Billy Strings' guitar strings: the bluegrass flatpicker's rig, sourced
Documented gear for Billy Strings: D'Addario XS Phosphor Bronze medium strings, his Preston Thompson dreadnought 'Frankenstein,' the 1945 Martin D-28 that once belonged to Willie Nelson's guitarist, and the Kemper-based hybrid rig behind his live shows. With citations.
Solo · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Billy Strings plays D'Addario XS Phosphor Bronze Medium (.013-.056), the coated set D'Addario names on its own artist page and that Strings confirmed in Premier Guitar's 2023 Rig Rundown: 'Gotta have that medium gauge, gotta have that coated, cause we sweat like crazy.' His main touring guitar is a 2017 Preston Thompson DBA dreadnought nicknamed Frankenstein, loaded with a K&K Sound pickup and an onboard Shure microphone for his hybrid acoustic-electric live rig.
Who Billy Strings is
Billy Strings, born William Lee Apostol on October 3, 1992, in Lansing, Michigan, is bluegrass' biggest crossover star: a flatpicker who fills arenas with a sound that starts at Doc Watson and Bill Monroe and ends up somewhere closer to the Grateful Dead. He grew up mostly in Muir, Michigan, where his stepfather Terry Barber, an accomplished amateur bluegrass picker, introduced him early to Doc Watson, Del McCoury, David Grisman, Bill Monroe, and Earl Scruggs.
He started gigging in 2012 with Traverse City mandolin player Don Julin, a partnership that ran four years and produced the albums Rock of Ages and Fiddle Tune X. Rolling Stone named him one of its Top Ten New Country Artists to Know in 2017, and the International Bluegrass Music Association gave him its Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year award in 2016, followed by Guitar Player of the Year in 2019. He signed to Rounder Records in June 2019 and released Home that September, which won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album in 2021. Two more of his albums have won the same award since: Live Vol. 1 in 2025 and Highway Prayers, his first release for Reprise Records, in 2026.
His touring band expanded to a five-piece in July 2022: Billy Failing on banjo, Royal Masat on bass, Jarrod Walker on mandolin, and fiddler Alex Hargreaves. Onstage he's shared a mic with Del McCoury and Sam Bush and sat in with Phish and Dead & Company; on record he's featured alongside Béla Fleck and Chris Thile. That range between old-school bluegrass and a full electric jam band is exactly what his rig is built to switch between mid-song.
What he plays
D'Addario XS Phosphor Bronze Medium (.013 to .056), a coated acoustic set, on every guitar in his touring collection. His main stage guitar is a Preston Thompson dreadnought wired for both a pure acoustic signal and a full electric pedalboard.
The current rig, sourced
- Strings
- D'Addario XS Phosphor Bronze Medium (.013-.056), coated. Named directly on D'Addario's own artist page and confirmed by Strings himself in Premier Guitar's 2023 Rig Rundown.
- Main guitar
- Preston Thompson DBA dreadnought (2017), nicknamed Frankenstein: Brazilian rosewood and spruce, K&K Sound Pure Pickup, K&K Double Helix soundhole pickup, onboard Shure microphone.
- Vintage stage guitar
- 1945 Martin D-28, nicknamed Jody after its previous owner, Willie Nelson's guitarist Jody Payne. Rebuilt by Nashville tech Dave Johnson with the same electronics as Frankenstein.
- Amp
- Kemper Profiler running a high-gain SLO-100 (Soldano-style) profile for his electric tone, alongside a Grace Design BiX preamp for a separate clean acoustic feed to front-of-house.
Why this fits
Strings' rig has to do two jobs most bluegrass flatpickers never ask of a dreadnought: sound like a traditional acoustic guitar when the band gathers around one mic for an old-time tune, and sound like a full electric rig seconds later when the same song turns into a jam. The K&K Pure Pickup and Double Helix soundhole pickup capture a warm, natural acoustic voice on their own, while a switch built into the top of each guitar routes that same signal into his pedalboard and Kemper when he wants it. A Shure clip mic under the top adds a third, purely acoustic source that goes straight to his in-ears and front-of-house, independent of whichever electric tone he's running.
The string choice supports the same double duty. Medium gauge, .013 to .056, gives him more low-end push and sustain than a Light set when he's driving the guitar hard through a PA, exactly what a flatpicker filling an amphitheater needs. The coating is a practical call, not a tonal one: three-hour sets under stage lights mean heavy sweat, and an uncoated set that age would lose its brightness within a single show. D'Addario's XS coating buys him full tone across a whole set list without the guitar going dead mid-song, the tradeoff he names himself in Premier Guitar's Rig Rundown.
