Good plan. He possibly put Pro Arte EJ43s (light) or more likely student EJ27N (medium) strings on. But they could be anything. Ask him.
D'Addario's Pro Arte series strings are pretty much like everything D'Addario do IME. Solid performers coinciding with high expectation at a reasonable price.
They're a known setting a standard of consistency where it won't be the strings limiting playability or tone for the majority of players including moi. Although Savarez aren't all that much dearer in my country as D'Addario are also imports subjected to GST, exchange rate and single line distro gouging, the difference still adds up, and would in the USA where D'Addario are [u]significantly[/u] cheaper.
I like fitting fresh strings to my guitar inventory as regularly as possible contigent to each guitar's use, so I'm always on the scout myself for anything representing better value, the 'value' defined as there being a significant saving to make it worth my while without sacrificing anything in the way of [u]discernible[/u] performance.
[br]Always willing to explore options without illogical bias, I've got some Alice Classical Pro strings (85/15 bronze wound silver plated) winging their way to me right now. Similar to their plectrum product options and range of electric strings, Alice make a range of price pitched quality segments in Classical strings. Available in normal and high tension, the AC139s are their higher end and a more expensive product. I hear very good things about them as Pro Arte peer equivalents, and I can source them delivered to my door from my country for less than half the cost per set of the [u]very best price available to me[/u] of an equivalent set of Pro Arte EJ47s (80/20 bronze wound silver plated copper). Only way to know for sure how good or bad they are is to experiment by trying hands on.
Apart from feel, I'm interested to see what their tone is like, and if being coated dulls the wound strings. Although Alice do claim in their product spiel the coating treatment is fade proof, I'd suspect it more likely fade reducing or resistant in truth. I have the very popular EJ45s and EJ47s to compare.
