"What are the best electric guitar strings?" "What are the best Acoustic guitar strings?"

"What are the best electric guitar strings?"

"What are the best acoustic guitar strings?"

Okay, so I play my fair share of shows and I do my fair share of talking to people about musical equipment. One thing that people like to ask is "What type of strings do you prefer for your guitar?" or "What type of strings should I get for my guitar if I'm just starting out?"

It's a funny question to me because I have always subscribed to the belief that music is an art form and not a competition. So if your looking at it from that perspective there is really not a wrong answer to that question. It's really a matter of taste. Some people prefer those photo realistic sketches that the guy at the mall will draw for you...others prefer the surrealist works of say a Salvador Dali.

Same thing with guitar strings. They all sound a little different and my opinion is you have to really think about what sound you are going for first and then start picking your equipment out with that goal in mind. Strings are really cool because they are a fairly cheap way to change the sound of your instrument and if you don't like it or it's not the sound you were going for, well not too big of a deal to change it.

I've tried allot of different strings for electric as well as acoustic guitars. My string of choice right now for acoustic guitars are Adamis Phosphor Bronze Light Gauge acoustic guitar strings. The reasons I like them are simple:

• they are pretty affordable and I am pretty broke
• they give off a nice warm vibrant tone that works well for shows I am playing without accompaniment
• they don't break very easily and they take allot longer to go flat than normal bronze strings

For electric guitar I prefer D'addario Light Tops/Heavy Bottoms. I was using Fender Bullets before these and they sounded good but but were breaking too easy (I can't be buying strings all the time ya know?). ENTER the Light Tops/Heavy Bottoms and ohhh man I am home. I love these strings plain and simple. Here are the reasons why:

• they are pretty affordable and I am pretty broke
• the upper three strings (E,A,D) are thicker than standard and provide a nice thick meaty sound for your rhythm playing, while the lower 3 strings (G,B,E) are thinner than standard and provide a nice sharp lead guitar sound for your fills and lead riffs.
• they don't break very easily. This dependability, you will find, is a valuable asset in a simple little thing like guitar strings once you start playing shows a little ways from home.

In the end it really does depend on what type of sound you are going for. Hypothetically, If I were in a band where it was my job just to play rhythm guitar I might go for a thicker string in general so that I could get an overall heavier deeper sound. So yeah in the end it really is a matter of what you are trying to accomplish.

I think allot of times people ask the wrong questions. They are asking "Man what are some good strings?" or "Man what is a good guitar/amp combo?" when really what they should be asking themselves is "Okay, what type of sound do I want to make?" Once you know what you want it's pretty easy to get the help you need finding the tools to accomplish it.

Hope this one helps.

Peace,

-KAM