Did somebody mention
STRINGZ? :crazy::crazy:
Why, I thought you would never ask...
First off, congrats on that Santa Cruz, fine fine piece. May you get many years of enjoyment from her.
The esteemed brother above spoke of the former Guild "Balanced Tension" strings. I first heard of them from Doyle Dykes when he was doing a Guild road show locally. Sadly, not sure they ever came out while he was with them, but I got the sense he had something to do with them. And that does make some sense as he played in so many altered tunings, and the Guild product, at least as "Mediums" go, was very nearly the same thing as D'Addario's EJ24's which are a DADGAD set.
http://www.daddario.com/DADProductD...name=EJ24_Phosphor_Bronze__True_Medium__13_56
With the exception of that pesky G-string...the Guild's are a .023 where the D'Addarios are a .024.
I have tried said Balanced Tension strings on my Collings, and they just do not suit her. Bill Collings says to use D'Addario EJ17's and I'll be damned if I don't keep coming back to those. I would suspect that Mr. Hoover has similar strong feelings about what should be on his guitars, and I am sure an easy email or phone call would get you that information.
Be glad to send you a set of those Balanced Tensions, in either "Medium" or "Light" should you wish to experiment...but I guess I would ask why do you feel the need to change the strings so soon...if she is sounding magical, don't go brushing away the fairey-dust just yet...when its time to change strings, she'll let you know :wink: