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i'm killing strings

project_c

project_c

May 8, 2008
1,592
1,870
London, UK
#1
i use dr hi-beams, and i practice and play a lot, but they are dead as anything after a couple of weeks, especially the E and A string. most players i know change hi-beams around once a month tops, so i'm wondering why i kill strings so fast.

what can i do to prolong the life of strings? i play fingerstyle, and tend to dig in quite hard sometimes, but i don't think i play with excessive aggression, so i'm not sure what's killing them.
 
#3
I tried the DR coated Black Beauties and liked them. However; they have a soft attack. A pro came over my house a couple days ago ,who has a hit on the radio, and suggested the other DR coated set- Bootzillas. He stated they lasted a long time. I heard them and they sound great w/faster attack than the BB's. I am going to get a set as well because of the same problem that you are having.
 
#6
by 'a lot', i mean a very intense 4 hour band practice once a week, and around 3/4 hours practice / playing at home every day, sometimes more than that. (too many late nights and not much sleep, i'm learning a lot of stuff at the moment and i feel like i need to put in the extra hours). i think that's quite a lot of hours i'm putting in, so i'm trying to work out if that's justifiable string-murder-time, which, judging by what you guys are saying, is ok. i've used hi-beams for ages but the store i went to today had none left, so i'm trying a few different options, i've bought some warwick black labels for the corvette $$ (which i use for fingerstyle), and some elites for the jazz bass for slap (i have no experience with elites at all, the guy in the store told me they're nice and bright for slapping), and i'm going to make a point of washing my hands every time i play, and wipe the strings with a cloth after each session to see what happens.

also i checked out some coated dr's, can't remember what they were called but i was told they sound a bit less bright than standard hi-beams so that kind of put me off, but that might also be a thing to try.
 
#7
project_c said:
i use dr hi-beams, and i practice and play a lot, but they are dead as anything after a couple of weeks, especially the E and A string. most players i know change hi-beams around once a month tops, so i'm wondering why i kill strings so fast.

what can i do to prolong the life of strings? i play fingerstyle, and tend to dig in quite hard sometimes, but i don't think i play with excessive aggression, so i'm not sure what's killing them.
Click to expand...

I suggest you to check your neck relief, as the string looses its original tension, you have to tight it more, creating more relief in neck , I also use that dunlop 65 on my strings, makes it last more and bring back a bit the live of the string, but do not use it in brand new string as the oil can take some of the brightness of a new string.
 
#8
The coated ones are called 'Extra Life' and they do live up to the name IME. They're quite good if you don't mind the feel, which is different.
Having said that, strings seem to go dead quickly on some basses. I have a Pedulla neck through, for example. It's all maple with an ebony fingerboard. You'd think it would be the brightest sounding bass on the planet. But new strings, any brand, sound great on it for only a day or two, then they go dead sounding. If I remove the 'dead' strings and put them on my Fender, they sound new, for at least another couple of weeks.
So in my case, my Pedulla sucks up high frequency's for some reason, and there's nothing I can do about it. And it's not the pickups; I can clearly hear this effect with the bass unplugged. Not saying this is your problem-just something to consider.
 
#10
interesting comment about different basses reacting to strings in differering ways, i haven't really thought about that.

re. exlixirs - a lot of people like these, but i was told the coating starts peeling off the strings after a while and that's always put me off, might be worth checking out though.
 
#11
Drink lots more water! Hydrating properly can change the pH level of your perspiration. Acidic sweat can kill strings, even if your hands don't FEEL sweaty.

I used to be able to kill a set of strings in a single set - if it was July, hot and steamy in the club, and I didn't get a chance to wash my hands at all, and had a few beers during the gig, and there were lots of people smoking that night. I remember having to keep reaching for the treble knob on the amp.
 
#12
fretlessman71 said:
Drink lots more water! Hydrating properly can change the pH level of your perspiration. Acidic sweat can kill strings, even if your hands don't FEEL sweaty.
Click to expand...

Yep. My guitar player properly wrecked my strings in less than an hour fooling about with my bass. Then he played with my guitar for about ten minutes, the strings turned black from corrosion everywhere he touched them, had to change them. He's not allowed withing 3' of any of my instruments since.

So yeah, drink lots of water and wash your hands thoroughly before playing and your strings will last longer, but you can't compare how long your own strings last with anybody else since the amount and PH of sweat is different for everybody.
 
#15
Two weeks?!! I used to kill 'em in two days, even with keeping my hands clean. Back when I was playing 6 four to five set nights and rehearsing two or three days a week, I started boiling strings, so I wouldn't have to spend $300 per month to keep 'em up. As far as drinking water goes, try it. It's always good to stay hydrated. I have to say, though, I drank nearly a gallon of water every night I played (I'm very active on stage-think Dave Matthews bopping at a constant, plus some...) and it didn't make my strings last any longer.
 
#17
personally i don'tlike coated strings. i dont like the tone or feel, but you should try ghs fastfret. it's great stuff just rub it on your strings after you play or whenever you want to keep em clean. like lowendgenerator said with the alcohol, it's the same thing as fast fret pretty much
 
#19
might be too much of a pain in the ass to be worth it, but take the strings off and put them in a pot of boiling water for a couple minutes, wipe dry and you'll deffinately tell the difference. I switched to flats, so i dont really need to do that anymore, and i don't sweat. And I piss excellence.

The strings are done if they stick to the wall when you throw them at it
 

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