We know many people are tired of AI and really want to speak to a real human. We get it.

Here's how we're doing it:

We're a small microbusiness with no dedicated customer service staff. When a live chat comes in, we're usually busy packing orders. We either have to drop everything to reply straight away or make the customer wait, which isn't ideal.

Around 90% of the questions we receive are the same ones over and over: shipping costs, stock availability, where's my order, etc.

So we've built our own custom AI system, specially designed for our business. It handles all those common questions instantly and accurately. Every single answer includes a clear option to speak to a member of our team instead.

We personally monitor every response the bot gives and update it 2 or 3 times a week to keep it sharp and accurate. In short, it says exactly what we would say — just faster, 24/7, within seconds.

We're aware that a lot of people are frustrated with the constant rollout of AI. In our case, we're simply using it to give you better and quicker support. It hasn't replaced any of our staff — it has just freed them up from having to repeat the same answers day after day.

Playing the guitar should be a joy, not a workout. Yet, for those with arthritis, tendonitis, or a beloved vintage guitar that’s seen better days, it can sometimes feel like more of the latter. Enter lighter gauge guitar strings – the heroes we didn’t know we needed, here to save our fingers, our sanity, and our cherished instruments.

Why Light Gauge Strings Rock (Literally and Figuratively)

Lighter gauge guitar strings are the equivalent of wearing sneakers instead of boots – far more comfortable and way less likely to make you cry. Here’s why they’re awesome:

1. For Players with Arthritis or Tendonitis: If your fingers feel like they’ve been through a thumb war with The Hulk, lighter gauge strings are your best friend. They require less finger pressure, making playing feel more like a gentle caress and less like a Herculean task.
2. For Older Guitars: Your grandpa’s old guitar deserves to be treated with respect, not strung up with heavy gauge strings that’ll warp it into a banana. Lighter gauge strings are easier on the neck and body, ensuring that your vintage treasure doesn’t fall apart on you.

String Recommendations: The VIP List

Let’s dive into the best light gauge strings for acoustic and electric guitars. Spoiler alert: they’re all awesome.

Acoustic Guitar Strings

1. • Elixir Nanoweb Extra Light (.010-.047)
     Features: Coated in a magical Nanoweb layer, these strings are smoother than a jazz saxophonist. They last forever and sound fantastic.
   • Benefits: The coating cuts down on finger friction, perfect for hands that are tired of the daily grind. Plus, they stay fresh longer, because who has time to change strings every week?
2. D'Addario EJ23 Phosphor Bronze Super-Light (.009-.045)
   • Features: Super light on the fingers, reliable performance – these strings are the trusty sidekick you never knew you needed.
   • Benefits: They’re crazy light, easy to play, and they won’t break the bank. Your fingers and wallet will thank you.
3. Trad Master Phosphor Bronze Feather Light (.009-.042)
   • Features: Maybe the lightest acoustic guitar strings on the market – these and their Super Light Set will surely solve your problems.
   • Benefits: Crazy light on the fingers, rich in sound. It’s like playing on air!

Electric Guitar Strings

1. Ernie Ball Zippy Slinky (.007-.036)
   • Features: Nickel-plated steel strings that are bright and balanced. Think of them as the all-rounders of the string world.
   • Benefits: Maybe the lightest Electric Guitar set ever! They make playing feel like a walk in the park, not a trek up Mount Everest.
2. D'Addario EXL130 Nickel Wound Super Light (.008-.038)
   • Features: Bright, precise, and durable. These strings are the lightest from the XL line – they do it all.
   • Benefits: Their flexibility means less finger strain, more fun. Because nobody likes hand cramps, right?
3. Rock Master Specials (.008.5-.042)
   • Features: Full, rich tone with fantastic sustain. These strings are the life of the party.
   • Benefits: The Specials get between the gauges, offering a range of unusual options not found elsewhere.

Picking Your Perfect Strings

Choosing the right lighter gauge strings is like picking the right coffee – everyone has their favourite. Here’s what to consider:

• Material: Bronze, phosphor bronze, nickel – each gives a different flavour to your sound. Pick what makes your ears happiest.
• Coating: Coated strings last longer and feel smoother, making them ideal for those who like to keep things easy-breezy.
• Gauge: While a light gauge is easier to play, extra light is an option if you want to make things even more effortless.

Conclusion

Lighter gauge guitar strings are the ultimate win-win for those with physical conditions and older guitars. They offer comfort, preserve your instrument, and ensure you can keep strumming away happily. By choosing sets from trusted brands like Elixir, D'Addario, Ernie Ball, and Elixir, as well as our own Trad Master & Rock Master sets, you’re setting yourself up for a playing experience that’s as delightful as finding money in your old jeans. So go ahead, string up, and play on – your fingers and your guitar will thank you.