Acoustic guitars
Five guitars carry most of the set, sourced from Premier Guitar's 2023 Rig Rundown.
Acquired 2017 · No. 1 touring acoustic · Nickname "Frankenstein"
Preston Thompson DBA Dreadnought
Brazilian rosewood back and sides, spruce top. Strings' own description: "It's been through hell. It's been smashed and it's been put back together. But it always sounds the best plugged in." Named Frankenstein for the stacked pickups, switch, and internal Shure microphone built into it over the years. A second, identically wired Preston Thompson, "The Bride," was built a few years later with a charcoal sunburst finish and Bride of Frankenstein details on the headstock and fretboard.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, 2023.
Sunburst sibling · Used in a lower tuning for "Home"
Preston Thompson DBA Dreadnought, "The Bride"
Same specs and electronics as Frankenstein, in a smoky charcoal sunburst finish with lightning-bolt inlays on the bridge and fretboard and a Bride of Frankenstein character on the headstock. Strings toured with just one Thompson for years before this second one joined the fleet.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, 2023.
1945 · Formerly Jody Payne's · Nickname "Jody"
Martin D-28
Belonged to Willie Nelson's longtime guitarist Jody Payne until his death in 2013. Arrived in rough shape (moved bridge, cracked binding, a bowed neck) and was rebuilt by Nashville tech Dave Johnson with the same pickup and mic setup as Frankenstein; the Martin Custom Shop reshaped the neck into a modified-V profile. Strings, on playing a 1945 Martin onstage every night: "It's a beautiful guitar, I love this thing dearly." A pinch of Payne's ashes has traveled inside the guitar since a 2023 suggestion from Willie Nelson's harmonica player Mickey Raphael.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, 2023.
Custom build · Fully wired for stage
Martin D-45 (custom)
A heavily appointed custom D-45 fitted with the same mics and pickups as his other stage guitars: dressed-up binding, inlays, headstock, tuners, neck joint, and rosette throughout. Unplugged, Premier Guitar describes it as snappy, booming, and full.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, 2023.
1940 · Unmodified · Nickname "Pride and Joy"
Martin D-28
A prewar D-28 that never gets a pickup or a drill: no electronics, kept purely acoustic. Strings brings it out for the moments in a set when the full band, guitar, upright bass, banjo, and fiddle, gathers around a single microphone the way bluegrass bands did generations ago. It rarely leaves his sight and travels with him to the hotel each night.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, 2023.
Amps and signal chain
Electric-rig tone · High-gain profile
Kemper Profiler (SLO-100 profile)
A Kemper Profiler running a high-gain SLO-100 profile, based on the Soldano amp, handles Strings' electric-guitar tones once a switch on his acoustic routes its soundhole pickup into the pedalboard. An RJM Mastermind GT MIDI switcher engages the pedals and the Kemper profile together.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, 2023.
Clean acoustic feed · Front-of-house
Grace Design BiX preamp/DI
Strings runs his K&K pickup signal through a Grace Design BiX to keep a clean, pure acoustic sound available to front-of-house at all times, independent of whatever electric tone the Kemper is producing. A roughly 21-pedal board, up from 10 pedals in his 2019 Rundown, sits between the two.
Source: Premier Guitar Rig Rundown, 2023.
Strings
On every guitar he tours with
D'Addario XS Phosphor Bronze Medium (.013–.056)
Coated phosphor bronze on an NY Steel hex core. D'Addario's own artist page names it directly, and Strings confirms the reasoning himself: medium gauge for projection, coating because heavy sweat kills an uncoated set fast.
Same gauge, uncoated, cheaper
D'Addario EJ17 Phosphor Bronze Medium (.013–.056)
Not confirmed as Strings' own set, but the same brand, gauge, and wrap alloy without the XS coating. A reasonable pick if you want his tone and gauge without paying the coated-string premium, and you're willing to restring more often.
Picks and capo
Onstage pick · 48/1000" (1.22mm)
BlueChip TP48, Speed Bevel, Right Hand
A triangular, hand-beveled pick machined from a proprietary composite. Strings landed on this specific model because it's what flatpicker Bryan Sutton plays. No Amazon listing verified; BlueChip sells direct.
Exclusive capo brand
Elliott Capos
Hand-built stainless-steel capos with a self-centering saddle design. Strings uses Elliott exclusively per Premier Guitar's Rig Rundown. No Amazon listing verified; Elliott sells through its own site and dealers.
If you want this rig
XS Phosphor Bronze Coated Medium (.013–.056)
Why this one: D'Addario's own named set for Strings, and the set he confirms himself: medium gauge for projection, coated for a hard-sweating three-hour set.
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