FARMINGDALE, New York – D'Addario is proud to introduce XS, a true technological breakthrough in coated strings. This groundbreaking innovation offers players maximum life, an unprecedented level of strength and stability—all without sacrificing our iconic D'Addario tone.
Led by Chief Innovation Officer, Jim D'Addario, the team incorporated D'Addario's proprietary manufacturing processes and well-known innovations—like NY Steel high-carbon cores in the wound strings and Fusion Twist technology in the plain steels—to give XS incomparable break strength and tuning stability.
Setting XS apart from other strings is the new, impossibly thin film coating (1/10 the thickness of a human hair) that completely protects the wound strings from corrosion, without dampening the tone. This new film covering is combined with D'Addario's proprietary dispersion coating, used in our XT line, to protect the plain steel strings as well.
"Several years ago, I posed a simple question to our team of engineers and product designers, to create the world's greatest coated string with no tonal compromise and no slick or slippery feel," says Jim D'Addario. "I am proud to say our team rose to every one of these incredible challenges with the new XS strings, providing the most advanced and effective defense possible to lock in your string tone."
With the addition of XS, D'Addario now has the complete and definitive extended life string offering: The X-Series. Players can choose between XT—for enhanced life and a natural feel—or XS—for maximum life and a smoother feel. The entire X-Series represents the pinnacle of tuning stability and rich, D'Addario tone.
"These new XS strings are perfect for the studio ––super smooth while reducing finger noise without sacrificing tone," says UK fingerstyle guitarist, Mike Dawes. "They have the perfect tension, making vibrato and expression on acoustic guitar much easier. I can't wait to take them on tour!"