Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Have you ever wondered what effect your choice of string gauge has on the sound and playability of your acoustic guitar? In this video, award-winning acoustic guitarist Michael Watts compares three string gauges of Elixir Phosphor Bronze Strings on the same instrument to find out!

Using gauges 11-52 (custom light), 12-53 (light) and 13-56 (medium), Michael plays through a series of beautiful musical examples including singer-songwriter fingerstyle playing, strumming with a 1mm pick and fingerstyle in DADGAD tuning.


Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:51 Custom Light fingerstyle standard tuning
1:28 Custom Light strumming
2:17 Custom Light fingerstyle DADGAD
3:10 Custom Light Recap
3:22 Light fingerstyle standard tuning
4:23 Light strumming
5:14 Light fingerstyle DADGAD
6:12 Light Recap
6:49 Medium fingerstyle standard tuning
7:24 Medium strumming
8:11 Medium fingerstyle DADGAD
9:02 Medium Recap and Conclusion

There is a huge sonic range to explore among the custom light, light and medium gauge sets and we recommend listening on headphones to get the best of these detailed recordings.

Check out Elixir Acoustic Strings: elixirstrings.com/guitar-strings#acoustic


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See other YouTube videos from Michael: youtube.com/user/michaelwattsguitar
Follow him on Instagram: instagram.com/michael.watts.guitar