Do Acoustic Strings Work With Electric Guitar Pickups? #guitarplayers #music

A common question, especially amongst newer guitar players is this:

Will acoustic strings work on an electric guitar?

The answer is a bit of a strange one. Mostly it’s a “Yes!”

Pretty much all acoustic guitar strings (that aren’t nylon or classical) fall into the phosphor bronze or 80/20 categories. Neither of these wrap wires are actually bronze, but that’s a story for another day.

The core wire of the string is still made out of the same material as electric strings. It’s known as “piano wire” or “music wire” and it is made out of steel.

The steel is obviously magnetically active, so it will work with a traditional magnet-based guitar pickup.

It will sound much different than a NPS or pure nickel electric string, but it will still function.