• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Do strings go stale?

RichardW

RichardW

Feb 25, 2016
4,496
15,803
near Philly
#1
I found a set of unused round wounds that I had purchased online back in 2011. For some reason, I never used them; they are still in the original padded envelope they were mailed in (though the envelop had been opened).

Any reason I couldn't install them now? Would they have gone stale?

Bigger issue is, I have preferred flats over rounds for some time now, but I have a Jazz that's my second bass (after my P) and I was thinking of putting them on that just to have one with flats and one with rounds.
 
#5
7.62 ammo can.png
As an ex-combat engineer/M-60 gunner, I managed to...acquire...:whistle: lots of these. I store extra strings in some of them, and keep those cans as the Traveling Wilburys recommend - 'In a cool dry place"...:thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joe Ty, 4dog and Wfrance3
#7
Stainless strings may hold up longer. I had a set that was in the package a decade before use; they seem to have been none the worse for it. If you keep 'em dry (AC in the summer), I'm sure it helps prolong their life.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LUCE
#9
JGbassman said:
Tupperware is cheaper, so are zip lock bags, but in no way are they anywhere close to as cool
Click to expand...
Other than costing me 24 years - and maybe a couple of my nine lives - these were free. We used to throw s..tloads of them away; I've gone through a dozen of these cans (with 2 100-round assault packs each) in a day myself. I've never paid $$ for one of them in my life...;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 40Hz and JGbassman
#13
I had a set of Roto 66s I bought in the 80s from a record store bargain bin for $5. They were in the paper wrappers, which were in the plastic and stayed in my guitar case until around 2005. They are now on my VM Jazz and I don't want to change them because the sound so good. I think it just depends on how bright you like your strings. I use the VM for thump, and I have brighter strings on other basses for that loud bright growl.
 
#16
GIBrat51 said:
Other than costing me 24 years - and maybe a couple of my nine lives - these were free. We used to throw s..tloads of them away; I've gone through a dozen of these cans (with 2 100-round assault packs each) in a day myself. I've never paid $$ for one of them in my life...;)
Click to expand...

I have a few but had to buy them at a surplus store. You engineers and rangemasters hoarded them like they were gold. Us regular grunts couldn't get them, even though I carried the 28 pound pig (m60) early in my career.

The military has been scrapping them for the metal and the new ones are made out of plastic. I use mine for tools and battery cables on the car. Super handy though.

And thank you for your service.
 
#17
I prefer fresh strings, so I restring often...at least once a month but sometimes more often depending on the gig. As such, I buy strings annually in bulk, 25 sets for my two six-string basses and 25 sets for all of the four string basses which don't get played regularly. My two six string basses are virtually identical; I use one on every gig and the other is a spare. Last time I bought new strings, I paid attention to this very question. The spare received the set from the previous shipment and my number one received a set shipped a few days earlier. As always, the two basses sounded identical after they were both restrung one with the old set and one with the new (which is kind of the point of having a spare). With that in mind I would say if unmounted strings go stale, it definitely takes longer than one year to do so.

For the curious, I buy from JustStrings.com. The company provides excellent service at reasonable prices and carries an enormous selection. No, I'm not a sales rep and receive no special treatment from the company.
 
#19
Coolhandjjl said:
Some manufacturers seal them in some sort of bag. Rotosound 66 now come sealed.

However, the term 'fresh' is relative. No way to tell how long a dealer has had them in his stock room. Could be years.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. Sometimes a little out of the way store has strings on the rack that look like they were made during the Reagan administration.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back