For years John wasn't a fan of coated acoustic guitar strings. They lasted a long time, sure, but to his ear they sounded dull and weak, and a string that sounds dull for months isn't much of a bargain. So when he lined up his four favorite sets on one guitar and played them back to back, he figured it would be one of those tests where the answer is "it's strings."
That isn't how it went. There were real differences, one set frustrated him, and a coated set turned out to be the one he now leaves on every guitar he doesn't play every day. Here's what we heard from each, what we'd buy for which job, and the basics of materials and gauges if you're starting from scratch.
Which acoustic guitar strings did we test?
All four are phosphor bronze acoustic guitar strings in a medium gauge, so the test is about the build of the string (coating, core, treatment) and not the alloy. John played each set, then scored it from 1 to 5 on tone, feel, durability and value, with the D'Addario EJ17 as the standard everything else is measured against. At the end we played all four blind, one after another.
| Set (medium) | Type | Our price today | Tone | Feel | Durability | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D'Addario EJ17 | Uncoated | $9.99 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| GHS Americana S435 | Uncoated, cryo-treated | $10.99 | 5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Stringjoy Foxwoods | Coated | $18.99 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4.5 |
| D'Addario XS | Coated | $19.99 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
The scores are from early 2024 and the prices are what these acoustic guitar strings sell for on our site today.
Jump to: the GHS Americana at 6:36, the Stringjoy Foxwoods at 10:33, the D'Addario XS at 16:33, and the blind run of all four at 21:14.
D'Addario EJ17: the benchmark every other set gets measured against
The EJ17 is the set of acoustic guitar strings most makers ship their guitars with, and it's the set John bases most of his own instruments on. That's on purpose. He likes his strings to stay out of the way:
"I like things to stay pretty neutral. That way I know what each one of my guitars is doing, not necessarily what the strings are doing for it."
It's the standard phosphor bronze sound, and on feel John calls it nothing special, nothing bad: you'll hear more string noise when you slide. The catch is that you'll change it more often than any of the others here, so it's the right set for the player who doesn't mind restringing and knows a fresh set is where a guitar sounds its best. At $9.99 you can almost buy two sets for the price of one coated set. John's honest view of the rest of the field is that standard phosphor bronze from GHS, Martin and the other big makers is very close to this, and the metal is almost identical.
GHS Americana: the studio string
This is John's favorite set for the studio, and it scored the only 5 on tone. The difference is easiest to hear on the top two strings. A plain steel high E and B can have a little metallic twinge, and the Americana rounds that off while keeping the crisp edge of a new set.
"Just a little bit warmer, more natural version of a standard phosphor bronze set of strings."
It feels like any uncoated set under your fingers, though John likes the little extra resistance he gets on the D string. He hasn't broken one in a very long time, and he credits the cryogenic treatment GHS uses, but it won't outlast a coated string. At $10.99 it costs a dollar more than the EJ17 and needs changing just as often. If you want that rounder top end and wonder what else gets close, John points to Martin's SP strings with their tin-plated core.
Stringjoy Foxwoods: punch, but where's the low end?
The Foxwoods was the mixed bag. Every Stringjoy set John has played has a punch in the midrange, a round, fast attack that he really likes, and the Foxwoods has it too. Under the pick it feels firm with almost no flex, so notes come off the pick quickly. The same stiffness makes it work harder for your fretting hand.
The problem is the bottom. On this coated set the low E sounded almost flat to him from the start, and he couldn't get past the missing low end and the brightness you'd normally expect from a new set. That's why tone landed at a 3. John has mostly played the uncoated version, Stringjoy Naturals ($14.99), and that's the set he leans toward, because they keep more of that fresh, crisp sound and almost add a vintage voice to a newer guitar. The Foxwoods suit the player who likes strings that have been played in for a day or two, or anyone who wants a different sound out of the guitar they already own.
D'Addario XS: the coated string that changed John's mind
The XS plays and sounds a lot like the EJ17 with a slight bit of the brightness and brassiness taken off, and that's what won John over. Older coated strings bothered him because they sounded dull. The XS starts close to his benchmark and then stays there for a very long time. The slick coating cuts the slide noise, which he sees as a real advantage in the studio, so feel got a 5.
On durability he gets four, if not five, times the life out of a set. Some players report XS strings breaking, and his take is that you're simply playing them five times as long, so the metal fatigues eventually. At $19.99 they cost about twice what an EJ17 does, and close to four times the life makes that an easy 5 on value.
"This has become my string of choice for every guitar that I don't play on a regular basis."
If you don't like the slick feel of coated strings, you won't like these either. The closest thing John knows is Elixir Nanoweb for feel and lifespan, though the XS sounds more like an uncoated set.
How to choose acoustic guitar strings after our test
John's own setup says it best: XS on the guitars he picks up now and then, Americana on the guitar going to a show or a session. Pick by how you play and how often you'll restring:
- You restring often and want the plain truth from your guitar: the EJ17. It's the reference sound and the lowest price.
- You record, play out, or chase a warmer top end: the GHS Americana, changed often.
- You want a set you can forget about for months: the D'Addario XS.
- You want a different voice from a guitar you already own: Stringjoy, and start with the Naturals.
Keep it in proportion, though. As John says, we're talking about minute differences in strings. Strings and picks work together, so our guide to pick thickness and material is a good next read, and our blind BlueChip vs ToneSlabs pick test shows how much the other half of the attack changes things.
Materials and gauges, the short version
Most acoustic guitar strings fall into a handful of materials, and each pulls the tone a different way:
- Phosphor bronze: the go-to for most players, warm and full with a balanced low end. All four sets above are phosphor bronze.
- 80/20 bronze: more attack, a brighter tone overall and a clearer treble.
- Nickel bronze: bright, and a favorite for fingerpicking and bluegrass. The D'Addario NB1356 ($12.99) is the medium set.
- Monel: mellow and warm without much attack, the most vintage-sounding of the group.
- Silk and steel or silk and bronze: softer and easier to fret, closer to a classical guitar's feel.
On gauge, the first number on a pack of acoustic guitar strings is the high E and the second is the low E. Light (12-53) is easier to play and suits fingerstyle; medium (13-56) gives more volume and drive for strumming and flatpicking, which is why we tested mediums. Flatpickers who want the best of both often like a light top and medium bottom set such as the D'Addario EJ19 ($9.99). Don't put heavy strings on a small-body guitar, a vintage guitar, or any guitar that isn't structurally sound.
Related reading
- Acoustic guitar care: cleaning, humidity, storage and string care
- Six mahogany dreadnoughts played blind
- How to care for an all-solid guitar
Which set should you buy?
If you're happy restringing often and want the most honest read on your guitar, buy the EJ17. If the guitar is headed to a stage or a studio, put the GHS Americana on it. If you'd like to leave a set of acoustic guitar strings on for months, the D'Addario XS is the coated set we'd pick, because it doesn't trade tone for life. You'll find every set above, plus the rest of our coated and treated options, in our guitar strings collection and the coated and treated strings shelf. And if you're shopping for the guitar too, every instrument in our acoustic guitars collection gets our 23-Point Professional Inspection before it ships.
