Elixir Strings 16052 Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings - .012-.053 Light Reviews

They feel slick, and sound good.

These strings sound great for a long time. They settle in fast and hold tuning better than any other string I've used. A bit pricey but worth it.

As a 50 plus years as a guitarist I can attest to gone through almost every name in strings. Az far as acoustics i been through, Dean Markley, Martin Marquis, Earnie Ball Earthwoods,D'Addario EXP, and Elixer polyweb and Nanoweb. All tried on my Guild True American. The Nanos are it for me at least on my Guild. For recording thd nanos dont have to break in "as much" as the poly does. The Dean Markley was always dirty scratchy feeling and sounded dead. The Exp were too raw and course sounding, the Marquis way to bright! The Earthwoods are good for tone in a recording session but done after a week. So I jumped on the Elixer band wagon so to speak (pun intended) and tried them. Poly first and lasted a longggg time! Yet too brassy and thin to record. Went back to Earthwoods. Then a fellow Nashville songerwriter/artist (and best man at my wedding) recommended the Nanowebs. The recommendation was 10 years ago approximately. I have yet to look back dince the Nano. Instant love affair with my Guild, recording sessions and my ears. As a multi genre lead player I am all about tone! My teles and strats still get the D'Addario nickel wound .10-.46 and that won't change (that tone)...but these Acoustic Elixers and my Guild are inseperable! (That tone) never feeling gritty.And they last a month or so of heavy session or gig play.

Seems like you can get a bad batch of any brand string especially in a multi pack..hmmm,well i've experienced it myself but not on these elixirs yet,i put these on an A5m which came with 80-20 elixir and these PB sound way better to me even with mahogany and they stay in tune in last so no whining here yet, good strings

Always bright, always in tune once setup. Never heard of a set go dead. The only strings I'll use on the A60E.

I've been playing steadily since the mid-1970s, and spent many years as a professional guitarist. Prior to Elixirs, I went through so many strings trying to maintain that snappy sound, and would change sets approximately twice a week. The wound strings would always wind up going dead quickly with my hand chemistry. For acoustics, my go-to guitars have always been Martins.

I first tried Elixirs back in 2000, just prior to a string of summer shows. To my amazement, the strings stayed bright and clear show after show. I finally changed them after several months (!!!!) and I was sold. Since then, the strings have gotten even better. Every so often I go back to non-coated strings just to remind myself of how quickly they go dead.

I use the Nanoweb Phosphor bronze on my well-worn Martin HD-28 and a wonderful custom guitar made by a friend. I don't hesitate to recommend them as the best strings I've ever used, period.

Im a guitar repairman and musician. Ive tried many different strings over the years. Elixir strings are my favourite. Most customers request them. Give them a try.

Okay in a desperate attempt to find out which stings truly are the best I personally tried every string on the market. Bought em myself, played em at shows, rehearsals & jams. I have found that Elixirs are by far the best product on the market. No other string can offer the quality, tone & life span! plan and simple you'll have weeks (depending on your style) of "like new" tone .the best I have come across, I had one pack last 6 shows no breaks and they still had great tone! No other string can stand up to that!!! I'll use Martin string as my backups of my backups or to pull single strings out of.... or if someone needs some strings at a gig. So trust me find the set that best suit you and you'll come to agree!

65 year old guitarist. laid off for almost 20 years. Picked it back up a year ago. Play fingerstyle - fahey, kottke, etc. Had a vintage yamaha. Started researching current guitars because I didn't want to use that rara avis for everyday. Heard a Furch on YouTube. Never heard anything like it, before or since. Nothing. Ovation, Martin, Gibson, Taylor, Washburn. Spent a year making my own steel string, which sounds great. But the Furch - and BTW - i own 3 now - A violet, indigo (both with laminated backs), and little Jane. These guitars are almost beyond description. But just for the heck of it, put on D'addario coated, then after reading that this Chris Proctor guy uses GHS true Mediums, i tried a set of them. They all sounded good. But just wasn't what it sounded like with the Elixir. So put another set of these on. Sound is back to unbelievable. and the coating....the high B and E strings almost feel like there's no action at all with the light gauge. I mean, I'd figure, heck, for $... a set I'll suck it up with the D'addario...but life's short. This would be like drinking 10$ wine when you could afford something better, or Bud when you could afford Heady Topper. If you own a Furch, don't economize on the strings. And if you own something else - try these.

I first put elixir strings on my Ibanez Gio a few months ago, and still see no difference in sound quality or wear on the string physically. I don't play electric as heavily as i do acoustic but I am astonished by the amazing quality of these strings. So naturally I bought a set for my Epiphone DR 100 and completely transformed the terribly dull sound of it to something pretty satisfying. I was destroying d'addario and earthwoods in a single night of playing, so I'm extremely happy that my bass player recommended these. I haven't yet but soon will be replacing the d'addarios on my Breedlove Pursuit Concert.

I have a Taylor 916ce, and these strings (phosphor bronze) are warm and I LOVE them on the my Taylor guitar. Taylor guitars have such a bright tone already so these enhance that. They make the guitar sound even more full. These strings are best suited to Taylor guitars.

Now i also own a Martin D18, Martin guitar tone is not as bright as a Taylor guitar. Martins are very warm guitars. If you put warm strings on a warm guitar...well...thats what happened with these negitive reviews. That edge would be lost. These strings are not suited for a Matin guitar.

What do i use on my martin? I use the Elixir 80/20 on my Martin...and that adds life to it! 80/20s are brighter, and enhance the tone on my Martin. I know from experience that they are brighter...but it also says that on the back of the package lol.

