Best Strings For Semi Hollow Guitar (2024 Update)

I went through several different brands and gauges when I began experimenting with flatwound strings several years ago. I settled on Thomastik Infeld as the best brand and this as the best gauge for my needs. This brand is definitely worth paying more for if you want to play with flats. I have had the same set on my primary guitar for more than 3 years and I really didn't even need to change them yet when I bought these ones. I definitely consider these quality and durable strings.M Shadow

I use them on my ES-175. I have Seth Lover pickups, which are a bit brighter compared with Gibson pickups so I needed really dark sounding strings. These strings do the work very well. The strings are very well balanced. In fact, I don't think I have ever experienced more balanced strings than these. Yes, they are very expensive; however, the touch is fantastic and the sound is amazing. For my ears, they last for a bit more than 2 weeks before the sound goes away… however, if someone is playing a lot solos, one can keep 'em longer. They will actually sound a bit darker when they get old on solos but the sound on chords will lose its definition.Loopio

I have always played D'Addario Chromes on my Ibanez AF155 and have always tweaked for the tone that I could never find… hours of tweaking! (I have actually considered selling the guitar for this reason.) After some investigation, I tried a set of these strings and can not believe the difference. Instead of tweaking to find an acceptable tone, I play guitar. Wonderful classic warm jazz tone with your tone pots on the low end to an almost "acoustic guitar full" as you set the tone pot higher. The tone is rich and full. The feel is much smoother than the Chromes, they feel great. The strings are more consistent in output from string to string. I actually have a hard time making the guitar sound bad. Amazing! Buy a set!None

Great jazz sound and they last a really long time. I have been using these strings for 10 years and never had one break or unwind. NOTE: It takes about a week of playing for the strings to get their mellow sound so don't put them on and play a gig the same day.Bill K

A good sounding set. But if you are putting this set on a short scale Rickenbacker 325, be aware. I was bending an end of the high E string 0.13 to create an acute angle to hook onto the tremolo bar.The end ball popped out of the string loop. It was difficult to put it back together. I think it's a design flaw. The high E string had a too much slack around the ball end. I would give it a few more turns on high E ball end before I start making a sharp hook again.hkat2310

These strings have a polished nickel winding on a round core, which I prefer over Stainless Steel. Very mellow and powerful tone that gives me the jazz tone I like. The binding on the turner end of the string helps keep the strings in tune. Good quality product.Whit

I’ve used these Santa Cruz Mid Tensions for 4 string changes now on both my D18 and D35 and I continue to be impressed. I don’t think it’s just a marketing gimmick as these strings produce a more balanced and full sound than regular phosphor bronze sets. It’s a more mellow sound right away, almost like Monel strings. These have a great feel under the fingers as well. Great product!Michael M.

When I first put these on, the wound strings seemed weirdly flexible. I liked their sound, and the high tension top 'e' string had plenty of punch to compete with the strings below (often a frustration of mine), but I didn't believe I would stick with them. Now, after having played them for many months, I've come to love them. I am playing jazz, yes; but I came to the genre via blues, and like to bend pitches, and especially to end notes with a quick vibrato. These strings do this wonderfully. (I don't mean by this that I am bending the top two strings up a whole step as if I were playing blues; the .014 and .018 are pretty tight for that–but the tape wounds can do it!) That said, I am dubious of the lighter gauge set of Tapes, and have read complaints from others about them. A further note. You'll read that these strings aren't suitable for anything but long scale archtops and the like. This is not true. Just be certain not to cut (or break) the waste end of the strings!!! If you sever the string in the wound area, the wrap will spontaneously loosen for the entire string! So wind the waste end around on the headstock instead of cutting them.Joel

I usually use Elixir Lights or Mediums which is the recommended brand for all Taylor Guitars but I always wanted to try out Cleartone. Picked up the Cleartone Grand Lights which is a mix of medium and light strings and they do not disappoint. They sound beautiful on my Taylor Grand Auditorium! I highly recommend picking up a set of these and try them out on any acoustic guitar. If you like the crisp bright tones of lights with the rich and loudness of medium strings then these are the strings for you! They are corrosion resistant and have a thin flake free coating on them like Elixirs do. These just might be my new favorite strings! I will have to check out some different sizes and see what else they have. But as of now I am happy with my very first set of Cleartone acoustic guitar strings!mccaseyfresh

