Acoustic Guitar Strings
When it comes to acoustic guitar strings, you don’t want to mess around with rinky-dink strings that sound tinny and lose their tone in a couple of days. You need strings that will sound good and last long enough to make them worth the price. Our reviewers have searched far and wide and picked what we’ve found to be the five best models of acoustic guitar strings.
To be honest, we didn’t expect too much when we tried them out, but for the low price we had to give it a shot.
The tone was clear and crisp, you could get a nice, mellow finger-picking sound or a bright flat-picked tone, and they break in faster than any other brand in our top 5.
These strings also felt fantastic under the fingers, which is what we’re accustomed to seeing from Ernie Ball. The only drawback is their longevity, which like most EB strings ran a bit shorter than average. But for the price, you can certainly afford to keep a few sets of these on hand.
Buy 6 pack of Ernie Ball Earthwood Medium acoustic guitar strings
Buy single pack of Ernie Ball Earthwood Medium acoustic guitar strings
These strings have an exceptionally well-balanced, bright tone that is especially suited for fingerstyle playing.
These strings are considerably more durable than most other offerings from D’Addario, and are especially resistant to breakage. They also do not corrode easily, and maintain their tone and tune considerably longer than the Ernie Balls above.
D’Addario also uses light packaging for their strings, thus reducing their environmental footprint and cutting down on the waste you have to throw away.
If you are a fingerstyle guitarist, or just like a warm, mellow tone, you might want to try D’Addario EJ16-3D Phosphor Bronze acoustic guitar strings. And since they’re cheaper to buy in multi-set packs, there’s no excuse for being caught short a string if you need a quick replacement.
Buy 10 pack of D’Addario EJ16 Phosphor Bronze acoustic guitar strings
Buy 3 pack of D’Addario EJ16 Phosphor Bronze acoustic guitar strings
Buy single pack of D’Addario EJ16 Phosphor Bronze acoustic guitar strings
These strings have a deep, rich tone that doesn’t let up on the bass end, but doesn’t overshadow the treble. These had the best sound for fingerpicking of any strings tested, especially if you’re doing an old-style country or folk tune where you have to hold down bass and melody at the same time.
Most phosphor bronze strings are 80/20, but these are actually 92/8 and kept their tone longer than any noncoated string we’ve tried. We were surprised at just how long the deep bass and crisp, clear treble strings kept cutting through the mix. They definitely stand out in a crowd of players!
Buy single pack of Martin MSP4200 Phosphor Bronze acoustic guitar strings
These are great strings for a beginner, because they’re easy to put on the guitar and very easy on the fingertips. If you’re just starting and haven’t built up strong calluses on your fingers, these would be great for you.
These have a tone very much like the D’Addarios above: mellow, warm, and especially good for fingerstyle, but they last much longer. These strings held their good tone twice as long. Surprisingly, they actually beat Ernie Ball in how good they felt under our fingers.
These strings give you a big tone, very rich and full, and are easy on the fingers. They feel amazing all the way up the neck, and are easier for barre chords than all other brands tested. Dean Markley Blue Steel LT2034 strings would be a fantastic choice whatever style of music you play.
Buy single pack of Dean Markley Blue Steel LT2034 Acoustic Guitar Strings
It’s true that some coated strings sound muffled or dull, but that is most definitely not the case with these Elixirs. These sound every bit as good as any of the other strings on this list, and the string life is just incomparable. Some of our testers are still playing with the same set with which they started the test 3 months ago, and report no drop in sound quality.
These strings feel better under the fingers than any other strings tested except the Dean Markleys, and the tone is nice and bright in the treble strings, but deep and full in the bass.
If you’re looking for a string that will sound just as good after several months as it did brand-new, this is the set you want. There is nothing else out there like Elixir acoustic guitar strings.
Buy 3 pack of Elixir Light Nanoweb Acoustic Guitar Strings
Buy 2 pack of Elixir Light Nanoweb Acoustic Guitar Strings with Free Polish Cloth Standard
Buy single pack Elixir Light Nanoweb Acoustic Guitar Strings
