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Best electric guitar strings 2026: Sets for all styles and budgets

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These are the very best guitar strings from Ernie Ball, D’Addario, Elixir, Rotosound and more

A man restringing a Les Paul electric guitar
(Image credit: Future)
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Picking a set of the best electric guitar strings should be easy, but with so wide a variety out there, it can be difficult to settle on your perfect match. As one of the crucial elements of your electric guitar tone, slapping the right set of strings on will not only have you playing better, but will make you sound better, too. Electric guitar strings are similar, but not all are created equal, so we've gathered the very cream of the crop in one place for you.

Despite being a relatively inexpensive piece of guitar gear, the type of electric guitar string you choose, and more importantly, the gauge you go for, will have a massive effect on the playability of your electric guitar. For this reason, we'd always recommend trying out a few different sets, as you'd be surprised how much of a difference a change of string gauge can make.

If you're buying for the first time, or you'd like to understand more before you make a change, go check out our FAQs, which feature loads of common questions answered by the expert writing team here at MusicRadar. For those who already know their stuff, keep scrolling for the best electric guitar strings available today...

Best electric guitar strings: Product guide

Glossary of terms

  • Ball end: The little metal loop at the end of each string that anchors it to the bridge of your guitar. Sometimes these are colour-coded by string gauge, which is handy when you’re restringing.
  • Coated strings: Strings with a thin polymer coating that protects them from dirt, sweat, and corrosion. They cost more but last way longer and some players reckon they feel a bit slicker under your fingers.
  • Core wire: The central wire that runs through the middle of a wound string. This is what actually determines the string’s pitch, with the outer winding adding mass and affecting tone.
  • Flatwound: Strings where the outer winding is made from flat ribbon wire instead of round wire. They feel super smooth, last ages, and give you a mellow, warm tone that jazz players love. Not as bright or zingy as roundwounds.
  • Gauge: The thickness of a string, measured in thousandths of an inch. A set of 9s means the high E string is 0.009 inches thick. Lighter gauges are easier to bend but sound thinner, heavier gauges are tougher on your fingers but sound fuller.
  • Hex core: A core wire that’s hexagonal rather than round. The flat sides give the outer winding something to grip onto, which some people reckon improves tuning stability and tone transfer.
  • Nickel-plated steel: The most common material for electric guitar strings. Steel core wrapped in nickel-plated steel wire. Gives you a balanced, versatile tone that works for pretty much any style.
  • Plain strings: The unwound strings on your guitar, usually the top three (high E, B, and G). They’re just solid wire with no winding, which is why they’re shiny and smooth.
  • Pure nickel: Strings made from pure nickel rather than nickel-plated steel. They’re warmer and softer sounding, more vintage in character. Popular if you’re after that classic rock tone from the 50s and 60s.
  • Roundwound: The standard winding style where round wire is wrapped around the core. These are bright, punchy, and what most electric players use. They’ve got that familiar textured feel under your fingers.
  • Scale length: The vibrating length of the string, measured from the nut to the bridge saddle. Affects string tension - longer scales need more tension to reach pitch, which influences how strings feel and what gauge works best.
  • Stainless steel: Strings made from stainless steel rather than nickel. They’re super bright, last absolutely ages, and resist corrosion brilliantly. Can feel a bit rougher on your frets though.
  • String tension: How tight a string feels when tuned to pitch. Heavier gauges have more tension and feel stiffer, lighter gauges have less tension and bend more easily. Also affected by scale length.
  • Taper wound: Strings where the winding stops before the ball end, leaving just the core wire. Usually used on the lower strings to improve intonation and give you a clearer tone, especially if you’re stringing through the body.
  • Winding: The wire wrapped around the core wire on the thicker strings (usually the low E, A, and D, sometimes the G). Adds mass to get lower pitches whilst keeping the string flexible enough to play.

How to choose

Gibson Les Paul Special DC

(Image credit: Matt Lincoln / Future)

Choosing electric guitar strings doesn’t have to be complicated, but there are a few things worth thinking about.

Start with gauge. If you’re a beginner, go for 9s or 10s - they’re easier on your fingers and more forgiving when you’re learning to bend notes. Once you’ve built up some finger strength, you might fancy trying 10s or 11s for a fuller tone, though they’ll feel stiffer under your fingers.

Material-wise, nickel-plated steel is your safe bet. It’s what most players use and works for pretty much any style. Pure nickel gives you a warmer, more vintage vibe if that’s your thing, whilst stainless steel is super bright and lasts forever.

Think about coated versus uncoated, too. Coated strings cost more upfront, but they’ll last you ages, especially if you’ve got sweaty hands or don’t play every day. Uncoated strings are cheaper, and some players reckon they sound more natural.

Honestly, though, the best way to figure out what works for you is to try different sets. Your playing style, guitar, and even the music you’re into all make a difference. What feels brilliant for blues might not suit metal, and vice versa. Experiment a bit and see what clicks.

FAQs

Fender American Ultra Luxe 60s Stratocaster

(Image credit: Phil Barker)

What gauge strings are best for electric guitar?

One of the most important things to consider when buying the best electric guitar strings for you is the gauge - the thickness - of the strings. Their thickness is measured in 1/000th of an inch and is usually referred to as 9’s, 10’s, 11’s - meaning that the thinnest string (your top E) is 0.009”, 0.010”, or 0.011, etc.

Thinner strings are easier to play, as the tension is low - making them easy to bend and softer on the fingers. The downside is that they are more prone to snapping, as there is less resistance against the force you put against them when playing.

Thicker strings are harder to break and they tend to yield a little more low-end tone, but you’ll find that they’re harder to bend. If you’re tuning down, as many metal players do, a heavier gauge set of strings will hold their tuning better, as the tension becomes more comparable to that of a lighter set in standard tuning.

