D'Addario Light Phosphor Bronze guitar strings: Good construction; ballsy sound
Written: Jul 22 '03
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: straightforward, ballsy sound
Cons: not quite as smooth sounding or long lasting as coated strings
The Bottom Line: D'Addario Light Phosphor Bronze guitar strings are good quality strings at a reasonable cost.
|
|
|
| Horswispr's Full Review: Daddario Ej16 Phosphor Light Acoustic Strings 3-Pa... |
I used to use mostly Martin Marquis lights or mediums on my acoustic guitars. They sounded good and lasted a pretty long time for non-coated strings. When Elixers came out, I started using them most of the time, because they sounded smooth, reduced finger squeak, and lasted for months.
A few months ago, I bought a Santa Cruz OM, which was outfitted with D'Addario Light Phosphor Bronze strings, the strings reviewed here. Since then, I have switched back and forth between Elixer lights and D'Addario Light Phosphor Bronze, allowing me to compare the two.
First of all, the basics: D'Addario Light Phosphor Bronze strings are fairly inexpensive, straightforward, non-coated acoustic guitar strings. I believe the "phosphor bronze" sound is a bit mellower than the brightest acoustic strings. D'Addario's light strings have the following diameters (in inches):
E .012
B .016
G .024
D .032
A .042
E .053
These are the same dimensions as found on my Elixer (original Polyweb) lights, and on the generic phosphor bronze strings I recently bought from Webstrings, except that the G string of the generics is 1/1000 of an inch wider (.025).
Playability of the D'Addarios is just fine. Both finger-picking and flat-picking were executed with no problems. There was more squeak than with coated strings, but it wasn't obtrusive. The strings had a solid feel to them, and the winding of the lower strings seemed to be of high quality. They reminded me of the Martin Marquis strings I used to use.
The sound of the D'Addarios was balanced and ballsy. I have heard them described as bright, but on my Santa Cruz OM, they sounded gutsy and full, with good overtones. The high overtones came through well, but the overall sound was balanced, not bright.
When I switched to Elixer lights, the first thing I noticed was that the bass sounded substantially wimpier with the Elixers. Yes, the Elixers sounded smooth, as usual, but I missed the fullness and attack of the D'Addarios on bass runs. Surprisingly, there was also more buzz (especially in alternative tunings, which generally involve less tension on the neck) with the Elixers, as if they were lighter strings. Perhaps the core of the D'Addarios is heavier, even though the dimensions are the same.
Compared to the generic strings I bought from Webstrings, the D'Addarios were a bit ballsier and perhaps a bit smoother. The differences were much more subtle than the differences between the D'Addarios and the Elixers, as one would expect.
Overall, I was impressed with the D'Addario Light Phosphor Bronze strings. I'll probably continue to use mostly Elixer lights for finger-picking in alternative tunings, the inexpensive generics for day-to-day playing, and the D'Addarios for bluegrass gigging or recording.
The D'Addario Light Phosphor Bronze strings supposedly retail for about $33.50 for 3-pack, but I doubt anybody pays that much. The price per 3-pack on most of the websites I checked with Google's help was between $14 and $15. The price for a 3-pack at the Guitar Center in my area was just over $15.
Recommended.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.