Who makes the best acoustic guitar strings?

Martin strings have a very specific sound. If you like that sound, they are the best. My mom loves the sound of Martin strings on her Martin. I use almost exclusively D’Addario strings for electric bass and guitar, but no one uses Martin for that, they use Ernie Ball sometimes. I like D’Addario strings on my other acoustics, but I use Elixer Nanoweb instead because they last longer and sound almost as good. I use Rotosound for my upright bass and Elixer for Mandolin. The only Banjo I string is mom’s, so once again I use Martin for the Banjo. My mom also owns a Mandolin that has Martin Strings. I’d say the Elixers on the Mandolin have a more melodic tone and the Martins have an earthier tone. Martin strings last the least long with “their tone” than any of the strings I’ve mentioned, but if that’s the tone you want, they are the only way to get it. D’Addario are probably going to have a more “generic” sounding tone to you and your audience, because they are by far the most popular string. read less