Do unused strings "go bad"

[badsneakers]

Kind of a weird question I guess. I found a set of un opened Boomers in my car. Inside of the package there was a receipt from January 2, 2005. Would all of the temp changes in the harsh New England weather effect the strings? Or should they be as good as the day I bought them?

What do you think?

[eldave777]

Most string manufactures say unopened strings will last for a year. I'm sure however that lots of music stores have sold strings that have been on the shelf for longer. With no tension, and no exposure to the elements they should be fine.

[badsneakers]

With no tension, and no exposure to the elements they should be fine.

that's the thing though, they have been exposed to the elements. It is reasonable to assume that in the winter the inside of my car was 5 degrees and now in the summer 150 degrees

[loendmaestro]

Yeah, I stockpiled a lot of D'Addario Slowounds when they were discontinued. Some I've had for a year, god knows how long they were sitting around before I bought them...

Safely tucked away in a drawer...you think I'm alright trying to milk these for an additional year?

[eldave777]

As long as the package was intact they should be okay. Either way they won't make your bass blow up so use them.

[loendmaestro]

Whew.
I was worried about the explosive nature of D'addarios.
Thanks for setting my mind at ease.

[Wolf]

D'addario's are different - they're plastic-wrapped with that whole corrosion intercept doohickey...
...still, I can't imagine anything's changed much since January...