, these things will prove true for ANY coated strings, regardless of brand. And, their high price (especially Elixir) still works out to about the same same cost per playing hour between changes, making them no more or less cost-effective. But, I still recommend them and AAMOF just put a set of Elixir 80/20 on a friend's guitar for him. On the topic of other brands, I've found Martin Marquis, Earthwood, D'Addario, Curt Mangan and GHS strings to all be good, just different, as each has its own subtle tonal variations and playing characteristics. The construction of all acoustic guitar strings is quite similar to a point, with all having 1080 steel plain strings and a core of the same in the wound strings. The major difference is the winding material, whether 80/20 bronze or phosphor bronze. BIG difference in tone there; much more so than brand difference! 80/20 bronze sounds brighter and crisper than phosphor bronze, although they do break in and mellow to a nice, rich balanced tone much more quickly. Phosphor Bronze takes a while longer and has a more…
creator: Thermionic
date: 2015-01-25T22:03:32-00:00