XS strings. Who still prefers them??

[UncleJesse]

I've converted almost exclusively to XS 80/20. I have them on all my guitars at this point and love them. Who'd a thought an anti-coated person could like them so much? I really like the slickness when I'm going to play a gig or jam since they're so helpful if it's hot outside and you have sweaty fingers, although not a problem so much in winter. But now I've gotten used to it and compensated for all situations. I generally get around 6 months out of a set so much better than the 4-5 weeks I was getting out of my MA550s.

[Peter Z]

My favorite strings for all my guitars except my Hummingbird and SJ-200. Those two like Gibson coated better.

XS PB for the J-40 and the Furchs and XS 80/20 for all others, except the two Gibsons mentioned above.

[gibpicker]

Haven't tried 80/20 XS yet, but the FB verison sound nice on my Gibson dread. As good as EJ17's? Nope, but I only get a few weeks out of the EJ's. Actually EB 80/20 lights sound great on the dread.

[L20A]

I don't prefer them but I do like them.
I have a set on one guitar right now and they have been on it for over 6 weeks and still sound nice.

[zoopeda]

They’re bold and loud, but to my ears, they still have a harsh, coated string sound that never goes away. The 80/20s are better, but they give up the sweetness of the uncoated string sound. Too bad. They last forever.

[Jimi2]

I’ve been using the XS strings for a couple of years now and they are still my favorite. They last longer than elixirs for me, and sound a little bit better on most of my guitars.

[BrunoBlack]

I’ve used them since they were released and think they are perfect on a couple of my guitars, but not great on several. Overall, I prefer XT strings. I do like the lower tension of XS lights at 156 pounds vs 161 on EJ16s. They are similar in tension to SCGC strings. XS strings do seem to last a long time and provide a slightly brighter tone than XT strings, which is not what I’m looking for in most cases.

[random works]

The seem to last as long as Elixirs and I am on my third set. I get a couple of months before changing these strings, but even then they are not dead in the water like uncoated strings would be.

They sound just fine to my ear.

[Kh1967]

I have tried, but I am not a fan. They sound too harsh to my ears, and like a couple other folks, I much prefer the XTs.

[A.Wilder1]

Originally Posted by Kh1967

I have tried, but I am not a fan. They sound too harsh to my ears, and like a couple other folks, I much prefer the XTs.

+1. I also like the feel of the XTs more.

[mattwood]

I thought they were just okay. They didn't last nearly as long as Elixirs and I feel the Elixirs sound better.

[TBman]

I have a sets of XS on my Avalon, Furch and Pellerin. I haven't played my steel much lately and last night I took out the Furch and it sounded excellent. Good strings.

[Oldguy64]

I like the XT’s better.
I do some experimenting, I tend to run back to EJ16, EJ26, and the lighter Nickel Bronze balanced tension sets.

I currently have a set of EFT16’s on one of my guitar.
They are a lot more tension than I like, but they do sound very good.
If it turns out I really like them, I will reorder the 10-47’s. But only because they don’t seem to be available in 11-52’s.

[Tnfiddler]

My set of XS strings will be here today. I’ll get around to putting them on this weekend and I’m hoping they’re as great as I remember.

[Judas68fr]

I was going back and forth betwen XS and XTs on my Furch (12s), but settled on the XTs. The XS strings have a different treble response compared to the XTs (not good or bad, just different). On that particular guitar, the XTs seem to work better. And boy do they last!