Although I was not throughly impressed I still say they are worth a shot if you are curious. If you don't like them, hey, go back to what works. I am unfortunately stuck with a stack of these strings (and intend to use them), but I'm not going to complain because I got an incredible deal on them. There's too many complainers out there today. Cleartone strings appear to be a well-manufactured, quality product, and I recommend them on the grounds that you try them to see if they are a good fit for you and your guitar. All the best! Cleartone coating versus other brands' coating – this is what the package touts. I notice the coating to be thinner but a good quality "coated" string has never bothered me much. In other words – it advertises a thinner coating and a more natural feeling product, but unfortunately it doesn't matter to me much. I'll rate this category a 6. The strings seem to be well made and are even packaged nicely in a durable poly wrap package, I admit I was pretty impressed just seeing what was underneath the pouch. Strings are color coded, which will be appealing to those who are familiar with D'Addario strings. Nice touch. Each string tips off with a long straight steel core. Strings tuned up fast and after a few stretches only needed one or two re-tunes. The area where I am dissatisfied is not in the durability or the feel of the strings. I am dissappointed in the sound. These strings replaced an old set of D'Addario EXL's on my Yamaha FGX720SCA Acoustic/Electric, and although they were brigher (as new strings tend to be), they were lacking a certain fullness and richness that the EXL's provided, both new and used, when played on my guitar. The EXL's have always been my go-to coated string, simply because they sound better to me than other coated competitors, so I may be partially biased here. But I know what I hear and I know what I like, and I don't feel these Cleartones are the best fit for my guitar. I want the readers to know that every guitar responds differently to strings. I have played guitar for quite a few years and have realized that some brands/gauges/lines of strings work better on some guitars, both acoustic and electric, than do others. So don't let this review scare you away from trying a set of strings that you might just fall in love with. On my particular guitar I wasn't impressed, but perhaps on your Takamine or your Martin these strings will shoot rainbows from your fingertips. It's all subjective. If you can find a special, I'd say give them a whack. You may not be dissapointed, and you'll know for yourself if these are for you or not. There's a lot of buzz about these strings, why not try them for yourself? Peace.zippidydoo

I really like these strings. They are warm, and give what I believe to be the best tone on my Stratocaster's and Telecaster. I don't really remember when I first started using Pure Nickel strings (of any brand), but I DO know I have never used anything but Pure Nickel since. The strings got a 4 star rating. I purposely omitted 1 star because, I feel they don't last as long as say a Nickel wound D'Addario would…but then again, I have not found a Pure Nickel D'Addario set of strings. So I forfeit the longevity for the tone. I DID just today order some Fender 150M (medium gauge 11's)…which are also Pure Nickel. I would never order 10 sets of strings if I didn't like them. Once I get to play the 11's, I will give a review on that product page. As far as Fender Pure Nickel strings go…you can't go wrong on the tonal quality. Rock on!!!White Dog

For years I've played flatwound strings, but when I bought my new Fender American Professional Jaguar I was taken by how lively and expressive the strings were! I left them on. There was a learning curve, with me having to learn a lighter touch, but the more I played them the more I liked them, I went on the Fender website, clicked on the "Chat with us" button, and asked what set came on the Jaguar. It was this set – the Fender 250L Super 250 Nickel-Plated Steel Electric Guitar Strings. VERY musical, VERY expressive! I play jazz-inflected folk, fingerstyle or various flatpicks, including Fender 351 Thins and Dunlop 204s. There's a reason Fender puts these on their guitars!RubyTuba

