Ernie Ball Earthwood Silk and Steel Soft 12-String 80/20 Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings - 9-46 Gauge

To get back into my neglected hobby of guitar playing (never been more than a six or seven chord wonder, and absolutely CAN NOT play barre chords! I know my limits...) just before Chrimble I purchased a nice left handed Vangoa Semi Acoustic (see my review of that elsewhere for the low down on the lovely item). It arrived pre-strung with what felt like cheese wire designed to part me from my finger tips permanently.Now of course I understand that you have to, through regular practice, toughen up your finger ends - but I have an additional hurdle. Due to a genetic disaster, I have an auto immune problem that makes me prone to very soft skin and bouts of psoriasis. Toughening up the finger ends really is an uphill struggle. I looked into finger cap things (I believe they call them "cots") but apparently these are a CON and YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT BUY THEM.So panicking that I would never get anywhere, I wondered if maybe we could do something about the strings perhaps? Yes, we certainly can. There's the nylon option if you have an actual acoustic, but (a) I had a semi acoustic, so that's no good me, and (b) I hate how nylon strings sound anyway. A few of the old hands were recommending something cryptic "Earthwood". Science fiction book, Pagan Holy Site, old BBC radio series, or what?Well, it turns out that Earthwood is a special set of strings manufactured by one of my fave string companies, Ernie Ball. Indeed, they are truly special. These wonders have a layer of silk inside the windings, making them softer and easier to play for we sensitives. Apparently, according to the cognoscenti, they don't last as long as other types of string, and one has to be careful with their cleaning, but strings are the guitar's "consumables" - you have to change them often *anyway*, and it's not like they cost the earth!So I purchased a string multi-tool (see the review for *this* elsewhere too!) and a couple of sets of Earthwoods. As soon as I had a day where I felt strong enough, I restrung my Vangoa, and the difference was instantly noticeable. The Earthwoods have a smoother and more delicate tone that (according to what I had read) is not to everyone's taste, but I fell in love immediately. It's more folky, jangly, and nowhere near as brash and tinny sounding as the previous generic jobs. Although I've only managed a half hour or so of playing on them, I've found them so very agreeable. My other option was to get one of my electrics out of storage and get started on "the toughening", but an acoustic is so much easier to simply "pick up and play" anytime, whilst you have to locate your cables, your portable amp, connect everything up and fiddle with settings before strumming chord one.So in sum, Earthwood strings from Ernie Ball are a splendid addition to your guitar bag - whether like me you're fighting against everything (even my own collapsing carcass!) to get back into playing after a long hiatus, or you simply fancy a slightly mellower, toned down sound from your acoustic. They are not the cheapest strings in the world - who on earth would want *them*? - but they are not really that expensive for a decent set that's easy on the fingers. As I said, I purchased two sets. We've all known the horror of an overtightened G-string that simply explodes in your hands to the shock and dismay of all around, and as you wipe up the blood you're faced with that terrifying thought: "Where do I even get a spare G-string at 2am on a Sunday morning? Why didn't I just buy two sets?" But I suffered no such ignominy - indeed it's rare with decent named-brands - so I have a spare set to go in my Geetar Stuff drawer. I'm very happy with my Earthwoods, and maybe if you give them a try, you will be too!

I have bought Earthwood strings for years and always found them value for money, of good quality and long- lasting. Thank you for a good reliable product.

Really very pleased with these strings, I have just replaced the set of Martin's with these extra soft Earthwood on my son's Yamaha APX 500 which is a thin bodied electro acoustic so not the deepest sounding guitar in the world when not plugged in. I have to say they have transformed the guitar! Really nice warm bottom with bright but not too zingy top. I am really pleasantly surprised considering they are such light strings. Yes they are 4 or 5 quid more expensive than the Martin's that were on before but my 10 year old son loves the 'new' sound and he says they feel softer on his fingers. He hasn't seen the packaging so doesn't actually know they are called 'extra-Soft' Worth the extra money all day long. I rated them 4 stars only because I can't comment on their longevity yet as we have only had them on a few hours.