You can also match the string gauge to your guitar’s scale length. It’s often said that thicker strings on a shorter-scale guitar, like a Fender Jaguar for example, feel better than lighter gauges as they add a little more tension. Ultimately though, it’s usually a case of trial and error and discovering what feels comfortable for you and your setup.

What type of strings are best for electric guitar?

Luckily guitar strings are not expensive. This will be one of the cheapest parts of your rig – so experimenting with as many different sets as you can is a good idea. Your ears and fingers do the rest - listen to them, and they'll tell you which strings are right for your particular style and feel.

There are other considerations, however, like tuning stability and durability. No string is fully break-proof, but you should be looking for those with high tensile strength.

Coated or uncoated electric guitar strings? A word on guitar string materials…

Coated strings such as Elixir’s promise to extend the life of your string, repelling the gunk and sweat that builds up when playing. While some players prefer the natural feel of an uncoated string, not to mention the lower price, string coatings have evolved to feel evermore natural. They will still feel a little bit different, but they will also stay brighter longer.

That said, the resurgence in popularity of pure nickel strings suggests that players still value that vintage experience, and in terms of warm tone and smooth playability, they are hard to beat.

The most common spec for the electric guitar string is nickel-wound steel, which offers a little of the warmth of nickel but with a brighter top end. If this doesn’t sound quite your thing, there is, naturally, a 24-carat gold option from Optima.

A bunch of electric guitar strings with red ends

(Image credit: Future)

When should I restring my electric guitar?

There are no hard and fast rules over when you should change your electric guitar strings, to be honest. Most casual guitarists do it once every two or three months, but if you’re a more serious player who’s putting in a few hours of practice every day and gigging regularly, you’ll probably need to change them more often.

It also depends on how you want your strings to sound. If you want them to sound at their absolute best for a recording session or tour, then you might want to replace them every few days. Electric guitar strings have a small window where they sound their very best, so it’s a good idea to make the most of that.

Can I put electric guitar strings on my acoustic guitar?

Technically yes, but surely you could buy a set of the best acoustic guitar strings instead?

Theoretically, electric strings will work on an acoustic guitar. They are, however, made of different materials specifically so they can work the best on their designated instrument. Acoustic strings are usually bronze or brass, and electric strings are nickel or steel. These are quite different types of construction - so using electric strings on an acoustic won’t be optimal.

Which electric guitar strings are best for beginners?

If you’re a beginner, you’ll want to start off with a lighter gauge of electric guitar strings. The lighter the gauge of string, the less tension it produces - and that makes it much easier to play. We’d recommend a set of .009 to .042 gauge strings - as we feel that this is a great middle-ground to start on. You can go lighter, but the tone will be compromised - or you can go heavier, but playability will suffer.

It’s all about experimenting with strings at the end of the day though - luckily they’re affordable and easy to change, so you can try a few different types to see what you like the most.

An electric guitar being set up with a pair of string cutters in the background

(Image credit: Future)

What are the best electric guitar strings for heavy sound?

The most important thing to note when answering this question is that there are a lot more components that go towards creating a ‘heavy’ sound than just your strings. Of course, thicker strings let you down-tune your instrument, which makes it sound heavier but there’s no reason you can’t get a heavier sound with thinner strings too.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands all typically used standard gauge strings and played in standard tuning or half a step down - no one’s gonna argue that Tonny Iommi didn’t sound heavy on a set of 8s!

So whilst thicker strings are great if you’re playing in lower tunings, there’s a lot more to it than just string gauge. It’s more about your playing technique, how locked in you are with the rest of the band, your electric guitar pickups, as well as your pedals and amplifier settings that determine whether you sound ‘heavy’ or not.

How we test the best electric guitar strings

When testing electric guitar strings, we want every set to meet a certain set of criteria before we recommend them to you. They need to be up to the task, first of all, they need to make playing easy, and they need to make your guitar sound good.

In order to check whether a set of strings is up to the task, we'll first string up our electric guitar with a set and see how long they take to settle in. This process is about your strings reaching a stable tuning, after which you won't need to mess with them too much. A good set of strings will reach this point in minutes.

Making playing easy is all about how the strings feel. Now, 'ease' of playing often comes down to the gauge of string - something which is entirely subjective - but we want to make sure that the strings feel smooth, and are without imperfections. If the strings are coated, we don't necessarily want to feel the coating - but if we can see and feel the result of the anti-corrosion technology? That's ideal. Speaking of corrosion, we'll test to see how long it takes for the strings to go dull, too.

To test how they sound, we'll play music of all different styles. We'll note what type of difference they've made to the sound of our guitar, too.

Read more about how we test music making gear and services at MusicRadar.

Why trust us?

Gretsch Limited Edition Abbey Road RS201 Studiomatic

(Image credit: Matt Lincoln / Future)

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With more than 17 years of experience, MusicRadar is the premier music-making website in the world. Run by musicians for musicians, we offer expertly written gear round-ups and high-quality, authoritative reviews by an extensive team of highly experienced industry professionals.

Below you'll find more information on the expert authors of this guide.

Jonathan Horsley
Jonathan Horsley

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.

MusicRadar author Matt McCracken playing guitar on stage
Matt McCracken

Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at MusicRadar. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on audio interfaces, studio headphones, studio monitors, and pretty much anything else home recording-related. Responsible for over 60 buying guides, a large part of his role is helping musicians find the best deals on gear. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for various music sites, including Guitar World, Guitar Player, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog.

A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live and producing bands, he's performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the UK in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at. He's an alumnus of Spirit Studios, where he studied studio engineering and music production. When not writing for MusicRadar, you'll find him making a racket with northern noise punks Never Better.

MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.

Jonathan Horsley
Jonathan Horsley

Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.

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