Problem with sweaty hand and guitar playing

[Giovanni Goria]

Hi,

Does anyone in here have a problem with sweaty hand? My hand and fingers got sweaty quickly, so my strings, which is D'Addario Chromes .011, especially on the first and second string, is getting corrosion very quickly. I just changed the strings last month, and it kinda upset me that i have to change the strings again.

Is there any suggestion to make the string life a bit longer?

Thanks.

Gio from Indonesia.
Sorry for the bad english.

[wintermoon]

Wiipe the strings down after playing
If you still see/feel corrosion wipe them down with a little alcohol on a cloth before playing

[Jabberwocky]

Coated strings to the rescue, Elixir or Cleartone.

Washing your hands with a bar of bath soap helps, the non-moisturing type. Have a dry face towel at your side to wipe your hands often.

I wash my hands with ordinary soap before I play. They stay dry for an hour.

Living in Indonesia with its high humidity the only solution is coated strings. Try the warm Elixir Polyweb or bright Nanoweb. Or Cleartone.

DR Strings sells a string coating solution in a bottle called Stringlife. It is made by Protek and is the same stuff as this but at twice the price: Protek CLP & MPL - Piano Cleaner, Piano Lubricant, Protectant

[blackcat]

Jeff Beck dips his finger tips in talcum powder for this reason.

[joaopaz]

Vineager.. wash your hands with it before playing. One of my violin students used to carry a small bottle on his violin case and it sure worked for him, a pretty severe case.
He learned it from an old Russian violin teacher 😁

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[jorgemg1984]

I buy lots of 1E and 2B extra strings and change them every week.

[Doctor Jeff]

This:

Hyperhidrosis | American Academy of Dermatology

Aluminum salts are often an ingredient in antiperspirants. You should be able to find these in a lot of pharmacies and health stores, or can have a compounding pharmacy make up a concentrated solution.

[BigMikeinNJ]

I have a little old lady friend in Minnesota that makes me old style sackcloth kitchen towels that she hand embroiders. I have a hand towel in each case. I believe Marty Grass can attest to this as I BELIEVE when I swapped the Super Patrick for the American Eagle I had one of Anna Maries hand towels in the case I gave him. I wipe my hands during a set and the strings and neck also. It is what it is...

[hot ford coupe]

Vineager.. wash your hands with it before playing. One of my violin students used to carry a small bottle on his violin case and it sure worked for him, a pretty severe case.
He learned it from an old Russian violin teacher 

Enviado do meu ALE-L21 através de Tapatalk

Plus, it will make your guitar smell like salad. My son has that problem in spades. He has to change his strings every week. He used Elixer strings and that seemed to help a great deal.

[joaopaz]

Plus, it will make your guitar smell like salad. My son has that problem in spades. He has to change his strings every week. He used Elixer strings and that seemed to help a great deal.

Nope, not even his hands smelled that way I haven't tried it myself (no need, quite the opposite in fact) but in that young fella it sure worked like magic!

[Jabberwocky]

Giovanni, apa kabar?

Wipe your plain strings on a cotton swab of Autosol Chrome before you string up your guitar. A little dab goes a very long way. Autosol helps prevent tarnish. Autosol Chrome removes gold-plating! So, you have been warned. If you wipe your strings down after each play, and use Autosol as a metal protectant your strings will last a lot longer. There is an Autosol made for cleaning silver and gold. I have not tried that as it is costly but it will probably work just as well. Just squeeze a dot on a cotton swab and run it up and down the strings.

Another suggestion is to order bulk e4, b3, g3 plain strings from Just Strings dot com. $2.90 for a dozen plain strings. I hear they are made by D'addario and D'addario gets them from Mapes anyway.

You can also buy Elixir coated strings as single strings. $1.10 to $1.50 each depending on vendor. Elixir strings are D'addario strings coated by Gore Industries of Goretex fame. So, they are all your fave D'addarios in one form or another. That's the scuttlebutt and I am sticking to it. You never see D'addario and Elixir in the same room together, hmmmmm. Like Bruce Wayne and Batman, Peter Parker and Spiderman, Clark Kent and Superman, Lynda Carter and Wonderwoman.

[sgcim]

Another vote for Elixir strings. I had to do 30 performances of a show over the summer, and decided to try them for the first time. I only had to change E and B strings once or twice for the whole run of the show.
Much cheaper than TIs, but i don't know if they're as good as TIs for jazz.

[Giovanni Goria]

Wiipe the strings down after playing
If you still see/feel corrosion wipe them down with a little alcohol on a cloth before playing

I always wipe the the strings, before and after i play. Still, the corrosion still building up like a day after it. Thanks anyway!

[Giovanni Goria]

Coated strings to the rescue, Elixir or Cleartone.

Washing your hands with a bar of bath soap helps, the non-moisturing type. Have a dry face towel at your side to wipe your hands often.

I wash my hands with ordinary soap before I play. They stay dry for an hour.

Living in Indonesia with its high humidity the only solution is coated strings. Try the warm Elixir Polyweb or bright Nanoweb. Or Cleartone.

