Fender Dura-Tone 860CL Coated Phosphor Bronze (.011–.052): Jack White's factory acoustic string

Fender Dura-Tone 860CL is the company's Custom Light coated acoustic string, .011 to .052, phosphor bronze wrap wire over a hex core with Fender's Dura-Tone coating bonded directly onto the wrap. Fender's own product copy describes it plainly: "combining the rich, warm tone of our phosphor bronze with the bonus resilience and longevity of Dura-Tone coating, these acoustic strings offer players articulate sound with outstanding reliability."

The set carries real documentation beyond Fender's general catalog copy. Fender's own product page for the Jack White Triplesonic Acoustasonic Telecaster, the 2024 signature guitar built with White, names Dura-Tone 860CL by part number, PN 0730860405, as the guitar's factory string, listed directly under the page's Specs > Hardware > Strings section.

Construction is straightforward: a hexagonal steel core wrapped in phosphor bronze wire, then coated, ball-end, made in the USA. Fender credits the hex core with extra brightness and a faster pick attack, the same language it uses across its acoustic and electric lines, and the phosphor content in the alloy is what gives phosphor bronze its longer-than-80/20 tonal life even before the Dura-Tone coating adds more.

Jack White's 2024 Fender signature collection put two guitars into wide release: the Triplecaster Telecaster and the Triplesonic Acoustasonic Telecaster. Where the Triplecaster ships strung with nickel-plated electric strings, the Triplesonic Acoustasonic, an acoustic-electric hybrid built around a Fender and Fishman Acoustic Engine, ships strung with Dura-Tone 860CL. Fender's own spec sheet names it directly, factory gauge .011-.052, part number 0730860405.

Premier Guitar's 2024 rig rundown of White's actual touring rig reports his stage-played Acoustasonic closer to a .012-.053 range, a touch heavier than the retail factory spec. Both figures are real and both are sourced, they just describe two different things: what Fender ships the guitar with versus what White's tech has it strung with on tour. See the full rig breakdown for how this set fits alongside his other two documented guitars and their own gauges.

A coated phosphor bronze set is a sensible factory choice for the Acoustasonic specifically. It's an instrument built to do acoustic, clean electric, and overdriven electric duty in the same set, on a demanding tour schedule, and coated strings hold their tone through exactly that kind of heavy, varied use better than a bare wire set does.

Fender doesn't stop at one coated acoustic alloy. The Dura-Tone line also ships 880CL, a Coated 80/20 Bronze set in the identical Custom Light .011-.052 gauge on the identical hex core, per Fender's own product page. The two sets are direct siblings: same coating technology, same gauge, same construction, different wrap alloy. Phosphor bronze (860CL, this set) trades a little top-end shine for a warmer, longer-holding tone. 80/20 bronze (880CL) keeps more brightness at the cost of some of that longevity edge.

If you're choosing between the two Fender alloys, the same logic that separates D'Addario's phosphor bronze from its 80/20 bronze applies here too: phosphor bronze for warmth and working life, 80/20 for brightness and projection. For the deeper mechanics of why coating changes the tradeoff at all, see our coated vs uncoated acoustic strings comparison.

One long-time coated-string user compared 860CL directly against the pricier competition in a Thomann review:

The reviewer's fuller comment frames 860CL as a cheaper alternative to Elixir that holds up: comparable sound at roughly half the price, in his estimate, with the tradeoff being that first-hour coating squeak. That squeak is a real, commonly reported trait of bonded-coating strings generally, not unique to this set, and it settles down with wear.

• Acoustic-electric hybrids and heavily gigged instruments that need coating durability through varied, demanding use, exactly the role it plays on the Triplesonic Acoustasonic
• Players who want phosphor bronze warmth without frequent restrings, trading a little fresh-pack shimmer for a much longer working life
• Fender owners chasing the exact documented factory spec on White's signature Acoustasonic
• Strumming and fingerpicking singer-songwriter styles where a warm, balanced coated tone holds up night after night

• Brightness chasers: uncoated 80/20 bronze like D'Addario EJ11 or Fender's own 880CL rings brighter fresh out of the pack
• Budget buyers comparing to bare wire: a coated set costs more than an equivalent uncoated phosphor bronze set like D'Addario EJ16
• Players sensitive to new-string feel: a real customer review documents an initial coating squeak in the first hour or two of play, common to bonded coatings generally and not unique to this set
• Non-standard gauge preferences: Custom Light .011-.052 sits between Extra Light and Light; players who specifically want .012-.053 should compare EJ16 or Fender's own 860L instead

Dura-Tone 860CL earns its place as more than a generic coated phosphor bronze set: it's the documented factory string on a real, current Fender signature guitar, sourced directly to Fender's own spec sheet rather than an aggregator's guess. The coating is a genuine tradeoff, not a marketing gesture, less initial brightness and a possible first-hour squeak in exchange for meaningfully longer tone life, and Thomann's 4.4 out of 5 across 47 ratings backs that up as a fair trade for most buyers.

If you're restringing a Fender acoustic-electric to factory spec, or you just want a coated phosphor bronze set in the Custom Light gauge, this is a well-documented, easy default. If brightness matters more than longevity to you, compare it against an uncoated set in the same alloy first.