Improving string lifetimes

jmcorey

New member
What is the best way to improive the life of your guitar strings? There are sprays, cleaners, etc?

Thanks
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

The best and cheapest way to improve string life...

Wash your hands before you play
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

Keep your hands clean and wipe the strings down often with a rag. Dirt, finger grease and grease from that Big Mac you ate before practice are the enemy.

If you take 'em off and boil them you can get a lot of the crud off....but that's a pain in the butt.
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

i had heard from my buddy that his dad used to boil his strings in water to remove all the oils from them, then just restring em. seems somewhat logical, but if they've already corroded some i don't think that would be very helpful.
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

i wonder if a wipe down with a little windex on a paper towel after playing would help ... dissolve / clean-off the oils, dirt, etc.
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

locking tuners guys...i take strings off and put them back on quite often since i've been experimenting with gauges and flatwounds. All i need to do is get that string through the hole and lock it and im done!

I settled on fender bullet 10's by the way.....
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

I always wash my hands and dry them really well before playing..I wipe the strings often between songs...At the end of playing,or a gig etc.,I use Dr String Fellows or GHS Fast fret and wipe the whole neck down front and back and the strings...

Strings are insxpensive and boiling them is a hassle,plus they break really easy and don't retain the tone very long...

Years ago an old blues player told me that Mennen Un-Scented Lectric Shave works really great to clean and preserve strings....It's a cleaner/lubricant for your face..
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

Other than wiping them down from time to time, I don't bother doing anything... I hate the residues cleaners can often leave behind. Plus, I'm not so cheap that I have to try to double the lifetime of a set of strings. I usually change every 3-4 weeks (sometimes sonner depending on use). Not much beats the snappyness of a nice new string. PING!
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

MikeS said:
Other than wiping them down from time to time, I don't bother doing anything... I hate the residues cleaners can often leave behind. Plus, I'm not so cheap that I have to try to double the lifetime of a set of strings. I usually change every 3-4 weeks (sometimes sonner depending on use). Not much beats the snappyness of a nice new string. PING!

The Dr Stringfellow stuff I get from MF doesn't leave any residue,smells good,keeps the strings clean and lubed...I don't feel anything on my fingers after I wipe the strings down after using the product? Strings are pretty inexpensive and I agree,but nothing wrong with getting as much life out of every set of strings you can! Especially when you own like 10 guitars and battling with Florida humidity... :)
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

STRATDELUXER97 said:
The Dr Stringfellow stuff I get from MF doesn't leave any residue,smells good,keeps the strings clean and lubed...I don't feel anything on my fingers after I wipe the strings down after using the product? Strings are pretty inexpensive and I agree,but nothing wrong with getting as much life out of every set of strings you can! Especially when you own like 10 guitars and battling with Florida humidity... :)

I hear you! Not only do I contend with high humidity, but Cincinnati, like most of the widwest, has the ability to be 40* with 10% humidity one day, and 90* with 99% humidity the next. That's a lot of fun to deal with when you've got 10 guitars. I've noticed that in the spring and fall I'm having to due minor adjustments fairly commonly. That's tough on strings, isn't it?

One question, though... how does that stuff lubricate the strings if it doesn't leave any residue?
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

Fast Fret.


FAST FRET



*shouts in original poster's earhole* BUY SOME FAST FRET!!!!!!!!!!


Aherm. Did you know that fast fret is the badger's nadgers for making strings sound like new? Obviously, if you don't wipe the strings with that canary-yellow t-shirt your gran bought you from her Florida trip 5 years ago, or you have questionable personal hygeine, then it won't do you THAT much good - but to counter simple ageing of strings, GET IT. Get it NOW!!!
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

MikeS said:
I hear you! Not only do I contend with high humidity, but Cincinnati, like most of the widwest, has the ability to be 40* with 10% humidity one day, and 90* with 99% humidity the next. That's a lot of fun to deal with when you've got 10 guitars. I've noticed that in the spring and fall I'm having to due minor adjustments fairly commonly. That's tough on strings, isn't it?

One question, though... how does that stuff lubricate the strings if it doesn't leave any residue?

I don't feel it as a residue,but it does keep the strings clean and shiny and I Like the way the product works...I Like it better than the GHS Fast Fret..
 
Re: Improving string lifetimes

nuntius said:
The best and cheapest way to improve string life...

Wash your hands before you play

My guitar teacher (or ex teacher) used to swear by it, I've done it ever since...

Also wipe the strings down after playing too, just to get all the sweat and crud off.
 
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