Guitar String Lifespan

[m78w]

Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to share an article written by Jack Grassel talking about how he extends the life of his strings to 5-10 years, crazy huh?!

Anyway, check it out!

A Day in the Life of Guitar Strings | MattWarnockGuitar.com

[mr. beaumont]

That was really interesting...

And I thought I got a long time on a set of strings!

[m78w]

yeah I never would have thought of it either. I'm lucky to get 5 days out of a set of strings, but down in Brazil Chromes are about 75 Rs, so 45$, this tip might help me save some serious bread!

[Soco]

For a while I was changing strings almost every week. I started cutting down a bit. I am practicing on multiple guitars.

[m78w]

for sure, paying for multiple guitars is tough!

[jorgemg1984]

ms78w when i used chromes they never lasted long enough.. after 1 / 2 weeks they already sounded bad (although some people like that sound). I am using La Bella now (rounds) and they last much much longer (2 months now and still sounding alive, not the dead sounds flats produce after a while) and come with a spare 1E and 2B strings!

[VersatileJazzGuitarist]

The post by Warnock sounds preposterous to me. Strings do more than corrode, they lose elasticity from being stretched and from vibrating. Andp ressure against the frets, nut, and bridge wears thin spots. If he is to be believed (and I'm skeptical), he must have a feather-light touch and use platinum/titanium strings.

[VersatileJazzGuitarist]

Here's an expert on strings:
Guitar String & Bass String FAQs

He says:

Many folks have been led to believe that string corrosion and wear are what makes a string sound dead over it's lifetime. At a high level this has some truth. However, at a microscopic level, this is not completely true. Contrary to popular belief, the loss of elasticity along with the addition of mass, weight, and material density are the factors that make a string sound dead over time.

[m78w]

Yeah I didn't believe it either when Jack told me this a while back, but I've seen his strings and played on them, they feel dead, thumpy, but they still work. Don't know how he does it.

you can hear Jack's old strings in this video

YouTube - ‪Jack Grassel Jazz Guitar @ GuitarInstructor.com‬‏

Originally Posted by VersatileJazzGuitarist

The post by Warnock sounds preposterous to me. Strings do more than corrode, they lose elasticity from being stretched and from vibrating. Andp ressure against the frets, nut, and bridge wears thin spots. If he is to be believed (and I'm skeptical), he must have a feather-light touch and use platinum/titanium strings.

[oldane]

I don't know - I feel a scent of snake oil here. At best, the advice given is scientifically undocumented.

Besides being an amateur guitarist, I work profesionally in health service, and I would strongly advise against going on a diet for ensuring a long life for our guitar strings. We all need a varied diet to preserve health. If strings has to be replaced every now and then, that's a price worth paying.

[hot ford coupe]

I just watched a couple of videos on Jack's page and I was knocked over by what he did. He ot some pretty nice jazz sounds out of a Gibson Explorer of all things.

[m78w]

Yeah Jack is a monster player. The stuff he does with walking basslines and blowing single lines at the same time is pretty intense!

[hot ford coupe]

I just finished the article and I too find it a little too snake oil-ish for me as well. Not all junk food raises the acid content of saliva. High oral acid (lowpH) is not an indicator of how much acid is in the rest of your body. It's related to the bacteria in your mouth, how well you brush your teeth i.e. how well you remove the acid filled plaque from your teeth, how much sugar and carbs you eat and how much sugar is allowed to stay on your teeth after you eat. Bacteria eat the sugar and produce waste products ( yes, they poop in your mouth) which are made of acid. That's what keeps oral acid high and that acid waste is why you get cavities. The more sugar you consume, the more acid those bacteria will make. Cut way down on the sugar and keep the teeth clean. Plus, not being able to absorb calcium won't affect your teeth once they're in your mouth . If the body is not getting enough calcium, it won't take it from the teeth, it takes it from the bones which causes a few other problems, not more cavities. Changing to a healthy diet is always a good thing but changing your diet to make your strings last longer is weird. It may cut down on other pollutants in your body but be careful because you could be fooling around with normal body chemistry. If you have to change your strings, change them but don't harm yourself. BTW, strings do wear out because of forces in nature, i.e. physics.

