PlayJazzGuitar.com Forum

[darylcd]

Curious how this group feels about changing strings as for decades I have heard every extreme.

Let me start by stating my position:

I feel strings are on their way down from the moment you put them on. Sure there is a brief period were the windings need to stretch a little to settle in but I like BRAND NEW STRINGS. I don't like them quite as well tomorrow and a little less the next day. By day 5 I start having tuning problems (this is with every guitar and strings I have ever had) and by day 7 I hate them. When I put new ones on again, I am once more happy and delighted. I like new strings. I do find that after a week they will settle in and provide fairly stable tuning for awhile, but by day 7 they have lost that bright tonal edge. This is with round wounds.

Does anyone have any special techniques that they feel is a must. I have tried every type of wrap on the post and found very little difference with the exception of too few wraps on the post, which I feel allows the string to stretch a little more.

When I was on the road, I changed strings every night. This gave me the fewest problems and best sound. I've always been good about washing my hands and wiping down the neck but it seems the acidity in skin is very corrosive, even in small amounts.

Just curious how you all feel about the frequency of string changing.

Daryl

[Gorecki]

I think for the most part it is subjective, meaning not just the strings but the player. Some people produce more 'gunk' than others causing effect on the strings that much more quickly.

Daryl:
A trick you may want to try if you haven't already is using Naptha (aka good ole Zippo lighter fluid) on the strings with a cloth to wipe them down (soak the cloth not the string ). Do it all the way up and down the string (bridge to nut) over and under. They'll squeel like a pig when doing it but that show's friction and is what you're attempting to remove. This works on flatwound and plain strings best, but also helps rounds. It's an evaporant so it will leave no residue behind. I also use the stuff while building/finishing guitars.

I have very dry, always clean hands, I wipe down everything I use, guitars, pool cues..etc because I can not stand sticky! So for me it seems strings will last considerably longer than most people and after having someone (pretty much anyone) play one of my guitars, I resemble someone with severe disorders (like Monk..the show not the player) and can't stand it until I've nuked the guitar! When I've played outdoor venues when it's hot and I've sweat, I have to go through a complete scrub before I'll play the guitar again. Weird but that's how I am.

[darylcd]

Thanks. Certainly the plain strings are more susceptable than the wound ones. It seems to take a lot more time for the wound strings to experience tuning problems but they lose their brilliance. It changes slowly so you don't really notice it until you put the new ones on and realize how bright they sound.

I don't mean to imply I have an excesse acidity problem, I just seem to be sensitive to the minor tone and tuning issue with strings as they age.

One that has alwasy baffled me - I understand how an aging string can have problems staying in tune, but it really is strange how when a string gets old enough, you can't even get it in tune! As though it somehow knows how to jump from flat to sharp, by-passing the desired note entirely.

Thanks for the lighter fluid trick. I will certainly try that.

Daryl

[Gorecki]

[Bjorn]

Hi Daryl,
I have a problem with sweaty hand when I play,
so much that if I dont clean the strings after playing, I find the strings red and rusty the next day....

Anyway, what I do to keep my strings as clean as possible, is that I clean them with rust remover for bike chains....

And as i Dont have any idea of how this may dammage the fretboard, I first spray it (on the old T-shirt that I use), and then clean the strings one by one....

This has really helped me, I also used to change strings at least every 10 days, now they last a month....

Take care,

Bjørn...

[darylcd]

Not at all thanks. I don't want to give the impression that I am plauged with tuning problems as that is not the case at all.

However, I am cursed with being able to hear even the slightest descrepancy in tuning, which begs the quesiton, why did I ever take up the guitar, the most inherently out-of-tune instrument there is.

Its just a thing with me, I'm always interested in issues related to string sound and tuning nuances, mostly because I seek the perfect in-tune guitar, which I have never found, partly because I bend a lot of strings which doesn't help.

I have been thinking about having the nut replaced and that makes me ask if there are strong feelings about nut materials, ie. bone, etc.

