D'AddarioSilk & Steel Acoustic Guitar Strings - EJ40-6 String - Warm, Mellow Tone - Light, 11-47

A childhood friend of mine plays in a touring band and is a luthier when not touring. He has been playing guitar since he was 10 (we are 50 now) and recommended these strings to me. He loves them and I respect his opinion so on his recommendation I tried them.Love these strings on my Yamaha FG800. I've upgraded this guitar with a bone nut and saddle. With these strings the tone is bright, but warm. I'd say it is more "bluegrass and country" than it would be "rock and blues". Although, if you are a bit more aggressive with the pick you do get a great "classic blues" tone.These are a little more expensive than some other brands but I feel like the quality of these stings is a bit better. I also think they last longer than other brands too so, a couple dollars difference is a wash.I personally find these strings to be easier on your fingers than bronze or phosphor bronze (your results may vary). I feel like you do have to make a compromise with these strings. In my opinion there is a bit of a trade off; while I love the overall tone and playability I must admit the projection on the high end is not as good as I would like. Even digging in with the pick on those higher notes, it doesn't have the OOMPH, I'd like compared the the phosphor bronze strings I typically use. I do keep a set of silk & steel and phosphor bronze on hand and will change them out depending on the songs I am learning or the mood I am in. It would probably be easier to get another acoustic guitar!

Many years ago, I had played a Yamaha acoustic daily. My poor left hand fingers were completely numb on the tips, and blistered each time I played on the strings I was using. Typing was very painful in class. I later was in a music store & spotted strings, and so looked them over. Saw (martin) Folk Silk & Steel strings. Reading, says were 'easy on fingers', mellow sounding. The first part is what got my attention. I bought them and strung them up. Oh wow. Yes! Easy on fingers! My fingers healed up and got feeling back over the coming days, even while still playing 2-4 hours per day.Got married and stopped playing except very occasionally over the next 39 years. Fast forward to this last July, I bought a new guitar and much better guitar. Oh no. The strings! Meat grinders again. But. I knew what was needed, and I played on them for a few minutes daily, building may left hand back up. Strength wise and callouses. Except these strings also left bruising and did cut my fingers.Looking on Amazon, I knew I wanted Silk & Steel strings again. Or at least I thought. Oh my gosh..... cannot believe how many brands of strings now! 1970's, there weren't many brands or kinds NOR gauges. Crud. What to get? Spent more than 2 weeks looking and reading... Finally decided on these D'addario Silk & Steel. The 1st strings, high E, is 11, whereas Martin is 11.5. D'addarion would be slightly easier on that high string on my pinkie finger. It's the one that is bruised the most. The other strings are the same as the Martin's.Love these strings! Mellow and soft and the notes just flowwww..... strings & guitar just resonate... the sound lasting... not falling off as quick as the original strings. Yes! Got my wonderful sound back and love listening while playing again. I do finger picking... kind of banjo style. Notes on these strings ring true without brassy sounds..... bass is solid & rings, and not thunking as the strong (hard) strings were producing. (the guitar came with 13's! Not good on fingers that the last time playing at all had been 15 years earlier, and on Silk & Steel at that. Did NOT like the sound of 13's either. Very HARD notes, no flowing & then tapering off sound.)Am very happy with these D'addarios Silk & Steel. I do not miss the extra .5 on the Martin high E string. I sat and played for 4 hours on these strings. My back gave out sitting with my dreadnought. My left hand fingers were still okay and could have played a lot longer. But, my back said no, put the guitar away and play again tomorrow.Love these strings. ^_^

Picked up a 1969 Goya F12 guitar and it came stock with the silk and steel strings. Put these on and they are wonderful strings. Sound great and are essentially original equipment for this guitar. From what I have read they are don't have as much tension as standard steel strings so it is easier on my guitar by not putting as much stress on the neck and body. Also seem to be holding tune very well - but to me that is more a condition of the guitar and not the strings, unless you have bad strings. I have been using D'Addario strings on my basses and have liked them.

I really like D'Addario strings in general - and years back I settled on their Nickle Bronze line, stringing all my guitars with either the Lights or Balanced Tension Lights. That included my parlor guitars. I had no idea that these Silk and Steels existed. :)Anyway, when it came time to change the strings on my Blueridge Parlor, I did a Google Search and Silk and Steel popped up.Love em!!To my ears, they indeed sound "mellower", very pleasant for fingerstyle and Blues, my main area of interest.They also seem to project a bit less volume than the Nickle Bronze, and I'm guessing it's mainly because of the lighter gauge of the lower four strings. Not an issue for me.Along with the rounder sound, those lighter gauge lower strings are much kinder to my fretting fingers and the lower tension makes bending easier. These gains in ease of play have been a real eye opener!Lastly, I never stretch my strings when I install them, so typically I'd have to monkey around with a newly installed set of Nickle Bronze before they'd stabilize. Surprisingly, these Silk and Steels held initial tuning pretty good and only needed some minor tweaking during the first hour of play. I don't know if the core material difference had anything to do with it or if I just got lucky on the installation.Anyway, if you own a parlor guitar or are looking for strings that are gentler on your fingers, these are really worth trying out. :)