I'm hard on guitar strings, really hard, In the past, I would break several strings per gig on acoustic guitars being I'm heavy handed when I'm strumming or picking. They would always break at the bridge. I went from 12's to 13's to help cut down on breakage. It seems the wound strings broke more often. I'd put new strings on every 2 to 3 weeks, but even fresh strings right out of a sealed pack would break.

The last few years I've been playing hybrid guitars with D'addario XL 11's. They hold up decent, but I would break them every show too. I've tried the super tough Earnie Ball Paradigms and broke them the same day I put them on at 2 different gigs. After that, I figured no strings were a match for my playing style.

Well, a few months ago I decided to give the D'Addario NYXL's a shot. I had low expectations being the EB Paradigms didn't last through one gig on 2 occasions. I thought the sales pitch "NYXL guitar strings will bend further, sing louder, and stay in tune better than any string you’ve played before" on the back of the pack was just a bunch of hype. 

To my surprise, I made it through an entire show with no broken strings. Now, I was one happy camper at the end of that gig. I decided to leave them on and see how many gigs these strings will last. 6 shows later I broke the high E string on my Taylor T5Z. I had put them on my Godin A6 too. I managed to get 5 shows out of that pack before I broke another high E string.

I figure I can safely get away with at least 4 shows without having to worry about breaking strings. Although I'm going to try and push it a little further to keep testing.

Thank you D'Addario for creating such an awesome product, I wish I would have tried them years ago! D'Addario NYXL truly are superstrings!

D'Addario's own description:

 D’Addario NYXL guitar strings will bend further, sing louder, and stay in tune better than any string you’ve played before. Envisioned, perfected, and manufactured by D’Addario in New York, this newly engineered, break-resistant, high-carbon steel core and plain steel alloy delivers a whole new level of freedom, confidence, and power. NYXL’s provide more strength and up to 131% greater tuning stability by utilizing a completely reinvented wire drawing process coupled with a revolutionary “fusion twist” process for the plain steels. The reformulated nickel plated string windings have greater magnetic properties resulting in higher output and enhanced mid-range frequency response for more presence and crunch.