Utterly Beautiful. 7 Stars and Jupiter at Midnight. They are very quiet, very gentle and very beautiful. I played Heaven's Door at 3 O'clock in the Morning and they are so gentle, I nearly got in. I got carried away but they've got no volume and you can't wake the neighbours even if you lose control. If you're playing something very tender, you need these. Tears in Heaven, that sort of thing. They are qualitatively different. Vintage Port to your average Sherry Drinker. Mine went off after about 4 days, so I cleaned them and that was the end of them. Dowse them in string cleaner and I think the Silk must absorb it and it's not marketing or slick doublespeak, there really is Silk in these Strings. Velvet Underground and coated with a deeply resonant and deeply pleasing Steel. I've got some more on order because life's too short not to practice with the sweetest strings you can find. Thank you Earthwood. I've found my Strings, I just need to get between G and C a bit quicker.

Bought to replace a set of 11s on my acoustic. Nice tone, good sustain and no more sore fingers so more noodling time!. Very pleased.

Very nice

Just fitted these strings and what a difference.They are so soft and easy on the fingers.Either I've got better over night or they even sound better than my others.I'm a novice player but can tell quality and these are quality strings. It's 100% worth paying that little extra.Can't comment on the longevity yet but at the moment I highly recommend theseI originally purchasedErnie Ball Earthwood Medium Light Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings - 12-54 GaugeBut just couldn't play for more than 10 minutes. Pain in fingers got to bad

They have a beautiful clear ring/ sound.👍👍😀❤️🎸🎸

Worked as expected.

Son una excelente opción, se las puse a mi Fender Malibu para que pueda tener un sonido más cálido y más acústico, el recubrimiento de seda que tienen definitivamente pone al nivel de Folk los instrumentos.Nota: al ser cuerdas dirigidas para guitarras Folk y 3/4, no estoy seguro que puedan servir para las Dreadnought o Jumbo ya que son más cortas de lo que comúnmente son, para que consideren si realmente les puede servir.

Good value

On the fingers ...good sound..not a performer..so small.and easy does me..put on my folk guitars

I've been playing guitar since I was a kid, and then moved on to bass guitar for a while and played in a folk band. Now I'm getting back into guitar in my retirement so I wanted something that would save my fingers until I could build up some callouses. Actually I didn't know these sort of strings even existed until I started looking around on Amazon for a set of a strings for a second hand guitar I bought (Washburn, love it).Each string is nicely packed and tells you which string, and the gauge of each string. Nice touch! Strings went on easy enough, no drama there. I used to 10-50 extra light.Having played with them a bit, the lower four wound strings feel like classical guitar strings. They are definitely softer and easier on the hands. The highest two strings are unwound, and feel softer too, but maybe because my hand isn't recoiling from the strings as much?Playing the guitar both unplugged and through an amp, the strings are definitely more mellow and laid back. They don't ring out like other strings. They also seem to be slightly lower tension than my other strings, so the neck bends a little straighter with these, so I can get fret buzz off them if I play too hard. So if I replace these strings I might go up to the .11 gauge strings. Washburn recommends .12-.52 but these strings jump from .10 to .11 to .13 (no .12 on the first string). Certainly not a deal breaker but strange they don't offer a .12 gauge version.These strings are definitely noisier than the coated strings I took off the guitar. You can definitely hear your fingers squeaking around.So my overall thoughts are, these are very good strings for someone who is a beginner or coming back to guitar and want a softer version until they build up calluses. Others might just like the classical guitar feel of them and willing to give up a bit of the top end "ring", or the quietness of a coated string, to have the features of this string.Am I glad I made the purchase? Yes, absolutely, I can play longer now while I build up calluses. Would I buy them again? Well, I think I would! I'm willing to give up some sonic details for a softer string. I'll probably try to the next gauge up, getting the best of both worlds, a higher gauge and a softer string! Plus, these strings are fairly inexpensive, which seals the deal!