taking care of strings

seth_southerland · Post by **seth_southerland** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 4:51 pm

ok so i found myself a set of elixir polywebs today!!! yay for that one, i paid $18.31 for them, is that normal? and something else i was wondering, now that i have a good set of strings, what are some ways that i can take care of them, like i know you are supposed to wipe down strings after playing, but what else can i do for them? are there any oils or something i can put on them, or something something something yeah

borocks · Post by **borocks** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 4:59 pm

nah, I cannot think of something you could do...

I don't buy expensive strings, they use to break easily. I usually buy the Martin SP, they're Fr.20.- ($12.-)

DMBFan63 · Post by **DMBFan63** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:05 pm

Personally if i were you, i'd stop buying elixers right now.. people say they're good, but i personally hate them now.. buy a 3 pack of D'addario EJ16's.. they're $15 and there are 3 packs of them.. they give an amazing bassy sound, and you can't say i'm bashing elixers, cause i used to play elixers for like.. 3 months..

moffatt7291 · Post by **moffatt7291** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:56 pm

its all personal preference...i bought some daddarios and they annoy the shit out of you after elixers with all the finger squeeking. Elixers are way more fun to play on too.

jsgksu · Post by **jsgksu** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 6:06 pm

Try them both and see what you like. Thats what I did, me and my mom have the exact same guitar and I bought elixirs for mine and D's for hers, thought mine sounded way better and will never buy D's again. As for keeping them nice, wash your hands before playing, the oils on your hands fuck up the strings. And $18 may a little expensive for them, dont think Ive ever payed that much.

Dancing Ants · Post by **Dancing Ants** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 10:33 pm

I bought some D'Addario EJ17s for $6. Good stuff.

fatjack · Post by **fatjack** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 10:36 pm

before this truns into another D'Add vs. Elixir discussion i will actually give seth some advice.

the best way to keep strings newer longer is to keep your guitar in its case when you aren't playing it. leaving it out in the open air will make the strings sour quicker because of the oxidation of the metal. this not only helps your strings stay newer longer, but is better for your guitar in general

Brock · Post by **Brock** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 10:54 pm

fatjack wrote:the best way to keep strings newer longer is to keep your guitar in its case when you aren't playing it. leaving it out in the open air will make the strings sour quicker because of the oxidation of the metal. this not only helps your strings stay newer longer, but is better for your guitar in general

Good advice. This, combined with washing your hands before you play will keep your strings fresher longer! [/tidycat commercial]

Ranting Thespian · Post by **Ranting Thespian** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 11:55 pm

I see no one here has even tried Dean Markleys. You are all missingout. Just got some new ones for my acoustic. I love them.

DT · Post by DT » Wed Nov 19, 2003 12:45 pm

i keep buying new brands of strings every time i get them... i really like the ones i have on now, martin marquis 80/20 lights- only thing that sucks about them is they wrap the thick part of the string down by the ball end with silk string, and on the E and A strings its hard to seat the ball properly because the silk catches on the bridge pin. They sound great though

i dont know what you people are talking about with string noise- if you dont drag your fingers too much it doesnt sound bad and uncoated strings have a MUCH better sound than coateds, IMO

ryopan · Post by **ryopan** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 12:52 pm

i played those for awhile. nice, cheap strings. sounded great. i have on SP's right now. not bad, not bad at all.

DMBFan63 · Post by **DMBFan63** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 1:52 pm

Ranting, Guitar Center and Sam ash that I goto don't sell dean markley's or i'd try them..

DJR · Post by **DJR** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 2:21 pm

the bad thing about elixirs besides the cost is that you get way too used to playing with the coating, and the second you switch to an uncoated string, it feels really different, but IMO uncoated sound a lot nicer - sorry i didn't answer the original question

grock · Post by **grock** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 3:41 pm

DJR07 wrote:the bad thing about elixirs besides the cost is that you get way too used to playing with the coating, and the second you switch to an uncoated string, it feels really different

the problem with regular strings is you get used to all the scratching noises and the second you pick up a guitar with elixirs it feels really different...

and by different i mean better...

sacdeez · Post by **sacdeez** » Thu Nov 20, 2003 7:24 pm

I'm usually an Elixir guy, but they didn't have mediums last time i went to get them so I threw on some d's. First thing i noticed was the squeeking and it was so annoying, now after a week they sound ok, but i bet their getting to the end of their life now. I'm gonna try some martin sp's next and if they squeak too much I'm going back to elixirs.