AC111 Plectrum Acoustic Guitar Strings - .011-.050 Light Review

Beautiful Strings, But Fragile

Out of the box, these are the best sounding acoustic strings I've tried. Bronze is stiffer than most string materials and that makes them loud and bright. The trebles have a distinct snap to them, but aren't twangy, and the basses have a very pure fundamental, which is perfect for the way I play. I have a very expensive handmade acoustic and these strings really wake it up and balance… read more out the deep bass that guitar has. The strings also look gorgeous. The bronze material is almost golden, which matches the gold hardware on my guitar. The yellow silk wraps are distinctive and look amazing. There are two major flaws with these strings. The first is that they are super fragile. The first set I bought did fine until I left the guitar in it's case for a couple weeks. When I came back, the high E wouldn't come up to pitch. It didn't break, like you would expect. Instead, the string slipped at the machine head until the silk inlay came off. Because the strings are so stiff, they don't wrap around the posts tightly enough without the silk. If you try to bend to stay in place, the end will just break off. The next set I bought did the same thing, except this time it was the B string and it was as soon as I put it on. It seems the silk is necessary to make the stings stay put. The basses have the silk wrapped into the windings and don't seem to have the same issue. Considering these strings are relatively expensive, breaking strings is a real problem. The other issue is that the trebles become dull very quickly. Even the look of the string changes with just a few hours of playing. They still sound good, but the character definitely changes. These would be good strings for recording, but not necessarily for taking on the road. One more issue that is specific to my guitar is that the silk wraps make the string diameter bigger at the ball end. My guitar doesn't use bridge pins. The strings pass through the bridge sort of like a classical guitar, except the ball end is countersunk like an electric guitar bridge. The silk wrapping makes the low E too thick to fit all the way into the hole. Even if I cut the silk wrap off at the ball end (not an easy task), the diameter is still too thick. It doesn't seem to affect performance, but it looks janky. Overall, these are very nice strings. They sound amazing and look totally unique. Just be warned that they're fragile and finicky. I'm not sure I'd buy them again.

---

Cancel Comment

Garbage

horrible tone. these strings sound like they've been played for 200+ hours just after a few days. The spectrums (same brand) are one of my favorite strings though so im surprised..... Ive played the plectrums once before and i remember them being a lot better than this. maybe I went with a medium-light last time and that extra thickness helped to beef up the sound. i dont know.… read more perhaps i just have a better ear now....not sure. in any case im taking these strings off after just a few days because they sound like crap haha...... maybe ill try a medium gauge plectrum in the future but im not sure... I would recommend the spectrums though.

---

Cancel Comment

Literally transform guitars

My guitars are now all angels. I have tried a them all this strings make your guitar sound beautiful. They hold up over time. I never write reviews but I can't tell enough people it's worth the price. I'm too poor to buy cheap things.

---

Cancel Comment

Garbage!! Don't Bother!

Broke the big E string putting the strings on the guitar. Didn't even get tight! Ruined the most expensive strings I've ever bought. Complete waiste! Garbage!! Don't even bother with them...

---

Cancel Comment

Worth the Cost to Me!

I originally bought these for my Martin HD28 in case the set of these that I have had on for about a year now finally give up. I play this guitar semi regularly and have been very impressed with how they have held up to regular playing for hours at a time. At 56 years of age I am beginning to suffer from arthritis in my hands, and I started buying this brand of strings for my small… read more scale Fender Bass because of a recommendation of a friend. I then bought a set for my Martin and I cannot believe how well both sets have stood up and still sound warm and articulate on both instruments over a years time. I just got a Washburn resonator from Sweetwater and decided to put these on that instrument as well. These strings are phenomenal with their lower tension yet keeping things warm, articulate and powerful when you dig in. I just bought a set of classical guitar strings and another set for my Martin in case they finally go bad and I need to change them. The price seems steep at first, but when you consider I would have replaced strings 4-5 times over the year of other brands the price works out to about the same, plus I do not have to change strings as often. They made my resonator come alive and sound warm and bluesy just as I had hoped they would. I cannot recommend these strings enough, especially for older players with arthritis that want to keep playing as strong like they have for for the past 42 years like me.

---

Cancel Comment