I Built My Perfect String Sets For My Telecaster & Baritone With D'Addario

I Built My Perfect String Sets For My Telecaster & Baritone With D'Addario

From Ask Zac by Zac Childs

April 7, 2026 · 20 min · Episode 268

About this episode

Zac Childs discusses building custom string sets for guitars using D'Addario products.

Most players settle for whatever string set is on the shelf, but I’ve been piecing together custom sets since the early ’90s. In this video, I build my perfect custom string sets using my preferred D'Addario NYXL strings through their Custom String Shop. For my 1957 Fender Esquire, I dialed in a set gauged 10, 12, 16, 24, 34, 44 balanced for feel, tension, and snap. It’s based on their NYXL 9.5–44 set, but with slightly more robust high E and B strings. Then I went further, building a barit...

People in this episode

Host: Zac Childs

Topics covered

  • string sets
  • guitar
  • customization
  • D'Addario
  • Telecaster
  • baritone

Keywords

  • string sets
  • D'Addario
  • Telecaster
  • baritone
  • guitar strings
  • customization

Mentioned in this episode

Products: D'Addario NYXL strings, Custom String Shop, 1957 Fender Esquire, NYXL 9.5–44 set

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