BUY THESE ! I hadn't used Fender strings for 30 years . A friend of mine bought out a music store so to liquidate he sold me all the strings and drum sticks in stock .. there were mostly Fender strings so I started using them . 20 packs of 9's lasted me well over a year . I work at least 3 night a week as a lead guitarists / vocalist . so I use my main Strat a lot . after I ran out of Fender's I used GHS and noticed I was breaking strings .. so I tried the Ernie Ball's .. breaking strings again ! I went to a local music store and bought a pack of Fender's . as an experiment I wasted to see how long before one would break . SIX WEEKS ! .. THEY LASTED 6 WEEKS ! .. That's 18 gigs , 3 hours pr night for a month and a half every Thursday Friday and Saturday . and they still sounded good ! FENDER RULES !horsesass123

I have used these strings for 3 or 4 years now they're really good I chose them because of the size and I found out that they are awesome. Not one ever broke on me as I did expect the 10 to from the speed and pressure I used sometimes. My particular style is metal, the strings work great for that. They are highly pliable. I am a bender and the tuning I think does not go out too much after the stresses I place on the strings. I have used deep standard E standard C standard a also be dropped down tuning no problem with any of the strings at all the sound is crisp and clear it's not a muddy sound and it's not a tinggi sound from the strings like a steel Acoustic sound.Big Mac

These strings work pretty much as advertised. They let you tune absurdly low without sacrificing note clarity or integrity… not perfectly, but reasonably. They also stay in tune remarkably well with little to no breaking-in.Regular DR 10's can handle my guitar tuned down 1 1/2 steps with no problems, but anything beyond that is flub territory and intonation is out by as much as a full half-step. With the DDT 10's, I can go 3 steps down and they still sound tight. If you check with a tuner, the intonation isn't quite right, but the difference is negligible to the naked ear. It's hard to break a DDT string. They are noticeably tougher than your average set of 10's. The feel is quite nice at 1 steps and lower though. They're surprisingly easy on the fingers. You don't have to pick hard to get heavy attack. They just exude brutal tone.Their quality stands true to the DR name. Definitely worth a try if you plan on experimenting with extremely low tunings. They can make your 6-string sound like a 7-string… only it'll still feel like a 6-string!Strizzwald

I typically play a half step down, sometimes drop C#. Guitar I have set up for that was giving me some occasional open string buzz in drop C#, but I didn't wanna go to a higher gauge because I like to be able to go to E standard once in a blue. Took the Daddarios off, put these on. Boom. Problem solved. Also very stable tuning wise and feel great overall. Thumbs up!Dustin J.

Absolutely can't tell that these are coated strings at all. They are bright without being super honky that you have to break in, they are smooth to play, and only sound better the longer you have them. They last an insanely long time with heavy use while still sounding fresh as can be, I play every day and change mine once every 10 months to a year. I guess I'll have to give Elixirs a fair try because they are the only brand I haven't used on bass yet, but have no idea what the last review was about saying these strings aren't good. They are downright amazing. I don't do reviews but I stand by the products that stand by me. The price is absolutely worth every last penny. Try them and you'll never look back!Mike B

My personal favorite coated strings, they have a great balanced tone perfect for rock and roll. They last forever, and keep their tone for months even with heavy playing. They have a warm low end and snappy responsive highs. I typically don't like coated strings as I find they impede my playing, however these strings feel like there's nothing there! These are truly excellent strings. This is an Employee review by Cgray at Sam Ash store 57Moose

I really like the tone and flexable feel of these strings. They have a good sound that does sound to bright or feel to slick, unlike elixers. I will probably purchase again if i find a great deal on them but unfortanatly i didnt get my moneys worth because the g string broke in two weeks. The only other thing i didnt love is that the big e string has so much wrapping at the ball that i had to jam my pin in a little more than was comfortable to hold it in. All in all the positives outway the negatives, the biggest thing to improve on would be durability.tyrw21

These were expensive for me to buy but it's worth it for the superb quality of the strings. These should last quite a while.Bill D.

smooth with good tone good for Jazz music . I installed these strings on my 1963 es-125 Gibson . I never used these strings before but they seem to be just fine G.Wtitleist*7

