As much as I appreciate this video and feel most people should be playing a lighter gauge string, the arpeggio section shows he wasn't consistent with where he was picking the strings. Watch his pick placement over the soundhole on the 10's vs the 13's. Of course the 13's sounded warmer because he was picking much nearer the fretboard. That makes a huge difference in the tone. That said, I do appreciate the video!
I am so sorry I was on mobile and the text on mobile is very light on a Samsung phone. Please continue the very good work here you've actually impacted my purchasing decisions for my son's Christmas present.
@@JTravlos Hi Jeremy, Medium gauge strings are hard to bend and push, but mediums have powerful sounds, light gauge strings sounds a bit darker than Mediums, bright than Custom lights, I use light gauge Daddario Xs and Elixir Phosphor Bronze Light a lot on my (Taylor 224ce-k-dlx special edition). Do you think medium gauge sounds powerful too?
Yea, the heavier gauges sounded better I thought. I just need to get more strength in my fingers. The heavy gauges were much harder to play for me. Thanks for watching!
I found custom light is the combination that I like. It has already given enough tension to the sound board and make the sound resonate very well and it is still easy to my fingers. Thanks for your work Chief. Cheers from Indonesia.
Glad this was helpful! I felt like I was in the dark for a long time on which gauge I would prefer. There is definitely a lot to the feel so as this experiment was a major pain in the rear, it was great to finally know what they feel like too.
@@JTravlos - I've always used mediums. Never considered anything else. I just always assumed bigger was better. I feel like such a dummy. Can't wait to try a lighter gauge for this weekend's show. Also, my hand strength isn't what it used to be back in my teens and twenties so this should hopefully be a win/win.
@@TheLadsBandLive Nice, let us all know what you thought of them after the gig. I wonder if you might need a slight truss rod adjustment with the switch to lighter. Keep us posted!
@@JTravlos So, I went with a set of Elixir Nanoweb extra lights (phosphor bronze, I think... can't recall, lol) and thought they sounded really nice. Very sparkly, not brittle. My band usually plays an acoustic set (2 guitars, drummer, lead vocal) to start our shows before going full electric and it seemed like the new strings cut through the mix more than usual (in a good way) without having to play harder. If nothing else, the lighter gauge was a lot less punishing on my hands and I was able to play with more stamina and less grip adjustment than usual. I plan on trying Gibson Masterbuilts, Martin Authentic Silked and GHS in the future. Thanks again for the helpful video.
For me lights are sound nectar, played on my j15 walnut back and sides and spruce top.they are beautifully toned across all ranges. Everyone has different tastes but elixir are my go to string
Absolutely fantastic video, Thank you! Having viewed each clip over and over, and in differing orders, I can honestly put it out there that no one set (IMOHO) stood above any of the others in each style being played. Instead, within each style being played, there were standouts, but no one set 'nailed it' in more than one category, If forced to have to choose one absolute best, I'd probably opt institutionalization because I'd go insane trying to decide! I can however claim this: These strings are absolutely AMAZING, as is the player! Bravo Sir, well done!!!
This is fantastic made my choosing so much easier (Light HDs) and such high quality production and execution, why do you have so few subs? Madness! Keep up the great work!
@@bendale4439 No tutorials yet, I do a series called string showdowns that compare different types of guitar strings. Those take a while to make but I have a ton of content already recorded, I just need to record the talking head portion. After that series is done I will need to come up with a whole new set of videos. Is there anything in particular you would like to see? Guitar tutorial? Recording tutorial? etc...
The heavier gauge strings sound so full, but like everything in life there’s a balance. Here, it’d been playability tone. The Light/Mediums sound the best (to me), but I’d be happy with the Custom Lights if they’re easier on the fingers. 😊 Great video!
Funny, reading all the comments on this thread. So many different opinions--- for me it was clear cut extra lights all the way of course that I'm sure has a lot to do with your beautiful Guitar's wood and tone. Sorry, I arrived so late to the party!
As I get older I find my string gauge has changed as my hearing has changed ( Way to much hard load rock and roll in my youth). For example Medium to Heavy gauge now sounds muddy to me. I have gone to the extra lights and the world is good again well at least for me. I have them on my 710 and my 616ce. Your right about playablity. The extra lights are so easy to play.
That is interesting. I know as we age we tend to lose high frequencies. This probably compounds when we hear something that leans toward the mid range as being muddy. Great insight, thanks!
Ah, at 64 years old, I truly believe I have the same issue! What used to sound great, in the medium to heavy gauges, now sounds really muffled or muddy to me as well. Along with having arthritis in my hands, I am leaning heavily towards the extra lights.
I'm just starting to learn my seagull S6 is getting set up now with elixir 8020 bronge custom lights. C major will take some time. 62 years old but what a new world for me. A great video sir thank you kindly well done.