Save Money

• Get 5% off!

First thing to mention is when you buy two or more of the same item, you'll get an instant 5% off the item price listed on our website. There's no need to do anything, once you add two or more of the same item to the cart the lower price will be automatically applied at the checkout.

• Coupon Codes

Coupon or discount codes can be used at our checkout to get additional discounts. If you're not sure how to use codes Click Here for Instructions.

• Specials

You'll find most of our specials listed on our specials page which you can always check by visiting www.strings.ie/specials There you will find coupon codes, promotions and products currently on sale.
You'll also find some promotion banners on our home page.
Our email newsletter goes out 2 or 3 times a month and contains exclusive offers not listed on the site along with new product news and others things of interest. Sign up here.

Get Help

Our Help Section is a great place to check if you're having issues with our website. We've put together frequently asked questions with answers.

As always you can contact us at sales@strings.ie, we usually get back to you within minutes during PM time.

Know Your Way Around

Finding products and navigating the website is easy. First, you can always search. Type in a product code if you know it like 'Martin MA140' or 'Ernie Ball Slinky'. If you don't know the products, try the instrument such as 'Banjo Strings'. The search box is always at the top of our website.

You can also search by first navigating through our category menus. On the website, left hand side you'll see all our product categories, on the mobile site click the 3 line menu button.

(L) = Light
(M) = Medium
(H) = Heavy

So, for example put your choice after your name in the shipping address like this: Joe Bloggs (M)

As we pack your order we will see your address label has an indication to your preference and will try to include free plectrums in your preferred gauge. 

If you use your customer account at strings.ie you can save your details for all future orders. 

Humble Beginnings Strings.ie 1.0 2007-2010

Our website and business launched in April 2007. To begin with we had a limited range and our website included the header image of the hills of Mayo where we were based. We pretty much kept that design for our first three years.
By 2010 we had begun to outgrow our website platform and started to look for a new solution for strings.ie 2.0.


Strings.ie 2.0 2010-2013

With a new backend for the website and new features for customers, we also went for a more musical look which proved to be a good move as business grew considerably after this change.

Strings.ie 3.0 2013-2014

Due to something breaking we were forced to switch to a different look. This time we moved to a more modern sparse design, probably our least favourite but it laid the foundation of what came next.

Strings.ie Super Strings 4.00 2014-2017

After several years in business we decided to try something different. Teaming up with a warehouse who took over our order fulfilment for the first time, we rebranded from strings.ie to Super Strings, aimed to develop our export sales, it was quite an investment. 

Strings.ie 5.00 2018-2021

In 2018 we parted company with our warehouse partners. Sometimes you have to try things in business and sometimes you have to know when to pull the plug. We returned to in house fulfilment which saved us a fortune and allowed us to be 100% in control of our customer orders and experience, something that is essential for the personal touch. With another website design, strings.ie branding returned and for the first time we introduced free shipping for Ireland and we kept this design for three more years.

Strings.ie 6.0 2021-Current

In late 2021 we invested in a further redesign. You might ask why keep making changes?
The simple answer is technology moves on, old things stop working, new things become available that we want to take advantage of so we can keep up with our competitors and offer our customers a better experience.
This latest design is considerably faster as the previous website was getting slower and slower. There was also a number of issues with our mobile version of the site that needed addressing. We've also improved the search feature and made a number of improvements that hopefully make shopping at strings.ie an easier and enjoyable experience. 

Also in 2021 we invested in some complex back end systems that allow us to manage our inventory and customer orders which has reduced human errors considerably, something we are always trying to address so we can provide a first class service. 

So there you have it. 15 years later we're still growing and loving what we do. Thank you so much to all of our customers, many of whom have been with us since we started. Your loyalty and support means the world to us and we hope to continue to invest in our business and hopefully keep going in this ever more competitive market dominated by corporations. Strings.ie remains small, independent and hopefully more friendly and agile. 

Understanding instrument strings can be a challenge for beginners. Terms like Light, Medium and Heavy or numbers like 12-53 can leave you very confused. 
We've put together this small guide to help you navigate the lingo. We'll use Guitar Strings for the bulk of this guide, but we'll cover other common instruments towards the end. As always, if you have any questions shoot us an email to sales@strings.ie, we'll be delighted to help you. 

Guitars

One of the most common questions we get from beginners is which strings do I need for my acoustic guitar?
To answer that, it's important to understand the differences between Classical Guitars and Acoustic Guitars.

