Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
Quick question for those of you who play so much that you need to change strings regularly. Is it worth it to stock up on strings -- say 20 or so sets -- so that one doesn't need to worry about buying them for a while, or can they "go bad" if you just store them in a closet for months?
I change strings about once every two or three weeks, and I don't really have the patience to do the "restring a few centimeters over" thing to get a fresh sound for an extra day. I'd rather just change them outright and get a decent sound for a few more weeks...
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to Bulerias2005)
And heat. Makes the molecules re-arrange towards original position / cause uneven diameter. Once had someone expose a guitar to extreme heat in a trunk. Apart from what the guitar suffered from it ( still gradually recovering after over 2 years ), boy, had the strings gone out of intonation!
Apart from such threats, as you said, strings will last forever.
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to Bulerias2005)
The point here's how the strings packed.... If You choose one that's in vacuum, or gas-filled package, then the answer is yes. If it's not (let's say Ramirez str), then not so.
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to Bulerias2005)
quote:
I change strings about once every two or three weeks, and I don't really have the patience to do the "restring a few centimeters over" thing to get a fresh sound for an extra day. I'd rather just change them outright and get a decent sound for a few more weeks...
come on man, it's better for the environment if you reuse the slack. Plus it takes less time cuz you don't have to take entire string off. 3 minutes of your time max.
The plastic wrapped strings last longer, but I have found Daddarios in the plastic bag that oxidized after about a year. So stock up for sure but only enough for about 6 to 8 months I would say.
Ricardo does reusing the slack mean retying the string? I notice that if i just loosen my basses overnight they sound great for a few days.
The 820b la bella basses don't last that long but the trebles are the best I have ever tried.
That works too, but the thing is if you play A LOT, you can see dark spots develop over the frets and a loss of brightness. If you off set the wear down spots you get renewed brightness. For short strings, you can simply flip them around, but if they wore on the frets it is not nice on the right hand.
Ricardo does reusing the slack mean retying the string? I notice that if i just loosen my basses overnight they sound great for a few days.
The 820b la bella basses don't last that long but the trebles are the best I have ever tried.
That works too, but the thing is if you play A LOT, you can see dark spots develop over the frets and a loss of brightness. If you off set the wear down spots you get renewed brightness. For short strings, you can simply flip them around, but if they wore on the frets it is not nice on the right hand.
Ricardo
Yep, I get those dark spots. :( I will try your method, Ricardo, really if for no other reason than it helping the environment! For some reason I imagined that it would entail taking the entire string off... good to know it can be done much faster than that.
No. Trebs wear at the nut and bridge and the intonation goes off and they need to be trashed. But they last orders of magnitude longer than basses interms of brightness and tone, so you don't need to change so often.
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to Bulerias2005)
quote:
Quick question for those of you who play so much that you need to change strings regularly. Is it worth it to stock up on strings -- say 20 or so sets -- so that one doesn't need to worry about buying them for a while, or can they "go bad" if you just store them in a closet for months?
The answer is NO!. According to Jose Tanaka at 6:08-6:25, strings must be new and fresh. So no stock up. Guitar strings are not toilet paper. Nowadays, you can order new strings easily online and in a few days they're in your mailbox.
Most of them come in sealed packets - they’re not going to go off!
I don't know what is meant by sealed packets. What Mr. Marlow wrote there proves that strings should be factory-new and fresh. Here is the quote.
quote:
The plastic wrapped strings last longer, but I have found Daddarios in the plastic bag that oxidized after about a year.
Daddario’s come in a sealed plastic bag/wrapping. I don’t know how else to describe it other than that. Whether the package is completely impervious to air I don’t know but I’ve never opened one up to find the bass strings oxidised. I’m not disputing Ricardo of course but one person’s experience doesn’t prove anything. That’s not how proof works. Also, even if you buy them “fresh” you don’t know how long they’ve been stored in a warehouse prior to sale.
