I have to buy a set of strings for an acoustic guitar, which one should I buy?

try some D'Addario .. I've been happily using them for years.

Crosby Stills & Nash were all successful musicians when they recorded "Wooden Ships" and they used REALLY good sounding (and expensive!) guitars made by Martin. Comparable Martin guitars now run in the $3000-5000 price range, and will still take 100+ hours of constant playing time for them to "break in" and reach their fullest potential. Got sticker shock yet? Any old cheap guitar that you get will not sound quite that wondrous, but it's still a guitar, and most every guitar made should be able to play the notes for the song and get you close. I see nothing wrong with learning on a Stagg. It should serve you well. CSN, since they were all experienced musicians, probably played medium-gauge strings on their recordings. Heavier strings sound better and last longer, but they will tear up your fingers if you've never played before. Because you're just starting out, I will recommend lighter gauge strings to you. Look for string sets with sizes ranging from .011 up to .052 in diameter. They will not sound quite as good as heavier strings, but they will be easier for you play at first. Bronze strings are the way to go for the fullest sound on an acoustic. There are 2 common types of bronze strings: "80/20" and "Phosphor" bronze. Those original recordings were made with "80/20" or "vintage" bronze strings. They will sound better than phosphor bronze strings at first, but will also go dead quicker. "Phosphor" bronze strings will sound good for a longer time but are not quite as rich-sounding at first. Most major string makers have wide selections in both styles of bronze strings. Good brands for acoustic strings are La Bella, D'Addario, Dean Markley, and Martin. I prefer Dean Markeys but every one of those brands are top notch. Get at least 2 sets of light gauge strings of the brand that catches your eye.

Great song. Yeah, strings really aren't an issue here. I would say any brand name medium strings will do fine. Strings get old rather quickly. People usually record with relatively new strings - a day two. Someone suggested Elixirs - which last longer, but I certainly wouldn't record that song them - since the guitar is just way out in front. When you are recording a guitar, it must be a quality guitar. At a minimum, I think it should have all solid woods. The trick of getting a good guitar is to simply play a G chord and hit the b string a few times. A high quality guitar will make the G chord sound wonderful, while the worse guitar will make it sound out of tune and sort of dead sounding. But I don't think you 'need' a thousand dollar Martin, as someone else said. I think you would probably be happy by any well made solid wood guitar, including the Silver Creek or Breedlove.

Whatever guitar you have was originally set up to handle a certain guage string (light-- .10 or .11 guage; medium-- .12 guage; or heavy-- .13 guage). By "set up" I mean it was set up to have most perfect intonation possible for guitar and the least bit of fret buzzing possible. Since you know what brand you want to buy, I would suggest you contact the manufacturer of your guitar or bring your guitar to a reputable guitar shop and ask the respective customer service person to tell you what guage strings are currently on the guitar so you can make sure to use the same guage. If there are no strings on the guitar (and I hope there are, as you should only change one string at a time to keep the string tension on the neck relatively even at all times) call the manufacturer. If all else fails, try .12 guage strings. Phospher bronze strings give a beautifully rich tone similar to CSN. I would recommend Elixer strings. I only use Elixers on my acoustics and D'Addario's on my electrics. Good luck, and happy playing!

With strings, it really comes down to what you like. Ernie Ball acoustic strings (0.11) is cheap, sound wondrous (atleast at first). Elixir polyweb lasts longer, sounds just as good (if not better), but the coating comes of and leaves weird stuff on your neck. They also cost 3x the price of Ernie ball. Anyway, the best thing is to just try out different strings. Buy one set and use it for a month, then buy another brand and do the same thing until you've found 'your' strings. After that you can change strings no more than 2-4 times a year (some people say you should change strings every month. This is not true. Unless you're a tonefanatic, changing every 3rd month or so will be just fine).

There are lots of excellent brands and types of strings. Buy them at a music store and nowhere else. I use and recommend Elixir Nanoweb light gauge acoustic strings but you might prefer some other brand. There are about 30 good brands including Martin, GHS, D'Addario, Ernie Ball, and others.

I've always liked the Martin SP's. They're not very expensive and I think they sound great on my Guild guitar. D'Addario strings are very good as well (and also not very expensive). You can get a good set of strings for around $7.00, so you don't really have to go "cheap".

You definitely need bronze strings for an acoustic. I would recommend starting at 11 thou. Ernie Ball Earthwood are good, so are D'addario and Martin. I'm assuming your guitar is already strung with steel strings.