Daryl

I wish someone would invent a guitar with little servo winders and a built in tuner on each string that would constantly measure a strings pitch and tight and lower it to pitch in real time, on-the-fly! Now, that would be cool.

[Gorecki]

[darylcd]

I'm sure it will be pefected shortly after I retire from music or die (probably both the same event).

That's the way everything else goes for us baby boomers.

Daryl

[Gorecki]

[JakeJew]

Man I have a lot to say on this subject but I'm lazy and tired, so pardon me for being blunt or anything

On my main guitars I change strings maybe once or twice a year

I barely ever have to tune them

My old teacher gave me some tricks for getting a guitar to stay in tune, I apologize if this is old news to everybody, maybe somebody will get something out of it:

-if the string is sharp, tune it flat then tune it back up.

-if the strings have been going out of tune, here's a trick:
bend the string a bunch, tug it, whatever. Then bring it back in tune. Then bend it and tug it again. If it goes out of tune again, bring it back in tune. If you do this enough (sometimes it just takes once) it will stay in tune when you tug or bend. This is especially helpful to do with new strings. This isn't helpful if you frequently use a tremelo bar. And obviously the guitar will still go out of tune when you bring it to a place with a different tempurature or level of humidity.

putting on strings:
get as much winding on the peg as possible without any overlap, knots, space in between the winding, and without it hitting the "bottom" of that little post. I don't know if I can describe the method he showed me exactly...put a bit of string through the hole, then wrap the long end on top once, then hold the string tight and wrap the rest of it below. No knots, no overlap, no space for any part of the string to move around. It should look like a snake tightly coiled.

So, for whatever that is worth...

[Bmaj/eb]

on the nut material question.. there are granite nuts (a friend of mine uses one) that are incredibly stable and do great things about tuning problems..
-jms

[Viper]

I use 'heavy' gauge flat wound. I think the 1 is about 12-14. I can't remember exactly. I change strings once every 6 months to a year. I find they are more difficult to tune initially, as the metal stretches they settle down.

For sweaty hands I recommend a little talcum powder (talc).

For those with sharp hearing bear in mind that the guitar is a well-tempered instrument (piano) as oppose to a natural scale like a fretless instrument (violin), so any tuning is going to be a compromise. It is inevitable that some notes will seem out of tune.

If you do not and want to know the difference between the tempered and natural scale Google it. you will find reams of stuff. Quite interesting if you like that sort of thing.

Granite nuts, that must be uncomfortable when you sit down and cross your legs.

[darylcd]

The thing I like most about new strings is the sound. You don't notice it as the sound gradually deteriorates, but if you change your strings after even 1 or 2 days, the new strings immediately sound crisp and clear and they ring so nice. It's worth the money and the 20 minute job to me.

I also find that new strings, if gently stretched like a bow at the 12th fret a few times, settle in very quickly. I find no tuning issues with new strings once they are about 5 minutes old. That's when I like them best.

I'm sure the heavy flat wounds suffer less from this. I have a thin hollow body as my main axe but I'm on the lookout for a big jazz box and I will be putting flat wounds on that.

[Sideways Jaye]

Bbmaj/eb -

Did you mean "graphite" nut? Graptech and tusq nuts and saddles are very good, although you still have to get the nut slot the right size.

I enjoy new strings but don't like changing strings. I apparently have very little hand sweat with no acid, because I play three of my guitars a lot and only change the strings about 3 times a year. I have a Les Paul Recording which I rarely play, and the three year old light flats on that are still just fine.

I only really notice much of a tone difference with new acoustic strings. I was thinking about changing the strings on my 575, but last night noticed that they still look like new.

On the other hand, a friend of my son's played my recented strung strat for a couple hours and the strings turned black and died immediately.

Hard to generalize.

[Joekrak]

you could try those Elixir or D'addario EXP strings. They do retain their brilliance considerably longer than regular strings. Some people don't like the feel of them, but the newer ones have a thinner coating and I've found them to be quite playable.