rusty strings

[whisky182]

my friend has given me a guitar to restring (an acoustic), he's only had the old strings on for a few weeks and they've gone rusty, how should he stop this from happening to his new set of strings?

[Gorecki]

Strings 'a few weeks' are more then overdue for a string change. What is the cause of the strings rusting. Humid environment? Put the guitar in a case when not used. Sweat and Grime from playing. ALWAYS wipe the guitar down after playing. Occationally wipe the strings down with lighter fluid to remove body oils and grime.

[a bicycle made of anarchy]

i agree gorecki.. at the same time, with proper care, i've been able to keep the same set of strings on for almost two months.. granted for performances/recording I would change them... at some point i'd just rather be playing than restringing all the time.

[Gorecki]

If well kept and not frequently used, strings can last a very long time. One of my rarely used guitars (I call it POS) has had the same set of strings on it for three years now.

But....that's not really a good idea.

[whisky182]

i very rearly have to restring my guitars, i think i've had all my strings for over a year on all of my guitars and they're in perfect working order, i think his problem must be caused by sweat. he keeps his guitar in a case with a packet of silica gel in it, is this a good idea?

Edited September 3, 2004 by whisky182

[Gorecki]

he keeps his guitar in a case with a packet of silica gel in it, is this a good idea?

It's a good idea if it's replaced frequently. Those things only work for a short period before the get saturated and loose their ability to absorb.

[StratDudeDan]

or he could switch string types. i had a set of elixor poly-webs on my acoustic for over a year and a half, and they still felt and sounded incredible. they would most likely still be on (4 months later) if one of them hadn't snapped.

there are also the "black" strings that are supposed to be rather corrosion resistant.

however, these strings are slightly expensive (poly-webs for acoustic are $24 sometimes at the store i get 'em from...), and you can always avoid corrision with simple care-taking techniques like everyone else said.

[Curtis P]

not necacarily, i have had the same strings (except 2 which snapped because of stupidity) on my washburn for almost a year now, GHS Boomers, and I havent had a problem with them, i wipe em down occasionally, but not too often

Curtis

[feylya]

I had a pack of Blue steels on my main guitar for six months and I only replaced them cos they snapped!!!

He may or may nor like the feeling of this but coating the strings in a light layer of cooking oil might help. That and washing his hands before he plays.

[a bicycle made of anarchy]

also someone on here (i think?) suggested to use the hand sanitizer before playing, because it gets rid of residue even left by soap hand washing

[Gorecki]

I had a pack of Blue steels on my main guitar for six months and I only replaced them cos they snapped!!!

Geezzz, I forgot, I've had the same set of Blue Steels on my bass since 1991.

[whisky182]

cheers guys, i'll give him all theses tips!

[soapbarstrat]

My good friend of 25 years has a problem like this. It sucks because I don't like to let him play my guitars, and he really likes to play them. He just has some kind of "chemistry" going on with his finger sweat or whatever it is, that causes strings to corrode just playing the guitar once. I mean, if he plays my guitar, and I just leave it like that, no wiping or anything, in a few days the plain strings will show rust. I let him borrow an acoustic for six months one time. When I got it back the top 3 strings were totally rusted with about 20% of the metal actually missing from the strings. I could even use those strings to cut the string slots in a nut, because they were so rough.

Recently, I was trying to find a place on the net that has good deals on strings, and I think I saw something about gold strings or something like that. Well, whatever it said, I thought I better tell my buddy about it, because I'm pretty sure the thing about those strings was that they resisted corrosion.

Rusted strings will wear metal off your frets when they get a rough surface on them. I know all too well by seeing what happens to my friends guitars, and the ones of mine he borrows.

I have the opposite thing happen. I'll play a guitar, and when I'm done, I think the strings are actually cleaner than before. My fingers absorb all the dirt off of them.

Edited September 3, 2004 by soapbarstrat