D’Addario Coated XS Strings | Taylor Guitars

Bob Taylor, Andy Powers, and Jim D'Addario discuss a new collaboration between their companies.

May 18, 2023

Taylor Guitars, the leading global builder of premium acoustic guitars, and D’Addario, the world’s premier guitar string maker, announce that Taylor is transitioning to D’Addario’s premium XS coated Phosphor Bronze guitar strings. This exciting collaboration marries decades of category-leading innovation, including Taylor’s award-winning performance, playability, bracing design and balance, and D’Addario’s iconic tone, comfort and durability, for an elevated acoustic guitar-playing experience unlike any other.

Effective immediately, all of Taylor ‘s U.S.-built models will be strung with XS Phosphor Bronze strings, while Taylors built in the company’s Mexican factory will begin transitioning to the new strings starting this summer.

In this video, moderated by Fretboard Journal‘s Jason Verlinde, Taylor Guitars co-founder Bob Taylor, current Taylor Chief Guitar Designer, President and CEO, and D’Addario’s founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Innovation Officer Jim D’Addario discuss the new strings and the collaboration between the two companies.

“We’re excited for this new chapter of partnership with D’Addario,” says Powers, “It’s the guitar maker in us that wants to be standing alongside the string maker in them. The XS strings are really consistent and produce a great response. They have all the metrics that make a guitar sound musical: pitch accuracy, dynamic range, feel, sustain. They work exceptionally well.”

Taylor Guitars and D’Addario, both founded within a year of each other, share similar histories, values, and cultures, and are both known for boundary-pushing acoustic guitar innovation, always looking for ways to improve the sound, feel, and performance of the guitar. In fact, the two companies have a history of collaboration. In 2017, their joint efforts resulted in a specially designed D’Addario nylon-core string that made it possible for Taylor to launch its award-winning GS Mini Bass, which delivered unprecedented control and low-end punch in a short-scale instrument, resulting in a remarkably comfortable playing experience (check out Peghead Nation’s demo of the GS Mini Bass!).

“This is so much more than an iconic guitar company and string manufacturer coming together,” says D’Addario. “It’s about what can happen when insatiably curious people get together for the sole purpose of elevating what’s possible for musicians. Taylor truly embodies that ethos.”

Taylor’s decision to adopt D’Addario’s XS strings is based on the XS line’s superior performance benefits, including maximum tuning stability, excessively long-lasting string life, enhanced durability and break resistance, and an ultra-thin coating process for a smooth feel. Launched in 2021, XS Strings are D’Addario’s most innovative string line to date. (Taylor also uses D’Addario’s Pro-Arté Carbon strings on its nylon-string models.)

In each XS string set, the wound strings feature an ultra-thin protective film coating, while the plain steel strings feature a unique polymer treatment—which keeps all six strings protected from performance-impacting contaminants. D’Addario’s proprietary Fusion Twist technology and NY Steel core wire deliver unprecedented tuning stability and enhanced break strength on each XS string. The XS line is available in the most popular acoustic guitar string gauges in Phosphor Bronze and 80/20 Bronze.

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