Hi, I recently got a D55 from the year 2000. Looking to get new strings on it. Looking for a warm deep sound. Not so much as crisp but warm and rich. Any suggestions on string brands, gauge etc? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
IIRC, I used John Pearse Phosphor Bronze lights on my '92 D-55. These days, all my Guild dreads have John Pearse PB "Bluegrass" gauge (Med bass, light treble) on them. The only Guild that I continued to use 80-20s on was my '74 D-25M. For some reason, that one guitar sounded "muddy" with PBs...
Fine guitar and I play D'addario EJ16s on all my acoustics -- may not be right for you - but I have played ej17s (mediums) and ej14s and ej19s (hybrids). But ej16s seem to please my ears and little easier to fret.
For a warmer sound, I like DR Sunbeams and Thomastik-Infeld Plectrum Bronze. The T-I strings are expensive but last a long time. Note, the T-I strings have chenilled ball ends which can make stringing a little trickier than normal.
My D55's (Tacoma and New Hartford builds) have liked, perhaps even loved...DR, D'Addario and LaBella PB strings...they have disliked, no even hated Martin (pseudo-Monel) and D'Addario Nickel-Bronze strings.
Regards to the later, maybe because a D55 is just not a "bluegrass" guitar; not that you can't play that style on it, just NOT with those strings!