do unplayed strings wear out ?

[myrick]

I put a new set on one bass, and then for various reasons almost immediately promoted a different bass as my main day-to-day instrument. Wondering if strings wear out much more slowly (or not at all) just sitting under tension, or is playing the only thing that wears them out.

any views or experience on this, anyone ?

[mje]

If kept dry, steel core strings should not change much, if at all. Steel doesn't lose any strength if tensioned below its yield limit.

Gut and synthectic core strings will lose elasticity and strength from being kept under tension. The molecular forces holding them together aren't nearly as strong as the electron sharing bonds in steel.

[myrick]

thanks mje. sounds sensible.

the strings in question are Innovations, which I believe is some osrt of synthetic core. Perhaps if the bass is to remain unplayed for a while I should put an old set of used strings back on and save the Innovations for another time.