I started out using Martin Strings, then went to D'addario. I then tried Elixir. I was amazed ad how bright they were, but I was really surprised at how long they stay true. I used to change strings every for gig ... now I can go several without any degradation. They cost a little more, but are by far the superior string for acoustic guitars!

Long time D'addarrio fan, but I switched from D'addarrio EXP16's to these after trying a new Taylor 314ce. I play mostly finger-style on an Epiphone EF-500RCCE and appreciate how smooth and silky these feel on both hands - I think the full coating style has benefits when compared to the subtler coating of the EXP's - sliding and bending in particular both benefit and string noise is reduced (which makes the strings seem a little less bright). I also tried the 80/20 version, which I didn't like as much. The phosphor bronze are noticeably mellower than the 80/20's to me, again a boon for finger-style.

They take an extra stretch or 2 to settle into tune compared to the EXP's, but it's worth it as they last a month easily under heaving playing conditions and I would imagine more like 2-3 on average. For me, non-coated strings are already showing wear in only a few days, and the EXP's a few weeks. I've heard complaints that Elixirs break more easily than other coated strings. I can't confirm these as I've only ever broken one in the process of taking the strings off the guitar. I regularly bend 1 1/2 steps on non-wound and a full step on wound strings. Never a snap.

As for tone - it's obviously always going to be a matter of taste and a balance of player, instrument, style, and string. I think these are best with more relaxed (softer touch) and articulated styles - again, great for finger-style. Pure strummers - especially hard strummers - might find them on the weaker side for tone/volume, and perhaps bass response. Of course, a willingness to bump up a string gauge can help a lot here.

As always, I'm thrilled to be a Sweetwater shopper - the multi-pack deals on strings are excellent.

Sound great day after day. I hate changing strings. I refuse to change strings every time I want to play. These are the answer.

Well, I tried some other coated strings! Same old story, nothing like Elixir's on my Taylor's. They may not look pretty after a month but they still sound good. I'm more interested in sound quality then visual aesthetics! When something new comes out I often give them a try but always return to Elixir's! They have a great rich tone to me! Since I keep trying new strings I guess I can't give them 5 stars but they are very close!

I play Taylor's. I've been trying different strings for the last couple years. Tried a different brand of coated strings today. Had them on for about a hour, to bright and tinny. Couldn't get them off fast enough. Back to Elixir lights. I haven't found anything better.

Very long lasting string. Even when they start to look bad, they still sound good.

Well I put a set of these on my Martin for the heck of it and I have to say, they sound and play great! I loved them - for about 2 weeks. In 2 weeks or so they started losing the coating or whatever and they have this fuzz where you pick the strings. They deaden the sound. I loved them but they don"t last. Usually they start to get back where the left hand plays but they still look and play great in that area but I can"t get over the fact that they didn"t last like I thought they would.... oh well. I might give them another shot before I change back to Martin strings because the Elixers are great right when you put them on.

These strings feel nice for sliding up the neck but man are they LOUD. They lose a lot of your guitar's natural tone. They're all metal sound and have no natural tone from the guitars. Lots of bright mud.
I ordered the two pack and put them on a j45 and a Taylor academy series. The guitars sounded the same. Open, airy, and loud with no soul or differing flavor that makes having different guitars so much fun. These might be a good option if you're working with a guitar that needs some help sound wise but if you're happy with the sound you're getting from your guitar these are going to be detrimental to your tone. They are made and packaged well.

The coating feels like it makes the strings harder to bend. After a little bit of use the coating starts to fray against the frets. I'll stay with the D'Addario EJ17s in the future.

I haven't played on a Elixir strings in a long time, but I figured I'd pick up a pack to put on my new acoustic. They sounded and felt great, but within a week the G string was showing signs of wear over the sound-hole - the coating is fuzzy and frayed.

I'm a fairly light player compared to most, primarily playing with fingertips and thin picks, so I was surprised to see signs of wear so quickly. There's a chance I received a defective string, but for the price of a pack I'm not sure I'll be trying them again to see.

After reading a lot of praise about Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze strings, I tried a set on my Martin. At first I thought I could detect a slight improvement in action over the D'Addarios I normally use, but after a few weeks, I couldn't really say the tone was any different; however, I could definitely see a difference in wear. These things get ugly real quick. The wear areas of the wound strings lose their shine and become dark with an almost rust look, but what's worse is the way they seem to shred. It looks like a fine cloth fuzz hanging off the strings, which is bound to have a muting effect on the tone. I traded that Martin for a Taylor, which came standard with Elixirs, and the same thing happened. After two months, they were corroded and covered in fuzz. I switched back to D'Addarios, which cost less than half as much as Elixirs, and three months later, no corrosion, no fuzz. I've been using other brands for years and have never experienced anything like the corrosion and fuzz of Elixirs.

Bought my first pair of these recently. Put them on and SLOWLY began to tune them. About 6 hours later and about 80% toward being tuned TWO strings broke at the same instant. Guess I'll never know what these sound like, not about to keep flushing money down the toilet.

Been playing since 1974. Favorite strings are Martin and Daddario PB lights. I'd read many favoralble reviews about Elixirs so I figured that I would give them a try.
My first impression was that I noticed that they are very stiff/hard to play, and also noticed that they sounded muted. I also couldn't adjust to the slickness of them playing lead. Lastly, after having them on my guitar for about 2 weeks, the coating was causing the strings to hang up in the nut slots on my guitar that hasn't ever had that problem in the 15 years I've been playing it.
I purchased 2 sets of these. Still have a new set and I'll either find someone to take them off my hands, or they are going in the trash.