D'Addario Pro Arté Nylon Classical Guitar Strings, EJ45, Normal Tension, 6-String Set, Pack of 1

Great but wish it was more durable

Good quality

The initial experience with these D’Addarios was like cheap strings: the trebles sounded muddy and as soon as the top E was in tune, the G string was going out of it. For the first day I spent more time tuning the trebles than I did playing. During this process (the strings weren’t slipping) of seemingly laying ‘acres’ of nylon on to the rollers, the sound gained clarity. On day two there was more tuning, though the basses were better. Day 3 and the basses are pretty stable, the trebles still going flat after 5 -10 minutes or so of playing. Over the next 8 days the trebles stabilised. I was surprised this took so long. What you get is a nicely balanced classical sound – D’Addario’s claim of ‘Standard Classical Tone’ is warranted and accurate. Any critique becomes ear, style, and guitar based. I’d have liked a little more ‘beef’ on the bottom E. On a different guitar, possibly not; it’s nuanced, and D'Addario have doubtless taken a path that delivers an acceptable sound over a range of tonewoods and playing styles. These arrived on the 30th of January. I strung another guitar with a different ‘up and coming’ brand of strings (Sound like they might be from Wonderland, but come from China) on the same day, and have been playing both very regularly. It was never my intention to do a back to back test, but that’s what’s ensued. In ‘bedding in’, the Chinese strings gained overall stability before the D'Addarios: but neither set were ‘anything to write home about’. So what’s the USP of these strings? The manufacturer seems to think it’s ‘Made in the USA’. Why is that any sort of benefit compared to France? Or a Spanish / Portuguese heritage? The German tradition of engineering? Or British? A number of the ‘offers’ on the manufacturer’s web site are home market only: for example their recycling boast – is greenwashing for most of the world, and these strings, like the Chinese ones, are being shipped half way over it. I’d say the key USP was producing an acceptable, balanced, ‘benchmark’ sound over a wide range of instruments. One you can depend and rely on. How do they compare to the ‘other’ strings? There was little between the sound on the bass strings for quite some time. The D'Addarios squeaked less on slides. The Chinese strings seem equally as well balanced in tone and tension between strings over the set. The treble strings? To my ears, the D'Addarios have a little more clarity and brightness, the Chinese trebles are a slightly mellower tone. The difference is subtle, but I noticed it. Just over a month later, the Chinese bass strings have started to sound a little duller than they originally did, the D’Addarios are still sounding like new. The difference in the trebles remains, and on both sets, the treble strings are very playable. Which brings me to price. Discounted, the D'Addarios were well over twice the price of the Chinese strings. Have they ever sounded over two times better? No; and that would be an unreasonable expectation. Playability? The Chinese squeak, in my mind, gave the D'Addarios an immediate edge: the slightly more resonant response of D'Addario’s trebles is a personal preference. Longevity is going to be the key marker: D’Addario’s bass strings have, so far, shown none of the tonal degradation of the Chinese set. I’d be happy if the (subjective) playable life of the D'Addarios was twice that of the Chinese strings: because, at this point, they do sound better.

I bought these strings to replace the ageing strings on my classical guitar that I own, and I was really pleased with them. I own several guitars (a variety of electric and acoustic) but only one lonely classical guitar, so I didn't really know how I like the strings to feel. So I plumped for a set of normal gauge strings, and these turned out to be the ones that suited me best. I had no difficulty stringing my guitar and the produce a lovely warm tone on my guitar (which is good, as the guitar is cheap as chips). Even better was the strings were cheaper than in any of the local music shops around me (and with free postage) so that's good. I would recommend any classical guitarist to buy these strings for there guitar as they are perfect for the job at hand, and hopefully will last quite a while.

Sound really crisp and sharp. The strings have more of a silver colour than a bronze which looks good

Bought for my daughters. She seems pleased with this.

As ordered

Excellent for practice

Bra strängar.

Good nylon strings, i could feel the difference after installing the new ones

音質がとても良く、気に入っています。また、購入したいです。

Love it. Highly recommend.

I am not an expert in classical strings, and the result was as expected.