I purchased these based off the recommendations of several professional musicians. I began to tune these strings up to the recommended pitch of Drop D on a guitar with a Gibson-style scale length (24.75 inches). The first string I put on (56 for the low D) tuned up without a hitch and seemed sturdy. The second string I put on (11 for the high E) lost tuning during the first attempt and had to be reset; it snapped at the locking tuner during the second attempt. Save your money; don't spend three times the price for strings that can't even survive being tuned to pitch. I'll stick with D'addario.Chris

I have had these strings on my guitars for over a year and love them. They sound great. Absolutely nothing to complain about.MeMeMe

I usually Elixir strings for all my guitars, but I just wanted to experiment with some new strings, and I heard cleartone had some good strings for low tuning. At first, there was no clarity in the strings and I got a muddy sound out of them, which I could deal with for now. But three days later they started corroding and now the strings feel uncomfortable to play. This is what happens when you experiment with different strings, I'll be going back to Elixirs. -_-Jourdan Studios - Youtube

I've used Thomastik Flats on several guitars and basses (in appropriate gauges for different ones) for decades now. They are expensive, but also last a very long time with reasonable care so still deserve 'value-for-money' rating. Superb feel when playing, and to my ears and taste (bit of a jazzer) very good sound too. Once bridge saddles appropriately adjusted (they seem to need less end-correction than others) intonation is great. Highly recommended.JHS, C. i. S.

In 20 years of playing, I've broken plenty of strings right out of the package. The other reviewer must not change his strings much. I discovered flat wound strings several years ago, and I will never go back. Thomasik flat wounds are infinitely more comfortable on the fingers than standard strings. The first time I played them, I got a perfect vintage 60s sound that I had been trying to get out of other strings for a lifetime. Use them on a Strat and my SG. Highly recommend this brand of flat wound strings. You the man, Thomasik Infeld.Jeff

I tried these last year to see if they were worth the extra price. They are!!! I have had three sets now and I am about to order another for a new Jazz guitar I just got. One set went to my Son who plays a vintage ES-175. The feel, sound and the durability are better than anything else I have tried. And they say their special material at the top of the strings helps them stay in tune longer. They are the only flats I will be buying in the future and I recommend them.wscott336

There are a few "good" brands of electric guitar strings, and I have always chosen Ernie Ball as my goto set. They cost less, and last just as long as anything else that I have tried so that right there is enough for me. The new Cobalt, and Paradigm series strings are even better in my opinion, and it is the Paradigm that I use on my personal guitars now but for every guitar that I sell (several every month) it is always Cobalt series strings. I live on the Florida coast so anything made of metal is short lived especially guitar strings but the Cobalts do the trick, and last a couple of months for me.zombie415.2009

These strings need no credability having already been used and endorsed by the likes of Eric Clapton and Steve Vai and many more guitar giants. I only recently tried these cobalts and will probably never go back to the standard nickel strings. The big difference you notice right away is the feel of the strings when pressed and played, almost giving the feel of having a scalloped neck. The strings have a sort of elasticity to them, making for easy bending. Just a great feel. The next difference you'll notice is the higher output they give, while in my case actually making each note more distinct and clear at higher gains. I play mostly rock and metal, but I recommend these all day long no matter what style you play. -Leslie Ripplktogo-us

Overall: Use these exclusively on my 7 string. Perfect gauge sizing for down tuning; I love tuning to GDGCFAD. As far as "output" I can't really discern any advantage over other strings, but these of course have that great bouncy Ernie ball sound to them. I feel like they last a tad longer than plain Ernie balls but it could be a placebo effect. The gauge is perfect for what I do, anything else with these is just a plus. My main motivator to choosing strings are the available gauges, and these are a perfect fit. If you're looking in this range, you won't be disappointed.Brad

I use on my two prs se guitars that are on stands in my open basement in Ohio. Through humidity, cold and heat they stay in tune, clean up well when tarnished and remain snappy. I do moderate string bending (blues based riffing mostly) and even with non locking tuners these stay in tune. Been using for 3 years now.Roofdesign

My sons been playing guitar 25 years. These are his favorite strings for years. His only electric strings he says they bend better and have great tone. He plays rock to hard rock. No jazz.hollyseattle

Finally a string that still sounds fresh after playing twice. I dont play nightly shows, just when the mood hits in my basement. Great strings that carry and hold their tone for more than a day.divenut101

