Yamaha Coated Strings FS50BT

This might be good! Yamaha’s coated strings

My acoustic guitar strings are Elixirs, but Elixirs are bloody expensive, aren’t they? Still, they’ve been on for about two years now (blimey!), and it’s the end of the year, so I was idly browsing Soundhouse and found Yamaha’s got coated strings out now!!!!

YAMAHA FS50BT

According to Yamaha’s product description, “A very thin coating applied to the wound strings (3rd to 6th) provides rust-resistant properties, characterised by a very natural tone and playability. Only the 3rd to 6th strings feature this rust-resistant specification.”
So, the 1st and 2nd strings are plain, standard strings. But that’s perfectly fine, isn’t it? After all, they cost about ¥1,000 – half the price of Elixir strings! Even if you bought Elixir strings for the 1st and 2nd strings separately, they’d cost under ¥500, so it still feels like a bargain.
So, I promptly got some and strung them on my Morris F-18. My impressions… well, they just sound like regular strings, really. I’m not sure if this is helpful at all (probably won’t get across), but I’ll post a short clip of me playing a bit. It’s been about a week since I strung them.

ヤマハのコーティング弦、FS50BT張ってみた

ヤマハの新しいコーティング弦、FS50BTを張ったので、とても短いし、スマホの録音なので印象が伝わるかわかりませんが、とりあえずアップしてみました。（張ってから１週間くらい経過しています）弾いてみた印象ですが・・・1.コーティング弦っぽくな...

youtu.be

In this case, ‘ordinary’ is meant in a positive sense. Elixir strings typically have a slightly slick feel when strung and can sound a bit muffled, but these strings lack that unpleasant sensation. They feel like perfectly ordinary new strings. If this impression holds, they’ll be excellent; the only question is how long they’ll last. This will certainly improve my overall impression later on.
Incidentally, I hear that Yamaha guitars purchased now come fitted with these strings as standard.