I've just changed the strings on my daughter's Faith. She's only ever played it with the strings that came with it, so didn't really have a preference for what to replace them with. I had some D'Addario phosphor bronze 12s in my stash because that's what I use, so I put those on to see what she thinks.
If she decides she prefers what was on there before, I assume they were another D'Addario set because they had the coloured ball-ends (does anybody else do that?) but the wound strings were a lot "yellower", more brassy-coloured than the phosphor bronze. Would they be the 80/20 bronze, or something else? I don't think they're coated ones.
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Now you've mentioned it I've found it buried in the FAQ under how to change strings, and you're right, it does say coated. I didn't think they were when I took them off... possibly the shop changed them before they sold it to us - when we were in there trying guitars they did make a few comments that they didn't think much of the standard strings on the Faith (so I assumed they were cheap no-name ones, but perhaps they just prefer Martin strings or something). I'll ask them next time I'm over that way.
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
If she likes the phosphor bonze set then all this is academic of course - just thought I'd try to be prepared for if she hates them and wants it back how it was
EJ11 will sound brighter than XT but won't last as long, at least they don't for me. To my ear, XT sound a bit too warm, but that's not necessarily what you or your daughter would find.
I haven't really fiddled with different string types for ages - I decided I liked phosphor bronze on my guitar (once the new string nastiness goes) and just stuck with those for years. And as I said earlier, as far as I know I've never played a guitar with coated strings - but perhaps I have and just haven't noticed!
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I favour pb for their fuller, punchier sound I get with 'em on this Gibson Dove
It's a safe bet they're D'Addario but which ones is the question. "Brassy" suggests 80/20, kind of yellowy in colour...
In any event, nice guitar, that's the main thing.
Yes, it sounds as if they were brass (going by the colour).
No, coated strings don't look or feel particularly different so long as they use the common (almost universal) method of coating the winding first, then winding the string. Elixir are almost unique in winding the string first and then dipping it in Teflon. This is why Elixir strings last longer than pretty much anything else, have less left-hand squeal than almost anything else, and don't sound quite as good as almost anything else. (But you may like the Elixir sound. Many people do.)
Last point: if your daughter has been playing it with the factory strings all this time, you can take it as fact that she is not fussy about strings. Withing reason, any brand will be just fine.
This came from a call to Mansons.
@Mellish - thanks, I did keep the strings - I think they were the normal D'Addario colours but I'll check later. Hope you didn't call them just for me... it's really not at all important so could have waited until next time I'm out that way
Glad if I've helped.
Anyway it just hit me that the stickers which were on the guitar may well still have been in the case of the guitar. They were. They were D'Addario coated phosphor bronze. So basically don't listen to anything I say, is the moral to take out of this. That does make a kind of sense, though- I don't remember disliking them anywhere near as strongly as Elixirs. Not sure I'd buy them again, but I was happy enough with them when they were on the guitar. At least from what I remember, I was. And we all know how accurate my memory is!