Scurvy
Harley Benton Club Junior Member
|
Post by Scurvy on Apr 26, 2020 7:53:20 GMT
I'm interested whether you folks are changing your strings because you are finding that they are sounding unpleasant to you or just as a routine sort of thing. I've twice had to change strings because they would no longer intonate. I had played for decades before I came across my first case of that though. In both cases it was the wound strings that caused this problem. An A on a 335 and also an A on a Jazz bass. Getting back to your question at hand here as I didn't mention why I change them out previously was perfectly summed up in BW3f's description of "elasticity". For me, the strings lose their "stretchiness/bendabilty" and become harder to slide across and manipulate smoothly. Also as others have said they start becoming harder to keep in tune for lengthy periods of time. The intonation does start falling out a couple of cents also for me usually on the roundwound strings. Not scientific fact, but I believe it to be for me due to roundwound strings hold a lot more crud and grime trapped in their windings leading to failure faster as they oxidize/corrode. Plus, I'm a pretty big guy at '6-3" and weigh roughly 265 pounds so I have a pretty strong grip on the fretboard. This leads to the bottoms of the roundwound strings grinding away and becoming flatter on the underside of the string which makes them sound funky as well. Next time you change a set out check out the underside of your used strings. You will see what I am talking about although probably not as bad as mine considering I have a death grip on the damn things. Lol Even though I clean my strings throughly after each practice and then lubricate them lightly the end result is they are going to die eventually anyway. It's a neverending battle that I have never really come to terms with accepting. Lol Not gospel, just my opinion... Cheers,
|
|
|
3,457 posts
|
Post by LeoThunder on Apr 26, 2020 9:22:26 GMT
Strange that I don't experience these bending and tuning problems. I'd love to know why. If any guitars are going to be in tune when I pick them up it'll be my years old tele and Pacifica with their original strings on. Not my newest guitar. Maybe because everything else is seating well? I do have an Ibanez classical guitar that will definitely NOT be in tune the minute I walk out of the room. I blame slidey nylon strings there. Several string changes haven't solved it and I can't imagine how those open tuners can be slipping. Maybe my knots are?! Stretching strings, slipping tuners, bending neck. These ought to be the three possible causes for a guitar going out of tune on its own. I suppose nylon does stretch naturally and keeps doing so longer than metal. Necks bend with time under the pull of strings. This is a constant. Whenever Dave (of World of Fun Stuff) gets an old bass that hasn't seen care for a while, it always has a forward bow due to this. Humidity variation can bring it back a little but over time the forward bow seems to always win. Tuners get all the blame for tuning issues becasue of their name. It's just not fair Regarding elasticity of strings, I suspect this is related to corrosion (or some chemical reaction) and may depend on time and the player's complexion. My 25 year old, little played strings no longer held tuning and had corrosion marks (or whatever it was). I had never ever cleaned them.
|
|
|
|
Post by blindwilly3fingers on Apr 26, 2020 10:48:18 GMT
You may find some answers by researching Hooke's Law? But that could get deeper down the hole very quickly and go off on a number of tangents where guitar strings are concerned. I know you like to know the 'ins and outs of a ducks ar$ehole' (excuse my euphemism) DefJef. And I can understand that to a point, however you do pick the subjects that are often open to a number of varied factors? And bloody hard to define. 😜 I'm not sure you can get a really definitive reason why or if strings really do die unless they break? No doubt they do loose some of their sound and feel qualities. But you could argue until they break they still work. It's bit of a metaphor but if you compared an old suspension bridge wire/cable you may find similarities? OK it's not getting fingered everyday but it's open to the elements. 😊 Both are designed to allow movement and vibration albeit for different purposes. They both however do seem to have a limited lifespan. Like coated strings modern bridge wires/cables are wrapped to stop oxidising. But like lots of metal things both suffer from fatigue and fail/break! Yes my view may be a bit simplistic but I'd really like strings that made me play better! So if we can find the answer to that I'm all in. 😂 Sorry for the long waffle, I'll get my coat. 🙄
|
|
DefJef
THBC Moderator
Due to musical differences I've decided I can't work with myself any more.
|
Post by DefJef on Apr 26, 2020 11:24:15 GMT
And that must be why I find them so hard to Google, blindwilly3fingers . I can never work out what the question is that I am trying to ask! And Google hits me back with a recipe for Yorkshire pudding or something. Perhaps I should Ask Jeeves? I know, I must ask similar questions every day at home too. I guess it's because I hear so many 'accepted wisdoms' all the time but wonder how they have come to be accepted and whether they are 'wisdoms' too. Even if they could be improved upon or reassigned in some way. I've always learned that way really and often find I discover a whole other bunch of new things that I didn't know I didn't know along the way. Still searching for the acidic value of lemon oil by the way, although I have learned that some of it is pressed from Iranian lemon LEAVES and that stuff has different properties to the stuff extracted from the skins . No mention of their acid values though . I don't mind being taught at all but never got on very well with adults that just said "because it IS" or "because I say so". From a very young age I would always think, 'but how do YOU know?'. That may explain why I grew quite impervious to religion too!
|
|
|
Post by blindwilly3fingers on Apr 26, 2020 13:11:43 GMT
I get where your coming from DefJef. I also question the 'because it is' type of explanations. I'm not knocking your enthusiasm to get to the bottom of things. 😱 I think we need to question and ask why? The manufacturers and sales people are imo a little reckless handling the truth a lot of the time. I'm with you regarding a scale on substances like lemon oil, I think there should be more transparency and info available on specs and ingredients etc. 👍 I'm also happy to report I'm impervious to religion, not knocking those who are religious. Its a choice for each individual much like string brand. 🙊 I have to be a bit scientific and believe there is someone/something else out there. I find it hard to believe we are the only semi intelligent species in the universe. 🤔 I do wonder why governments elected by their people, can then decide those same people are vulnerable and can't be told the truth about ETs! I guess that's another one of those 'because it is' answers. On a lighter note the majority of politicians appear little more than reality show celebrities. I certainly don't trust any of them. 😎
|
|
3,968 posts
|
Post by salteedog on May 4, 2020 22:35:31 GMT
I'm late to this thread but you can include me in the camp of 'don't like the zingy bright sound of new strings - and I hardly ever change them unless I absolutely have to. I'm pretty impervious to religion too and politicians
|
|
|
Post by blindwilly3fingers on May 5, 2020 0:17:19 GMT
I'm late to this thread but you can include me in the camp of 'don't like the zingy bright sound of new strings - and I hardly ever change them unless I absolutely have to. I'm pretty impervious to religion too and politicians I thought you was into Anne Widdecombe saltee? 😁
|
|