String life

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String life

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prd1

Posts: 206
Joined: Jul. 11 2007

String life

I've a few guitars of varying quality (i should say price), the last one I aquired was in 2007 so they've all been with me for few years now.

Some of them seem to keep the strings fresher than others, there is one that stands out as sounding fresh as a daisy with ancient strings while I'm constantly replacing others to maintain a dynamic range in the sound (bass strings mostly). The cheapest of the lot also seems to be gentle on the strings - my own guitars seem to be somewhere in the middle.

There is no great difference in the visual deterioration of the strings around the frets.

..any ideas?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 10 2012 22:10:53

bthartman

Posts: 7
Joined: Mar. 7 2012

RE: String life (in reply to prd1)

Assuming you're using the same strings on all guitars, do you play them about equally?

I'm no expert on this, but I would guess that differences in scale length (resulting in slightly differing tensions) and differences in height above the frets might cause more wear on guitars that are getting more contact with the frets.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 10 2012 23:38:47

krichards

Posts: 597
Joined: Jan. 14 2007
From: York, England

RE: String life (in reply to prd1)

quote:

there is one that stands out as sounding fresh as a daisy with ancient strings

That's one of the hallmarks of a good guitar I'd say.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 11 2012 7:05:39

Ricardo

Posts: 14818
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: String life (in reply to prd1)

Oils in your fingers are biggest factor, not the guitar. Of course humidity affects guitars tone too, more then dead strings. A nice dry guitar still sounds good...also strings more in tune sound brighter as the harmonics add up. Anyway, don't blame the guitar only. Just change the darn strings. or if you are poor, you can take basses off and put em back on, they sound like new for a while.

Ricardo

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 11 2012 16:01:00

eg.czerny

Posts: 57
Joined: Jun. 30 2005

RE: String life (in reply to prd1)

Interesting observation. I also wondered about that. Of my three guitars, 2 would eat up strings at least twice as fast as the third. Same strings, same tension, same amount of play time. The biggest difference I think is that the third guitar is much heavier (and more expensive) than the first two which are very light weight. All are hand made blancas.
The other odd observation is that the more expensive heavier guitar likes expensive stings and does not reach its potential with a cheaper string.
With the lighter guitars an expensive string makes no difference and sound just as good with something like D'Addario.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 11 2012 16:38:01

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: String life (in reply to Ricardo)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ricardo

if you are poor, you can take basses off and put em back on, they sound like new for a while.

Ricardo

When we were starving university students we used to take the basses off, soak them in a soap and water solution, scrub them a little, soak them in clear water, let 'em dry and put 'em back on. Good as new. Well, almost--until the frets started to cut into them.

In those days you could buy two or three hamburgers with french fries for the price of a set of Savarez strings. At Scholz Garten a mug of cheap ass draft beer was $0.20, $1.00 for a pitcher. It was lousy beer, but it was cheap. For the price of a set of strings, you and your date could have some knackwurst and sauerkraut and get a nice beer buzz on.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 11 2012 22:27:19

jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005

RE: String life (in reply to Richard Jernigan)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Richard Jernigan

In those days you could buy two or three hamburgers with french fries for the price of a set of Savarez strings. At Scholz Garten a mug of cheap ass draft beer was $0.20, $1.00 for a pitcher. It was lousy beer, but it was cheap. For the price of a set of strings, you and your date could have some knackwurst and sauerkraut and get a nice beer buzz on.

RNJ

Richard, you must be almost as old as I am