These new M-steel strings are not worth the price. I have been using EB Cobalts for the last year and now have them on all 12 of my electric guitars. Because I have been impressed by Ernie Ball's recent innovations in string making I thought I would give these M-steels a try. First impression is that they do not have the nice silky feel on the fretboard that the Cobalts do. The one thing I can say about the M-steels is they are loud acoustically which means they are also loud going through the pickups and on to your amp. I found this to be a bad thing because my rig is already set up for the cobalts strings output and these were actually so loud that they were overdriveing the front end of my amp and creating a extra unwanted highend fizziness that sounded terrible. Besides this the M-steels break easily, you heard it here first. Specifically the wound strings are prone to breakage because they have a smaller core wire and extra large windings. My guitar has locking tuners and 3 of the 6 strings snapped off at the peg when I tuned to pitch. The wound low E string and D strings did this and the non-would G string also snapped at the peg. I though the non-wound M-steel were supposed to be ultra strong? I have never had this problem with any other string type. I was using a set of M-steel 10-52 btw so they are pretty thick to begin with and should never have this kind of breakage problem. As for how long they last I wouldn't know because I was so mad at myself for paying for this M-steel gimmick that I went and ordered myself another set of cobalts and threw the M-steels in the trash. Cobalts Rule!Brother Snippey

If you use locking tuners and go back and forth from standard to drop D for example, the wrapped strings can't manage that too many times before it breaks. I suggest wrapping the low E string around the post like you do with normal tuning posts. I haven't tried this yet, but I will with my next set, hopefully I can get some extra life out of them. I do have an Evertune bridge, so I'm not worried about the tuning instability associated with wrapping the string around the post. Besides the weakness issues, I flat out love the slinky, less weighted feel and tone of the three coiled strings. I don't notice this difference much on the higher strings. I would rate these 5, if they fix the breakage issue that happen with locking tuners and tuning down to D. I'm not one to lock my tuners using a Herculean effort either, they're just prone to breaking. I would say they'll be completely fine if you just set it and forget it.Justin

I took a lot of years off and I had stock 10s on my G&Ls that was killing my hands so I played those for a while and endured my shortcomings as my hands were in training to regain the strength of my youth. Then made the switch to Ernie Ball Hybrid 0946s and that felt better but still felt like a battle when playing faster licks and solos. A friend suggested that I try the NYXL0942. Wow! I felt like I was in a time warp and back to my old self from years ago. These NYXLs have initially withstood my bending and time will tell to see if they are as tough as advertised. Also they feel like I am playing nylon strings so they are a lot more comfortable. Could be the lighter gauge but I think the string design also has something to do with that. The only thing I notice is that they do not ring out as loudly as my previous strings but it does not matter when you plug in. Really glad about these strings and will probably be putting these on all my guitars.MediumSexy

I love the sound of NYXL. They provide me with a pearl like sound that I can use for jazz as well as for heavier sounding music. The strings have qualities that last for a very long time. I usually change my strings every week. I left them for a month on my guitar just to see how they would sound. They sound fantastic… they would lose some freshness after about two weeks but they still hold a great deal of quality after two months playing. They also stay in tune after you pull your strings. I use them on a Strandberg and I love the sound of NYXL with that guitar.Piotr Bal

These strings are a great sounding string with a full tone. I typically used an 11 string guage and went down to a 10 on my current guitar setup. When I tried the 9s I thought I would lose some of the warmth and fullness, but they sound fairly consistent with with heavier guage strings and are easier to play and bend. Now I just have to learn to have a lighter touch when I play…chad

I've used Elixirs since they arrived on the market.. tonal response is negligibly different for bats and oscilloscopes, punters will never know – if you disagree you know where the tone controls are on your guitar and amp 😜. Price difference easily outweighed by not having to put a fresh set of strings on for every single gig of a run.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Elixir Nanoweb Coated strings set the standard for the best electric guitar strings. They feel and sound great and, in my opinion, last more than twice as long as other brands. I like the Superlights (9-42) on Fender and Lights (10-46) on Gibson scale guitars.mark from atlanta