My consultant fee is $120.

[strumcat]

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

ms78w when i used chromes they never lasted long enough.. after 1 / 2 weeks they already sounded bad (although some people like that sound). I am using La Bella now (rounds) and they last much much longer (2 months now and still sounding alive, not the dead sounds flats produce after a while) and come with a spare 1E and 2B strings!

Thanks for the tip, Jorgemg! Anyone else have knowledge of strings that last a long time?

And also thanks for the info further down in RE long-lasting Thomastik Bensons for electrics and Elixir for acoustics. I used my time-machine to answer it in a preceding message.

[strumcat]

Originally Posted by hot ford coupe

My consultant fee is $120.

Check's in the mail.

[jorgemg1984]

Thomastik Bensons for electrics and Elixir for acoustics are supposed to last a really long time... I dont like their tone so I dont buy them but if you want strings that last forever this are good choices

[604bourne123]

Strings stay on guitars for years and years because some guitarists can't spend money or don't believe in it.I know when the time comes to change because it sounds dead the steel has been stretched beyond it's ability to hold a note something like a skill saw that is dull it won't cut the wood or it will cut the wood only by pressure and motor strength.Playing a guitar with new strings is like a new lease on life for the cost of the strings.

[spiral]

Originally Posted by VersatileJazzGuitarist

Here's an expert on strings:
Guitar String & Bass String FAQs
Contrary to popular belief, the loss of elasticity along with the addition of mass, weight, and material density are the factors that make a string sound dead over time.

That makes sense but why don't piano strings need to be changed every year?

[604bourne123]

why? because their thicker and the factors you mentioned are't as important as in guitar strings the factors are there or should I say they don't wreck the strings as in guitar.

[spiral]

Originally Posted by 604bourne123

why? because their thicker and the factors you mentioned are't as important as in guitar strings the factors are there or should I say they don't wreck the strings as in guitar.

The point in the article was that just by the act of vibrating it changes the composition of the metal which makes logical sense: it is just like when you forge or work metal. But piano strings don't need to be changed yearly, or even every decade (to my knowledge) but are bashed and vibrate much like a guitar string. Maybe they reach some sort of stasis?

Mass shouldn't affect how quickly the string dies since the bigger strings have proportional energy to make that mass vibrate, and anyhow, guitar strings fall within the upper register of piano wire gauges--piano wire is both thicker and thinner than any guitar strings available.

But i don't actually know, i'm just theorizing. It's an honest question. I'll email Professor String himself.

[spiral]

For any science nerds still in the room, i emailed "the Professor" and here was his reply:

Originally Posted by Professor String

In short, guitar strings are subjected to a different life cycle than piano strings. Although piano strings do wear out over a period of time, their life cycle is not as demanding and gives them a much longer period of life. Guitar strings have two things in their life cycle that accelerates their decay in performance faster than piano strings:
1. Guitar strings are subjected to a more corrosive environment that includes salts, acids, alkaline, proteins, and just about anything else that can be found on the human hand. 2. Guitar strings are subjected to significant bending and stretching over their lifetime. Piano strings are mostly held stationary during their life cycle.

Another thing that comes into play is the gauging of the strings. Upper register piano strings are much thicker than upper register guitar strings. This allows them to corrode without significantly jeopardizing their strength. There is much more metal material to decay through. In addition, a good portion of piano strings are much shorter in scale as there is less "moving" vibrational energy to wear the fulcrum points on the upper register strings. Sometimes the piano's hammers can get grooves worn in them from striking the strings, and the felt becomes hard. That often will make the windings bust in that section of a lower register. It seems more often, it is the lower to mid-register strings that will break on the piano. They have more mechanical movement occurring at the fulcrum that will make them fatigue. When a lower register piano string breaks…everyone one standing nearby notices that acoustic bullet being shot! ;-)