This is correct. I have no way of knowing for sure whether or not that the bag I purchased already contained rusty basses, and the fact I had them stored for a year was arbitrary. However, I had purchased A LOT of daddario sets over the years, normally using them in 6 month or less... so the coincidence was enough for me to adhere to the practice of NOT over stocking only because of sealed plastic containers.
I have some Savarez "red cards" that must be getting near to eight years old. They seem OK to me, no different than new ones. But I've had D'Addario EJ-45 basses get oxidized in just a couple of years. Now the D'Addarios come in individual sealed plastic baggies, so I don't know how they would--or would not--age.
I have some Savarez "red cards" that must be getting near to eight years old.
I have two 15 year old sets of LaBella 820-B (Apologies Richard sounds like one-upmanship, not my intention). They are sealed as a set in a thick plastic wrapper. I used a set in the last year in parallel to a new set of 900-B and both were fine to my inexperienced ear. Quite like the latter at less than 10 Euros for everyday use.
But I'll for sure check through my stock and use any that are not sealed. Never gave oxidisation or "use by date" a thought
Looking at the 820 wrapper it shows the strings on a guitar. I guess these days they would have to say "This is a serving suggestion. Trimmings (such as the guitar) are not included"
_____________________________
nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to devilhand)
quote:
The answer is NO!. According to Jose Tanaka at 6:08-6:25, strings must be new and fresh. So no stock up. Guitar strings are not toilet paper. Nowadays, you can order new strings easily online and in a few days they're in your mailbox.
which country are you in?
which online shop/website do you use?
which brand and set of strings do buy?
I find generally shipping charges are lower if i make a bigger order, and for the last couple of years i have bought a box of complete sets and a box of extra bass strings. I haven't had any of them oxidise or go off so far.
Both the complete and bass sets come sealed in plastic, so no air can get in. Anyone here know the chemistry of guitar string oxidation?
for sure guitar strings are not toilet paper, but they are also not tomatoes!
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to Bulerias2005)
In UK. My Ricardo Sanchis blanca gets overloaded by anything other than standard classicals. Which is good since they're dirt cheap. Currently using Adagios.
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to mark indigo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: mark indigo
quote:
you can order new strings easily online and in a few days they're in your mailbox.
Devilhand, which country are you in?
Devilhand, which online shop/website do you use?
Devilhand, which brand and set of strings do buy?
I know what you're getting at. My post above is based only on what Mr. Tanaka said in his video. I have no experience with any store specialized in guitar strings. Which type of strings, which brand or where to buy are something I have to consider in future. What he said in his video was very informative and I learned something new. I'll follow his advice for sure when I have to buy strings one day.
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to mark indigo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: mark indigo
for sure guitar strings are not toilet paper, but they are also not tomatoes!
You guys with the string stuff ... On a serious matter of tomatoes: Don´t put them in the fridge. They will irretrievably lose half of the aroma within 5 days (& so on = again one other 50% after ten days, etc.) in the cold. In the same time staying just as fresh at room temperature (exception at low humidity which can make them shrink a bit).
RE: Stocking up on strings (in reply to devilhand)
quote:
I know what you're getting at. My post above is based only on what Mr. Tanaka said in his video. I have no experience with any store specialized in guitar strings. Which type of strings, which brand or where to buy are something I have to consider in future. What he said in his video was very informative and I learned something new. I'll follow his advice for sure when I have to buy strings one day.
I wasn't getting at anything i didn't say, i must have misunderstood what was coming from Jose T. and what was coming from you. I thought the part I quoted the second time ("you can order new strings easily online and in a few days they're in your mailbox.") was coming from you, so was interested which country and website as I have had various issues myself buying strings (like getting hit with extra import charges). I asked you directly as you hadn't answered and someone else had (no reason anyone else can't chip in but I thought I would ask you again directly).
But if you are not buying strings yet, come on man, you gotta get practising and wear some strings out!
Printable Version
Plus it takes less time cuz you don't have to take entire string off. 3 minutes of your time max. 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread