[btaylor]

I know everyone has different opinions on strings, but this is my personal experience so far with my 717.

I purchased mine used (1.5 months old) from someone who needed the money. It had 80/20 nanoweb 11s on it, which I have NEVER liked the 80/20 nanos. I have always played Elixir polywebs and liked them, but have leaned more towards the PB Nanos over the last year or so. When I first strummed my 717, it blew my mind with the 80/20 Nanos on it what were a lighter gauge, really just didn't like anything about them, but the 717 blew away my 814ce and sounded awesome! After reading several opinions regarding the Santa Cruz strings, I decided to get a set of the Med Tension strings and try them out. To me, they sounded great strummed, they were comfortable to play, but were lacking when fingerpicking, almost dead at first and I was not impressed and didn't feel there was a major improvement. Once I played them for a week or so, they started growing on me. IDK if it was the guitar opening up or the strings just getting played in a bit, but they sound great now. I do plan to install some Elixir PB Nanos when I change the strings again for comparison, but this was my take on the Santa Cruz strings. I really like them now, but they were disappointing to me at first. I've played Elixirs for a long time, but I'm open to other strings that have a good lifespan and better tone. I just wasn't blown away with the SC strings. I'll have a definite opinion once I play the PB Nanos, this is just my experience/opinion to date. I'm not trying to knock the SCs, because I have grown to like them, but just didn't know about them at first before they were played in a bit and didn't notice anything spectacular about them. I might eventually try some Polys on it, depending how the PBs sound.

I do understand everyone likes different sounds/tones....just sharing my personal experience to date with mine. Regarding my 717 though, I freakin' love this guitar and can't imagine myself ever selling it. I just love it!

I love both of GPs, they are both beautiful guitars!