Taylor Guitars are excited to announce a new partnership with D'Addario, as Taylor transition to using their premium XS coated Phosphor Bronze guitar strings on our steel-string acoustic guitars. This collaboration combines Taylor's renowned guitar performance with D'Addario's expertise in string manufacturing, resulting in an enhanced playing experience in terms of both feel and sound.
Effective immediately, Taylor'sU.S.-built models will be strung with XS Phosphor Bronze strings, while Taylor's Mexico-built Taylor guitars will gradually transition to these new strings starting this summer.
Andy Powers, Taylor's Chief Guitar Designer, President, and CEO, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, "We're excited for this new chapter of partnership with D'Addario. The XS strings are consistent and produce a great response. They possess all the qualities that make a guitar sound musical: pitch accuracy, dynamic range, feel, and sustain. They work exceptionally well."
Powers believes that the performance virtues of these strings align well with his guitar design philosophy for Taylor's evolving guitar lineup.
This string partnership reflects a creative kinship between the two companies. Taylor and D'Addario were founded within a year of each other, sharing similar histories, values, and cultures. Both companies are known for pushing boundaries in acoustic guitar innovation, constantly striving to improve the sound, feel, and performance of the instrument.
In 2017, Taylor and D'Addario collaborated to create a specially designed nylon-core string, which enabled Taylor to launch the award-winning GS Mini Bass. This collaboration resulted in a short-scale acoustic bass guitar that offered unprecedented control and low-end punch, providing a remarkably comfortable playing experience.
Taylor's decision to adopt D'Addario's XS strings is driven by the superior performance benefits of the XS line, including maximum tuning stability, long-lasting string life, enhanced durability and break resistance, and an ultra-thin coating process for a smooth feel. Introduced in 2021, XS Strings represent D'Addario's most innovative string line to date. (Taylor also uses D'Addario strings — Pro-Arté Carbon — on its nylon-string models.)
Another crucial factor in Taylor's decision was D'Addario's track record of performance consistency. Andy Powers emphasizes the importance of uniform behavior among strings, stating, "As a guitar maker, I want the exact same character from one string to the next. Otherwise, you can ruin everything about the guitar."
The XS string sets feature an ultra-thin protective film coating on the wound strings, while the plain steel strings undergo a unique polymer treatment, ensuring that all six strings are shielded from contaminants that could impact performance. D'Addario's proprietary Fusion Twist technology and NY Steel core wire provide unparalleled tuning stability and increased break strength for each XS string. The XS line is available in the most popular acoustic guitar string gauges in both Phosphor Bronze and 80/20 Bronze.
