ES-335

D'Addario's flat reference for hollowbody jazz — darker than Jazz Swing, smoother than any roundwound.

Heavy 13-gauge delivers the thick, warm jazz tone hollowbody players chase.

Ground-smooth outer wrap sits between roundwound and flatwound — jazz feel with more top-end than flats.

Classic jazz hollowbody pairing for 50s-era tones.

D'Addario NYXL 10-46 on the Gibson ES-335 is Larry Carlton's brand commitment — the legendary fusion-jazz/blues guitarist has been a D'Addario artist for decades, running them on the '68 ES-335 he played on countless Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, and his own solo records. As Carlton explained in interviews about gauge selection: his tech Dave Rouse conducted a blind string test over 10 days, and "the D'Addario 0.010 to 0.052 set felt best and stayed in tune better." While Carlton's exact set is .010-.052 (one step heavier on the bottom), the NYXL 10-46 in StringTune's catalog is the closest D'Addario electric set in the same family.

Conventional wisdom: every ES-335 forum recommends the legendary 11-49 "jazz-blues" gauge for that big archtop midrange, or 10-46 generic Slinky for ease. Mismatch logic: Carlton's choice prioritizes D'Addario's NY-steel high-tensile core consistency — what matters to a working pro across decades of session work isn't gauge purity but tuning stability across stage-to-stage temperature swings.

Best for ES-335 players doing serious working-pro session/live work where tuning consistency beats tonal experimentation; skip if you prefer 11-49 jazz-blues medium or want to chase tonal variety across brands.