DR Strings sells a string coating solution in a bottle called Stringlife. It is made by Protek and is the same stuff as this but at twice the price: Protek CLP & MPL - Piano Cleaner, Piano Lubricant, Protectant

I don't really like DR, nor Elixir. They tend to have a bright sound. That's why i use the Chromes from D'Addario, because they sounded warm and it kinda sounds the way i want it to be.
Thanks for your advice!

[Giovanni Goria]

Jeff Beck dips his finger tips in talcum powder for this reason.

Talcum powder! Woah, thanks for the advice!

[Giovanni Goria]

Vineager.. wash your hands with it before playing. One of my violin students used to carry a small bottle on his violin case and it sure worked for him, a pretty severe case.
He learned it from an old Russian violin teacher 😁

Enviado do meu ALE-L21 através de Tapatalk

vinegar, i'm afraid my guitar will smells badly after i dip my finger in it. But, thanks anyway!

[Giovanni Goria]

I buy lots of 1E and 2B extra strings and change them every week.

Here in Indonesia, it's kinda hard to find single strings, like 1st or 2nd string. So here i have to buy a new set of strings. It sucks, but yeah, i have to deal with it. Ordering those strings online is kinda difficult here. Thanks!

[Giovanni Goria]

This:

Hyperhidrosis | American Academy of Dermatology

Aluminum salts are often an ingredient in antiperspirants. You should be able to find these in a lot of pharmacies and health stores, or can have a compounding pharmacy make up a concentrated solution.

Woah! I'll look for it as soon as possible. Thank you so much!

[Giovanni Goria]

I have a little old lady friend in Minnesota that makes me old style sackcloth kitchen towels that she hand embroiders. I have a hand towel in each case. I believe Marty Grass can attest to this as I BELIEVE when I swapped the Super Patrick for the American Eagle I had one of Anna Maries hand towels in the case I gave him. I wipe my hands during a set and the strings and neck also. It is what it is...

Woah, thank you!

[Giovanni Goria]

Plus, it will make your guitar smell like salad. My son has that problem in spades. He has to change his strings every week. He used Elixer strings and that seemed to help a great deal.

If the problem still existed, i'll probably switch to elixir and try to learn how to get the sound i want from it. Thanks!

[Giovanni Goria]

Giovanni, apa kabar?

Wipe your plain strings on a cotton swab of Autosol Chrome before you string up your guitar. A little dab goes a very long way. Autosol helps prevent tarnish. Autosol Chrome removes gold-plating! So, you have been warned. If you wipe your strings down after each play, and use Autosol as a metal protectant your strings will last a lot longer. There is an Autosol made for cleaning silver and gold. I have not tried that as it is costly but it will probably work just as well. Just squeeze a dot on a cotton swab and run it up and down the strings.

Another suggestion is to order bulk e4, b3, g3 plain strings from Just Strings dot com. $2.90 for a dozen plain strings. I hear they are made by D'addario and D'addario gets them from Mapes anyway.

You can also buy Elixir coated strings as single strings. $1.10 to $1.50 each depending on vendor. Elixir strings are D'addario strings coated by Gore Industries of Goretex fame. So, they are all your fave D'addarios in one form or another. That's the scuttlebutt and I am sticking to it. You never see D'addario and Elixir in the same room together, hmmmmm. Like Bruce Wayne and Batman, Peter Parker and Spiderman, Clark Kent and Superman, Lynda Carter and Wonderwoman.

Hi! Kabar baik! How do you know the word "apa kabar"?

I'm gonna search the autosol here. I'm hoping it will help me on my string's life.

Thank you so much! The "apa kabar" is nice indeed!

[Giovanni Goria]

Another vote for Elixir strings. I had to do 30 performances of a show over the summer, and decided to try them for the first time. I only had to change E and B strings once or twice for the whole run of the show.
Much cheaper than TIs, but i don't know if they're as good as TIs for jazz.

I've used Elixir on PRS SE 245, and i don't really like it. But, i haven't use it on my hollow bodied guitar, so, i'll probably gonna try it once. I hope, i like it! Thanks!

[Jabberwocky]

Baik lah, sehabatku.

Like good old Barack Obama, I know enough to order 20 sticks of satay, a serving of nasi campur, and not get into trouble. Maafkan, aku tak faham Bahasa Indonesia...

Beautiful country. Beautiful people. I have a friend who lives in Bandung.

[Giovanni Goria]

Baik lah, sehabatku.

Like good old Barack Obama, I know enough to order 20 sticks of satay, a serving of nasi campur, and not get into trouble. Maafkan, aku tak faham Bahasa Indonesia...

Beautiful country. Beautiful people. I have a friend who lives in Bandung.

Hahaha! Woah, nice! You should really come to Jogjakarta! The people here is very humble.

[rob taft]

Jeff Beck is a bit more than a dipper (see photo). He uses it for anti friction purposes which is more problematic during more humid weather.. The problem with talcum powder is that it will build up in the wound strings. Not a problem for Jeff because I imagine his tech is changing strings prior or during each show. I'm blessed with dry hands that apparently have a neutral chemistry because I never wipe my strings and they never corrode. They loose their ability to stay in tune before they get any tarnish.

The best advice in my opinion was given above. i.e. stock additional sets of the offending strings and wipe after use.