# Making new Strings last



## Fred Lambert (Dec 10, 2018)

Hi everyone I need some ideas.
I have five guitars and normally play one for a while till I want a different sound. This may go weeks playing one only.
I try to keep the others properly humidified. But it seems strings don’t stay fresh.

My question is what works for you when leaving a guitar unplaced for a few weeks?


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

I would suggest you use coated strings or change them when you decide to take a particular guitar because unused strings will age anyway.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Coated string as Mawmow says or wipe the strings with a dry, lint free cloth after every use. It is the oils and moisture from our hands that kills strings the fastest.


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## fogdart (Mar 22, 2017)

Most importantly wash your hands with dish soap before playing. Don’t touch your face while playing and then touch your guitar (I watch a lot of guitar players do this subconsciously). Wipe strings down after use - which I find not nearly as important as washing hands with dish soap. 

I employ this technique and my strings last 3 or 4 times as long as they used to.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Cleaning them when yer done playing and washing your hands as mentioned above will make them last longer.

When cleaning with a cloth pinch the string btw your thumb and index finger then slide it up and down the string a few times - you will feel it getting smoother. This way you clean the back and sides of the string not just the front.

What I find with PB acoustic strings is that I’ll get a week to 10 days out of them and that’s it even though I clean them when done playing. Also, if I only play them for 3-4 hours, clean them and then leave that guitar in the case for say 2 weeks; the strings will go off just sitting unplayed. It’s like once you play them a bit they start going downhill on their own.

With coated strings like elixirs you still need to clean the scuzz off them when done playing but you can leave the guitar unplayed in the case for months and it will be ok.

Some people say that coated strings don’t sound as good which may well be true but I find that regular PB strings don’t last very long for me so they will be sounding like crap anyway after a week. I have 4 dreds in regular use so stringing up those jokers all the time gets expensive.

I was buying Martin PB strings 20 sets at a time but now I’m using elixirs on my main HD28V and PBs on the others. When I put new PB strings on a guitar I will play that one more often for about 2 weeks so that I get the best from those strings while they are fresh.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I don't do much to try and keep strings fresh. Strings are cheap. When they die I replace. Regular uncoated strings will last me about 3 to 4 weeks and I play all 3 of my guitars daily for an average hour each.
I like to play them till they're pretty dead and when I change them my guitar sounds like a new guitar. I won't go the coated route. They sound like shit so its not worth it for the sake of longevity.


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## Fred Lambert (Dec 10, 2018)

Come on people read the question, what are we all smoking?


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## Fred Lambert (Dec 10, 2018)

mawmow said:


> I would suggest you use coated strings or change them when you decide to take a particular guitar because unused strings will age anyway.


You probably are right. Normally I binge change my strings. 3 to five sets at a time. I must have changed 1000 sets in the past 55 years and hate it!


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

So eating a bag of Lays Salt and vinegar chips while playing isn't a good idear? Who'da thought.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Fred Lambert said:


> Come on people read the question, what are we all smoking?


What are you offering?


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Fred Lambert said:


> Come on people read the question, what are we all smoking?


Not the same thing your smoking. What do you mean "Leaving a guitar *unplaced*". did you misplace it?


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

If I leave a guitar unplayed for a few weeks I find some of my guitars get a bit stale or lifeless. What I do is give the strings a little stretch after a couple of minutes of play and then tune it up, for some reason this works for me. But nothing is going to beat broken in new strings.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Friend handed me his strat - the strings were like he'd been eating fish and chips with his fingers every time he picked up the guitar for the last year or two. I just handed it back to him and said I hadn't had a tetanus booster in 20 years so didn't want to risk it.


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## Larry (Sep 3, 2016)

Anyone ever boil their acoustic strings on the stove.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Larry said:


> Anyone ever boil there acoustic strings on the stove.


I have not but have read a number of posts from players who have. Most of them say it gives them extra life but only for a short while, not like replacing the old strings with new.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Larry said:


> Anyone ever boil their acoustic strings on the stove.


I did it a couple of times for my electric guitar strings when I was in grade 7; my mom gave me shit for using the cooking pots for that.

Gave up on it because I noticed that they sounded newish but tinny sounding and then after maybe an hour of playing or less they sounded like crap again - wasn't worth and the windings probably loosened off as well once removed and boiled.

Even in grade school I figured out that it was a riff.


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## tonewoody (Mar 29, 2017)

I usually just roll with it....

If strings are dead or funky, change them. Important gig or recording, change them.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

The String Cleaner | stewmac.com


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I boiled strings when I was significantly more impoverished and a long way from a music store. The benefits are short term. The exception is stainless steel strings like the D'Addario Chromes bass strings, those can be boiled to clean them up and reused almost indefinitely. 

Generally though, just keeping strings clean and in tune seems to keep them reasonably fresh for me. Sure, some "playing in" may be required, or some quick slackening and re-tuning up to pitch, but that's about it. My body chemistry doesn't seem to affect string composition much so I'm lucky that way. The old trick of removing and twisting a wound string in the direction of the winding and reinstalling would be a last ditch effort for me. Some cleaners work to prolong string tone but I'm not so sure they prolong actual life span. YMMV.

If I was forced to play with less than ideal strings I'd playing the blues more.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Anyone tried baking or freezing your strings? I'm running out of ideas.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

I found that they were to hard to digest and didn’t taste good baked but fried with onions they weren’t too bad.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Mooh said:


> Anyone tried baking or freezing your strings? I'm running out of ideas.


I sous vide mine.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

If anyone comes up with a technique, here's a bag full that I'm sure can be had for cheap.
Used Bass and Guitar Strings | Guitars | St. Catharines | Kijiji


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Boil electric guitar strings? I buy them for about $5/set. Why not just skip that triple cap half fat machiato grande and go new?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

High/Deaf said:


> Boil electric guitar strings? I buy them for about $5/set. Why not just skip that triple cap half fat machiato grande and go new?


Normally. But I remember being poor.


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

I spray WD40 on a cloth and use that to wipe the bottom and top surfaces.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

Mooh said:


> Normally. But I remember being poor.


Same here, boiling strings was fairly common back when I used to play bass.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Gear Oil or Chain Lube also works wonders if you like coating your own strings to save a bit of cash over the price of Elixirs and such.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Wardo said:


> Gear Oil or Chain Lube also works wonders if you like coating your own strings to save a bit of cash over the price of Elixirs and such.


Have you ever tried this? 

Tends to work better on heavier gauges.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

greco said:


> Have you ever tried this?
> 
> Tends to work better on heavier gauges.


Back in the 60s when we all were using Black Diamond strings that stuff was pretty common; particularly with Tele players because most of them were farmers or auto mechanics.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Morkolo said:


> Same here, boiling strings was fairly common back when I used to play bass.


Yea, but bass strings are different. Easier to re-attach used bass strings (larger) and much more expensive. They weren't the price of a fancy cup of coffee, they were the price of 4 dozen beer (I'm talking 30 years ago). I couldn't drink that much beer in the time it took me to take them off, boil them and put them back on.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Fast fret. Keeps Clean.


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