Thanks Greg, I agree. .011s are my favorite. More specifically the "custom lights" but it seems like a lot of guitar manufactures are making .011-.052 now-a-days which is great.
Thank you very much man. This video made me realise that I did the right choice bying the 10/47 Extra Light Phosphor Bronze ones. Looking forward to try them tomorrow! Cheers from Bulgaria!
Thank you so much for this video! It's so helpful! I was torn between choosing string size, because previously I didnt pay attention to the size of strings, but recently touched a guitar with super thin strings and noticed that extra light sounds so amazing and even magical, not like metalic grinding like medium size with more clear but boring sound....
Just an awesome video, exactly what I needed! I've got custom light nano 80/20's on right now in my Yamaha LL16. I don't want to go all the way up to medium, but light seems to be a good step up in overall tone's thickness. Cheers!
Elixir strings are simply the best strings hands down. I personally only use medium gage phosphor bronze strings on all my guitars. I don't play with a pick, so want strings that I can get loud enough with just my fingers.
Wow. As an electric player I prefer 9s after playing 10s for years and even thicker when I was in my SRV phase, and I began to wonder about acoustic, figuring I'd go custom lights over regular lights. But hearing this with good headphones on through my audio interface the lights sound way better than the thinner custom lights, even though I'm sure the custom lights would feel better to my fingers. Thanks for this, it saved me some future recording disappointment
Wish I watched this before I got a set of light/medium because I'd never tried them before, oh man, I hope they sound good on my guitar. Anyway, awesome video, so informative
Thank you for this vid. I have my 3/4 Yamaha APXT2 all dressed-up pretty with Elixir 10 47 phosphorus bronze nanoweb. My fingers and ears are quite happy.
At first it was hard to hear the differences. But the difference between extra light and custom light were huge, everytime. Just as you said, they're in a class of their own. However, as I started watching the video, I found I liked the lighter more for the lower strings, the medium just felt too thick to me in the bass. But in the treble, the lighter strings seemed too shrill. For my personal taste, I'm gonna go with the HD Lights, but I think based on preference, the Light/Medium and the HD Lights are probably the best tone wise. I've been playing with extra lights though for a while and I will say I agree. They definitely give much better control over the instrument. So if you're just starting with guitar, or if you love the feel more than tone, go for it. And if you love the tone, even better.
I really like that you went straight to the comparisons, not too much "talk". Great examples of each across each type of string technique. btw, What pick are you using? I always feel that also comes into play with tone.
Tq Sire... This , I may say the most detail guide to get to know the character of each size of the strings in the series. Very useful. Thank you very very much...!
Thank you. I fingerpick with my nails and use Elixirs. Have mostly large body guitars (A few of the real Jumbo size and a Grand Orchestra) on which I used to use Mediums, but some years ago I slowly converted most of them to PB HD Lights. Even though I can't question the sound difference, the HDs provide a great treble sound and the large bodies don't need as much bass, despite the nuance in sound.
J, You could try lowering the action to make those mediums more comfortable, either by sanding the saddle or (this works great) take a little relief out of the neck. A 1/4 inch nut driver works for the trussrod instead of buying Taylor's tool. I did this to my 716 and it plays very easy with medium Elixirs. Only I/4 turn at a time. Yeah, that 812 comes with lights on it so mediums are bound to put more forward bow (more relief) in the neck. Heavier strings actually need less neck relief.
Thank you for this man!! It really helped to understand and feel the strings and the difference. Just found your channel and subscribed immediately, awesome content!
Great video, thank you for your efforts. I am personally not so keen on the sound of the extra light set. Just happy to just stick with the Elixir 12 to 53's that my Taylor 214CE came with for now. A great idea to setup their guitars with such great quality strings from the factory. Makes them play and sound amazing when you try them out in the shops to which is important.
Thanks, I have a string comparison set of videos that will be out in the next week or so. It's going to compare different brands of strings. Subscribe to the channel for updates! thanks again!
Everytime i pick a guage.. I always choose the guage 10.. Coz i want to play with fingerstyle.. Bending the strings.. I try use 11 and 12 i got having a hard time to play with them such as bending but they are great in making harmonic sounds.. But i preferred 10.. I can play all day with 10.. And sound is also great coz of elixir.
Medium, for sure, on that Taylor. Acoustics can be so different. My Guild D-55, to me, is the cannon of cannons with D'addario EXP light gauge, followed by my Gibson J-45 maple with Elixir HD-Lights. Third is a Martin HD-28 Custom with Martin Lifespan Mediums. I'm going to have to put Elixirs on the Martin. It should be louder.
I think mediums sounded the best by far. Especially for strumming. But, I get such hand fatigue that I cant handle too much time on the mediums. Forget about fingerpicking for me. You could see my riffs getting worse and worse the heavier the gauge got lol.
I just ordered a set of HD Lights for my Martin 000 Modern Deluxe. I have Mediums on my JCPA4 Martin, but have been apprehensive about putting mediums on the 000. On Martin's web page, they advise against it. I'm thinking I'll really like the HD Lights. Thanks for the video.
Nice video man I'll have to try the extra lights sometime I always play lights. Thumbs up and new subscriber Just for all your time you spend on this and your professionalism.
Have been using the 12-53 lights for years but have a lot of previous injuries and find the 12’s a bit too painful now. Just put the custom light 11-52 on and already notice an improvement and less pain which means I can play for longer.
I just bought a new Yamaha FG820 and it sounds very bright, tinny; it definitely sounds like the acoustic guitar sound I have in my mind, and while it sounds really good, it's sort of not what I'm looking for, as I want more rich low end. I don't know if it's just the stock strings, which I was told were D'Addario Lights, but I'm looking at the Elixirs now as I've read it praised on numerous forums. This is also my first acoustic steel-string guitar, I've been playing classical guitar for the past 20 years. I've used D'Addario's Pro Arte nylon strings a lot in the past, but I've never had this much "squeak," it's kind of disconcerting. Anyway, the sound I want is a thick, rich low end (but not too much as that of the Mediums)-kind of like Bob Dylan's guitar sound in his first two albums. But at the same time I would also want to get a bright, clear sound from the high strings whenever I want to. From this video, I have pegged either the Light/Medium or the Custom Light. Can anyone give me any recommendations if you've used both of these gauges? I don't want to buy more than what is necessary, that's why. Also, what's the difference between Phosphor Bronze and Nanoweb?
Elixirs lean toward the bright side and you can change the gauge size to add more bottom/ warmth but at the same time you might be sacrificing playability with the thicker string. The bigger the string the higher the tension and the harder to play. I have a ton of other videos comparing different strings. I liked the "cleartone EQ" because if I remember correctly they had more bottom end. Phosphor bronze is what the string is made of. they usually are the warmer variety. The other common one is 80/20 which is typically a brighter/ more metalic sounding string. Nanoweb is what elixir calls their coating. They also offer a "polyweb" string which is a thicker coating. The nanonweb feels more like an uncoated string but you can still feel the coating. You wont get many squeaks with either version. All this is said with the caveat that your guitar will produce most of the tone and the string will only be the last 10%. It is sort of anecdotal, but sometimes the string wont bring out the tone you want if the guitar wont offer it to begin with. Hope some of that helps. I really do think some of my other videos may help your decision making because I have ton of videos on acoustic guitar strings.
@@JTravlos Thanks for the response, J! This is all very helpful information. The display models in the store had the tone I wanted, but the stock ones always sounded a bit different-crispier and indeed brighter. But I've been playing the guitar all day today and started to notice the difference as subtle, or maybe it's just beginning to adapt to my playing, or vice versa. Which I now believe that perhaps I just needed to "break it in." I haven't bought a new guitar in years, so I guess I'm just a little anxious. As I've said, I'm used to a classical guitar, so strumming and picking steel strings is something I'm still adjusting to. But with that, the sound I'm after is one close to a classical, but with more punch. I don't know how else to explain it, just that when I'd play contemporary music with my classical, I sometimes found it a bit lacking of that "acoustic character," that I would push up the mids in the EQ, when recording. Picking was always good, but strumming nylon strings just lacks that "punch." Could be something to do with my guitar's age, too. Anyway, I never really bothered with different kinds of strings before as with my classical, I just put them on and played. The acoustic just made me realize that I never considered that strings could affect tone, too. So, I find all this interesting. I'll probably try a couple of sets when I get the budget for it. But for this info you've given, I think I'll check out the Phosphor Bronze first, then. I like those warm tones. Does it matter which I pick between Nanoweb and Polyweb, though? Furthermore, do coated strings affect playability? I guess I never tried the coated variety too. Only thing I can tell now is that one is more expensive than the other-is there a worthwhile benefit to the higher priced one? Thanks for your help. And yes, your videos are the first ones I found to be actually helpful among the others in my search. Will look forward to seeing more of your content. Good day!
@@MayhemJack I dont know why they would be priced differently other than manufacturing materials or maybe one is in more demand? You could think of polywebs as Elixirs first generation coating. It was thinker but probably because they didnt have the capabilities to make it thinner. Then they came out with nanowebs with the thinner coating but still decided to keep the polywebs. Also, "some" string brightness goes away after a few days or a week. You do need to break in the strings a little bit. Good luck!
@@JTravlos Got it. Yes, I think you're right, I'm just going to have to wait a couple days to let them settle in, I'm starting to feel they'd get to that sound eventually anyway, so I'll just give these stock strings a chance first before spending right away, that would give me time to decide which set to get, too. I'm finding that it's the opposite for me with new steel strings, as I actually like the sound of new nylon strings! Anyway, thanks for your help again! Keep it up with the quality videos! Ciao!
I mostly fingerpick and have recently transitioned my guitars from the custom light to light. Your video confirms what I've been thinking, the light versions are nice for all around types of playing. I didn't like the custom lights when it came to strumming, they sounded really thin and metalicky. The light really handle strumming well. My fingers really miss the playability of the custom lights, however. I can't wait for my fingers to get used to the light gouge.
@@JTravlos just to update, i had to go back to custom lights. I only get to play every other day in two hour slots and the long sessions on the lights were making my fingers hurt. I resolved the issue by going back to custom lights. I hate that i have to give up the sound of the lights but like you said playability is way better on the custom lights. Which did you settle on?
@@MarianoPerez I settled on the custom lights. I am fine with a little bit of a "slappy" sound but like you said I just really like the playability of them.
Thank you very much for this video! I'm about to order my first pack of elixir strings and I think I will go for the HD light. I mainly play fingerstyle, finger picking, are the HD lights a good pick for that you think? Would be very thankful for a reply! You deserve more subscribers, really well done video!
It is so much of a balance between tone and feel. I like a lighter gauge string because to me they feel better. But, I think the lighter gauge has a less balanced tone to my ears. But, that is a tradeoff I am willing to make. I say go with the Mediums and see how they feel. If they impede your playing then maybe go down a gauge. I like custom lights but they might not be everyones cup of tea.
@@JTravlos Thank you for your quick reply! I think I will go for the HD Light as my first test, I really like the sound of them in your video and they are close to the medium gauge. Do you have any recommendation for strings to electric guitar? I have been thinking about getting 09/42 gauge elixir nanoweb for my electric guitar.
@@JGMusic I like 10s on electric but I am going to make a gauge comparison video for electric strings so I might change my mind once I compare all back to back to back.
I obviously prefer the 0.013 warm tone... I kinda hate the bright tones tbh, I feel like those strings are meant for just beginners not for those who know how to play properly, but again... personal preference wins
I think a truss rod adjustment is necessary. The high tension of the thicker strings pulls the neck forward just a little but so to compensate you may want to adjust the truss rod to pull the strings back. If you went from lights to mediums the strings will feel higher off the frets. But this adjustment is so slight you could probably get away without doing anything and be fine.
Great video and beautifully presented. Going to experiment a bit more. Been using light elixirs so far on my Taylor 714, which has worked well for my smallish hands. Recently bought a Martin HD 28 which is great, but I will lower the action and try some lights when the strings grow old. I play at home and don't need to strum/pick hard in a bluegrass band. Ease of playing trumps volume and tone. For now, I might also try detuning the guitar 1-2 frets and use a capo to lower the tension. Thanks
Could you make a video like this but with daddario XS phosphor bronze for an electroacoustic guitar please. To see the different gauges. I hope you can, thanks.
Very informative and direct to the point. Im planing to change my light(12) to custom light(11)in my jumbo coz im not satisfied with the tone/sound. Custom light is much richer and brighter. I play on strum and fingerpicking. I need ur opinion and help. Thanks
custom lights are my favorite gauge. I think they sound good but to me it is mainly a "feel" thing. They feel great. The lighter the gauge the brighter the sound but I do like a bright sound in general but again it really comes back to the feel. They feel great to me.
That's odd the G string is 0.023 gauge for the extra light set? I guess it would sound pretty meh without a thicker string to cover the mids, or maybe the string would be so thin it would shed instantly. I like custom lights if there's one thing that I hate is struggling to do something on a guitar, if a lighter gauge will make me play cleaner I'm going for it, plus you don't lose volume at all when finger picking on a small to medium sized acoustic. Get phosphor bronze to give you more bass response and your guitar will sound loud and pretty.
Phosphor Bronze all the way. I have other String Showdowns that Pit 80/20s and Phosphor Bronze strings and the Phosphor Bronze tend to sound better to my ear. Someone commented that 80/20 make a guitar sound like laminate and phosphor bronze sound solid wood. I like that analogy. Bronze just sound more earthy and like how a guitar should sound. But it's just all so subjective. To each his own honestly.
@@JTravlos You deserve it! I spent hours looking for a video that was complete, well done, with a high quality sound, clearly showing the difference between all these elixir strings. And above all, with different ways of playing, highlighting each nuance in an impartial way. I was impressed with the clarity that you made the comparisons, that's a PERFECT video. Elixir should sponsor you!!!! Thank you again, it helped me so much! :D
For 90% of us, especially those of us with smallish hands, a little tonal or volume difference doesn't matter. What counts is ease of playing. I'd like more information on that.
Consider the difference of lb. ft. Of torque difference in mediums or heavy vs lighter gauge.. Saddle lift and/or top can become a problem after a prolonged period of time. Particularly if you are a hard strummer.
