Okay all you experienced Taylor players, I'm pretty new to Taylor guitars (since Black Friday) and Elixer strings. When I was buying my 814 I had the shop change the strings (they sounded dead to me) to my strings of choice, which are D'Addario EJ16's. After about 5 weeks they were ready to be changed, and I changed them just after Christmas. I probably could have gone another few weeks with them, but I was anxious to find out what for myself what the Elixer Nanowebs were like since they are the strings that "original equipment" from the Taylor factory and I read that a lot of players, especially Taylor players, like them.
Well after about a month with the Elixers I am not so enthusiastic about them. I like the way they sound and I like the light bronze color too, but I don't like the way they feel and I like the D'Addario strings better. One thing I do like about them is that they don't squeak as much. They still sound pretty good, but it looks like they are wearing out to me, especially at the A note on the G string (second fret). I probably play about an hour a day, and I'm wondering what the "normal" life of these strings is. I've heard of people playing them for a few months before changing them, and I've also heard of the coating disintegrating. Is a month about right? My fingers hardly sweat and I wipe the strings down every time I finish playing. I'm going to keep playing them for a while, but I've purchased other strings to try before deciding which I will settle on before having my 814ce set up:
- Martin - Acoustic SP 80/20 and SP Phospor Bronze
- D'Addarrio - EXP16 and EXP19
- DR Rare PB's
Of course, I also have a few packs of D'Addario EJ16's
It wil be an interesting experiment for all of my guitars.
Back to my original question though - how long do you generally expect the Elixer's to last?
Thanx,
Jim
