Strings

Elixir NANOWEB Phosphor Bronze Acoustic

Name: Elixir NANOWEB Phosphor Bronze Acoustic — Light .012-.053
Brand: Elixir
SKU: B000A6ASSS
Rating: 4.8 (12221 reviews)

Light .012-.053

The long-life acoustic string, and still the one to beat on longevity

8.0

Fretline score

4.8 (12,221)

$15 - $30

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The short version

Phosphor bronze in the .012-.053 light gauge, wrapped in the thinner of Elixir's two coatings. Elixir is a division of W. L. Gore, the company behind Gore-Tex, and the coating is genuinely the product: it seals the whole string, including the gaps between the windings where skin oil and dead skin normally collect. That debris, not corrosion of the metal, is what kills most strings. NANOWEB is the ultra-thin option: it leaves more of the string's natural brightness and texture than the older POLYWEB, at the cost of feeling slightly less slick under the fingers.

How we rate it

Scores are Fretline editorial ratings on a 1-10 scale. They are our own assessment and are not supplied or endorsed by Amazon or by any manufacturer.

Brightness: 7.0
Sustain: 8.0
Durability: 10.0
Feel: 8.0
Tuning stability: 8.0
Value: 7.0

8.0/ 10 overall

Specifications

Full specifications for the Elixir NANOWEB Phosphor Bronze Acoustic
What it is
Brand	Elixir
Model	NANOWEB Phosphor Bronze AcousticLight .012-.053
Category	Strings
Strings in the set	6
Materials
Alloy	Phosphor bronze
Winding	Roundwound
Coating	NANOWEB, an ultra-thin coating over the entire string
Measurements
Gauges	.012, .016, .024, .032, .042, .053
In the box
Sets included	1

9 verified fields, taken from the manufacturer first and the Amazon listing second. Fields the manufacturer does not publish are omitted rather than estimated.

What it gets right

By far the longest tone life of any common acoustic string
Coating seals the gaps between windings, where grime actually collects
NANOWEB is thin enough to keep most of the natural brightness
Reduces finger squeak noticeably, which matters if you record

Where it gives ground

Roughly twice the price of a comparable uncoated set
Never quite as bright on day one as an uncoated string
The coating can flake visibly late in the string's life

Who it is for

BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedProfessionalAcoustic guitar

What owners report

Patterns drawn from published owner reviews. Summarised, never quoted.

What comes up most

Tone life is overwhelmingly the reason owners buy them again
Players with acidic sweat report the largest difference of all
Reduced squeak on the wound strings comes up often from people who record

Frequent complaints

Price is the single most common complaint
A minority dislike the slightly slick feel compared with bare metal
Some report visible flaking of the coating after months of use

Recognised strengths

The longevity claim is unusually well supported by owner reports

Recognised weaknesses

The initial brightness is genuinely lower than an uncoated set

The verdict

If you have ever put on a new set, loved it for four days and then resented it for a month, this is the answer, and the difference is not subtle - owners routinely report several times the useful life of an uncoated set. You pay for it up front, roughly double an EJ16, and you give up a little of the initial zing: a brand-new Elixir set never sounds quite as glassy as a brand-new uncoated one. What it does instead is sound the same in week six as it did in week one, which for most players is the better deal.

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