Classical Guitars use Nylon Strings. This is usually 3 plain Nylon Treble Strings and 3 Silver Wound Nylon Bass Strings. The strings are usually tied to the Bridge of the Guitar. You must never put Steel Strings on a Classical Guitar, the pressure of Steel Strings will damage the instrument!

Acoustic Guitars use Steel Strings. This is usually 2 Plain Steel Strings and 4 Wound Steel Strings. The wound strings are usually wound with Bronze or Phosphor Bronze. 

Electric Guitars also use Steel Strings, but are more commonly wound with Nickel. 

If you're still not sure what strings your guitar uses, please take a photo and email it to us at sales@strings.ie, and we'll help you identify it. 

Strings Gauges

Strings come in different thicknesses, from light to heavy. Lighter strings are great for beginners and children as they are easier on the fingers while you are learning. Heavier strings provide more volume, tone and can take heavier playing styles. We recommend starting out with lighter strings and as you progress you can try a heavier gauge. 

Acoustic & Electric Guitars often use terms like Extra Light, Light, Medium, etc. That's self-explanatory, but you will also notice numbers such as 11-52 or 12-53.  This refers to the Top and Bottom Strings of the set. So, for example; 12-53 means the thinnest (treble) string is a .012 gauge and the thickest (Bass) string is a .053. In the string industry we use these numbers just as a guide, you'll often hear people say "I use 12's on my Guitar" meaning they will use a 12-53 or 12-54 gauge range set of strings. It's just a rough guide. In our product details, you will find a full list of gauges for all 6 strings in a set. 

One more thing to mention which is a bit confusing is that while you might be tempted to go for Medium Gauge thinking that's a nice in between place to start, Medium is usually considered heavy among guitarists. Usually in the 13-56 range, medium is hard on the fingers, so best avoid for children and beginners. Light, Extra/Light is recommended. 

Classical Guitar Strings tend to be referred to in more simple terms of Light Tension, Normal Tension, Heavy Tension and so on. 

Single Strings vs String Sets

We sell Single Individual Strings as well as sets. 
Single Strings are ideal if you just want to replace one broken or missing string, or if you want some spares if you break a particular string often. One thing to be aware of is if you have an old guitar that hasn't been played for years with a missing string, replacing just that string will result in one extra bright new string among 5 old sounding strings. It's often worth buying a set and just taking the opportunity to give the guitar a good clean with a fresh set of strings. 

Recommended Strings

Like all things, strings come in many variations, and finding the right strings for your instrument and playing style takes experience and experimentation. But for beginners you have to start somewhere, so below are some of our most popular sellers. 

Electric Guitar

• Ernie Ball Slinky Strings
  
• D'addario XL Strings

Acoustic Guitar

• D'addario 80/20 Bronze Strings
• D'addario Phosphor Bronze Strings
• Martin Bronze Authentic Strings

Classical Guitar

• D'addario EJ27N Strings
• D'addario Pro Arte Strings
• Martin M260 Ball End - Most classical guitar strings are tied on, but these have a ball end so no need to tie

Violin Strings

• D'addario Prelude
• D'addario Ascent
• D'addario Helicore
• Thomastik Dominants

Folk Instruments

Folk instruments such as Banjo, Mandolin, Bouzouki often take either Loop-End Strings or Ball-End Strings or both. 
Loop-End strings are fixed to small hooks so check your instrument requirements before ordering and if you're not sure please email us a photo to sales@strings.ie so we can advise you.

Violin Strings

Violin strings usually come in different sizes and tensions. 4/4 being a standard sized violin, then they get small, 3/4 for example. The smaller ones suit kids. Most violin sets we stock are 4/4 but we do have some 3/4 and 1/2 size sets.
Normal tension is what most players use.

Tools and Parts

You may want to get yourself a string winder, which speeds up restringing considerably. We have a Basic Winder in stock or the very popular Pro Winder.
You also might want to purchase a digital tuner. 
We have a large selection of Plectrums in stock and if you're not sure what to get have a look at our Random Plectrum Pack for a selection of 10 plectrums, you're sure to find one you like!
For acoustic guitars missing a bridge pin, we have those too! 

La Bella Strings has returned to the Strings.ie range.

Our first shipment has arrived and includes the popular 2001 Classical Guitar Strings
and their Elite range with gold/black nylon trebles.

For Trad players we have a set designed specifically for Irish Bouzouki,
an unusual Silver Plated Mandolin String as well as Phosphor Mandolin Strings that
include a light and heavy gauge outside the ranges of most other brands.

For Banjo players we've a unique Silver Plated Silk infused set for soft touch and sweet tone.