Elixirs go on all 7 of my guitars. They last upto a year before I even notice them losing their fresh tone. 6-8 months on my everyday Les Paul's and Strat. My 12 strings don't get as many hours on them, thus the year longevity. All other strings, maybe 45 days, usually a month then dead or boringly dull. There is a difference worth paying for. Plus they are easy to slide your fingers up and down on.Preacher Dave

Got these Strings from Sam Ash a year ago. I am not a experienced player but I do all of my own setups and I know a good tone when I hear it. These Strings were fantastic day one but didn't hold a a tune very well for about a week. This is usually the case with most strings. After they settled in the tone was great for about 4 months then they start to lose that bright new sound. I play a lot of styles from blues to rock. No metal so not sure how they sound with that. My intonation was perfect and I still have these Strings. I rarely change my strings unless they break or rust and these haven't broken or rusted. Easy to bend. My Setup: Guitar: Yamaha SE300H Dual Humbucker's. Stock. Amp: Fender 40 Watt Amp Pedals: None Action: As Low As Possible Guitar Tone: Set at 10 Guitar Volume: 10Mm

These strings are great albeit my second choice for electric guitar strings. This was the first set of half size(9.5 on high e) I've used in 20 years of playing and honestly I really enjoy them. At the time of this review they are still on and still sound great.AUSTIN

Do yourself a favor if you play DAddario Strings, you must try the NYXLs. They last 2-3 times longer than standard nickel strings, and they sound Incredible. I am putting them on all my guitars now. DAddario hit it out of the Ball Park with the NYXLs! Thank You DAddario…progrifology

This was a great price on my favorite strings. Shipping was very fast too. Unfortunately, "new" does not mean the same as"fresh" and I have now learned the difference. These do seem to be genuine Elixers, but a few problems which led to broken strings may indicate that these were either sitting on a shelf for a very long time or else exposed to moisture. Normally, brand new strings will be very springy when you first take them out of the sleeve. They generally will uncoil into a straight line, but every single one of these maintained a strong curl or twist in it. But that alone was not a problem for me. The strings installed normally and tuned well, but the tonal quality seemed a little sub-par compared to what I was used too. Still, it's possible I was just imagining that. The strings were fine for a month. Held there notes as well as any, and the tone was at least decent, though I still felt it was missing something. But after one month I had the B string break. I usually keep Elixer strings for 6 months before they finally lose their great tone and I replace them, and because I wind plenty of extra string around the posts, I haven't had a string break on me in over 8 years. Breaking one now pretty much confirmed my earlier suspicions. I went ahead and replaced all 6 strings with the next set, but 2 weeks later and the high E string broke on me. For now I'm borrowing the high E from the final set, but the first chance I get I will be replacing every string with a new, fresh set from a local music store. I don't think I'll buy strings online again because of this apparent problem of freshness.jaredlang85

Long lasting, great sound. I went to my girlfriends sisters home for Xmas and a few guys got a some guitars out and we played some rock, country and bluegrass on Elixers strung on acoustic instruments. They claimed the strings were three years old. They sounded quite good for their age. After seeing a John Paul Jones interview where he said Elixers were all he used. I already used them but his opinion completely sold me. I even bought an Elixer tee shirt. I use them on all my guitars and mandolins. I won't settle for anything else. I just bought a FX5 that had Addario's on it. No pause, I replaced them with Elixers. Great sound. Long lasting. Stay good looking too. Buy multiple set bundles and save money.easymedicine1

I have an older small-body acoustic and got these extra-lights to see how they'd do. The literature said the Polyweb sounded a bit warmer and felt "slicker" to play than the Nanowebs so opted for that coating this time. They have accomplished exactly what I wanted. They have plenty of volume in a small-body, are a delight to play, and the guitar is more responsive than before. I have a similarly made deadnought that I put 11's in 80/20 Nanoweb on, and those are perfect for that guitar. They are a different sound. I also have a high-end dread that I put Nanoweb 11's on in Phosphor bronze and they're great for that one. So all three types for three different guitars and all worked perfectly.smugdad