For my acoustic guitar, the best strings in the world are Martin Folk Guitar Silk & Steel Wound M130. They are excellent for strumming as well as fingerpicking. The music shop where I live sells the Silk & Steel strings for reduced prices because nobody buys them. The guy behind the counter couldn't believe that I asked for them, he said he couldn't remember the last time someone actually requested them. Sound like junk? I DON'T THINK SO! My guitar teacher & friend Earl Jones recommended them as the best strings to use. And Earl is very well respected from Nashville to Myrtle Beach to right here in Jacksonville, NC, where he is known to small children as "Cowboy Earl." He knows his stuff. I have a bad but endearing habit of hardly ever changing my strings. The ones I have on it now have not been changed since December of last year. On my original classical guitar, I didn't change some of the strings for five years, because I didn't wan't to give up their beautiful veteran sound. I personally think if you play your strings all the time, they'll stay sharp! It's always worked for me!

--Mbo