And for Acoustic Guitar we have their popular Phos Bronze sets and their 80/20 Brass Sets
which includes a proper heavy 14-58 set for players who like a bit more meat on the tone bone.

La Bella are a small string maker in the USA who make their strings by hand
and all sets are made to order so our stock is literally only a week off the production line.
Strings.ie is the only La Bella dealer in Ireland and we'll be expanding the range further on future shipments.

Following on from the world's first Graphene Guitar Strings, Strings.ie is excited to announce another innovative product for string players. 
With so much hype around bright strings with longer tone life, Deadtone strings are the complete opposite, strings that sound dead! 
We headed over to speak with April Thurst, head of Strings.ie product development to see the reasoning behind this product.

April, what's your thinking behind this rather unusual new range of strings?

April Thurst: As you know, we've been in the string business for many years and throughout that time we noticed two common questions from our customers. 1, 'Can you recycle our old used strings?' and 2, 'Can you recommend a string that isn't too bright and zingy?'.
So we got our thinking caps on and came up with a way to kill two birds with one stone.
Our new Deadtone strings are the perfect solution for guitarists looking for that worn out retro sound but unlike one of the leading string makers who have a product called Retro, our strings are actually the real McCoy Retro strings!

I noticed on the pack it says 12 Year Aged! What's that all about?

April Thurst: That's right. These strings are just like a good old aged whiskey! We've been collecting used strings for for 12 years now wondering what to do with them so we have a plentiful supply of used strings. In fact, some of the strings are much older. We sent teams into dead musicians attics, car boot sales and even into landfill dumps in search of old guitars so we could retrieve the strings. We saw value in other's junk!

Surely you're not just repackaging pre used old strings?

April Thurst: Not quite. What we do is sort through the strings using a special scanner we have developed. Unfortunately we have to discard strings with any sign of rust or structural damage, these are sent for recycling. 
We then grade the strings in terms of wear and gunk content. Unlike all those coated strings on the market who claim to keep the gunk out, what we discovered is all that sweat and dead skin actually has rather good musical tonal qualities. So we test for gunk penetration of between 50-60%, our tests have shown this is the ideal gunk caking requirement.

So you don't clean the gunk off the strings?

April Thurst: Absolutely not, this is like gold dust. What we then do is we use our special proprietary solution made from Irish Bog water which is sprayed over the string and then baked to seal in the gunk. The last thing we want is to ruin the dull dead sound by cleaning the string and brighting it.

Is there not some health concerns with this product?

April Thurst: Not at all. Our bog water solution has natural anti bacteria agents and plus the baking kills any germs. You could eat your dinner off these strings quite safely. 

What can players expect from these strings?

April Thurst: They just sound old, dull and worn out, the complete opposite to a new set of strings.
This may not be widely known but it's long been a secret of the recording industry to use old strings in the recording studio. That dull sound just sits better in mixes. So what we have now is the first commercially available guitar string that is pre worn to sound properly retro. We're amazed none of the big string makers have thought about it before. All these fancy marketing names like Monel or Silk and Steel are just that, marketing hype. Our Deadtone strings are exactly what it says on the Tin.

Deadtone Strings are available for Acoustic Guitar in the following gauges and will be released for Electric Guitar later this year.

Sissy Naff: 11-48
Light & Dull: 12-52
Medium Shite: 13-56

Free Shipping
Free for all orders in Ireland. We will dispatch your order in 2-4 days via An Post Standard service.

Priority Dispatch
If you want to jump the queue, for €0.99 we'll dispatch your order first. Usually same day for orders received by 12pm or next working day via An Post Standard service.

Express Post
This is An Post's fastest service that's a tracked 1-2 working day delivery speed with signature required. We will dispatch same day for orders received by 12pm or next working day.

We're currently reviewing postal rates for our customers outside of Ireland and hope to reduce these costs soon.

You may not know this but we have an automated Gift Certificate product at Strings.ie.

The way it works is you fill out the form, pay for it and then an email containing the certificate code is automatically emailed to your recipient. 

You are asked to provide a recipient's email address and to choose a theme such as Christmas, Birthday, etc. The theme is just the flavour of the email that is sent to the recipient. 
The email they receive contains the gift certificate code which they can use at www.strings.ie along with your personal message. It's easy and quick and perfect for those last minute gift ideas. 

Some customers prefer to put the gift certificate code in a physical card. To do this, just put yourself as the recipient and the code will be emailed to you. Just copy the code into your card if you prefer. 

That's it. Check out our Automated Gift Certificates and see how easy it is to send your musician buddies a gift they'll really appreciate.