Prolonging String Life

[jmp45]

In the late 80s / 90s I used the original Dr. Stringfellow formula. Was the best in that erra. Formula changed now, don't bother with it.

Careful with alcohol on pick guard emblems. It will take the firebird emblem right off. My firebird arrived in a case with a cover where the ink dye was not dry and transferred some to the firebird. Cover quickly went to the trash, guit is clean.

 

[JeffMcLeod]

Alcohol dries things out though, so if you're doing a wholesale wipe up & down the strings, keep an eye on your fretboard, you may have to oil it up a little more often.

 

[FutureProf88]

I use string conditioner when they are new (Dunlop makes the stuff I use) and I wipe them down with a cloth every time I play them. For my electrics I also have started using Di’Addario NYXL’s and they DO seem to last longer for me.

 

[fitz]

My strings don't seem to get corrosion and I don't change them very often.
Maybe I just can't chug and shred hard enough.
I have a MusicNomad string fuel applicator gizmo.
Quick and easy swipe up and down the strings before playing.
Cuts down slide noise moving between the 3 chords I can play.

The little cloth stores in the handle.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

What do you guys do to keep em fresh when you have a bunch of guits and don't like changing strings on them every couple of weeks?

I wipe down the neck and strings when I'm done making noise. Zip some GHS Fast Fret down the neck. Thing is that fast fret applicator dries out over time. I replenish the applicator with Dunlop 65 string cleaner. Works ok for me.

I'm a hand washer. Not quite to the point of like a nervous condition , but I just cannot pick up a guitar and play it without I wash my hands first, ideally with plain bar soap and water as hot as I can take it, then I dry them all the way. This makes my strings last a long time. I also quit using string cleaners, guitar polishes, and guitar cloths of any kind - especially those 'treated' cloths Fender, Gibson & GHS, etc. put out - well over 10 years ago: they may make your guitar shine, but the liquid spray-types suck, and the thick polishes leave residue, and all that rubbing makes those circular micro-scratches everywhere. What I do is keep a microfiber cloth in a sandwich baggie to keep all dust & debris away from it, and I keep it in the guitar case, specifically for each guitar. When my guitars get dirty, I'll wet 1/4 of the microfiber cloth with warm water and use that part to lightly wipe off any grime, then I'll use the 3/4 dry part to follow up.

Also, on occasion, I'll keep a guitar in its case when I'm done playing it each time. Before I put it in the case, I'll use the microfiber cloth to wipe the top of the strings, and then I'll spread the cloth flat under the strings and wipe the bottom of them from end-to-end up the neck.

A lot of words for a simple habit, but once it's a habit, you'll think nothing of it.

I don't care for shiny brand new-looking guitars, unless they're poly-coated like Fender guitars, in which case I kinda do want the sine with all the chrome and stuff. My Gibson never get polished. I've had my R8 and R9 since 2013, and I have never polished them - at most, I've feather-dusted them, but with those guitars, I kinda want them looking shetty, they're supposed to be "from the late 50's", right?

 

[Trident]

Just call the COPS!

The donut dopes will come running

 

[jchrisf]

Doug Marks has a video out with his guitar tech Tracy Longo (guitar tech for the stars) and he recommended a 50/50 WD40/Alcohol mixture. Worked really good I thought. Put it on when you string it up and it made the strings last longer and feel slicker.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Just call the COPS!

The donut dopes will come running

Hey Trident! Just where the heck have YOU been, Mr.?!

 

[Jethro Rocker]

My Gibson never get polished. I've had my R8 and R9 since 2013, and I have never polished them

So you wash your hands well so you don't get grime on the strings but are willing to play a guitar that is full of sticky kaka sweat crud? 10 years of it?
I guess if it works for you but makes no sense for me.
I sweat so much as per previous pic that they would fall apart. Horrible feeling to me to play a cruddy guitar!

 

[Trident]

Hey Trident! Just where the heck have YOU been, Mr.?!

In the hospital Vin…The ole ticker finally got pissed off and told me NO..
They fixed a hereditary issue, but it sure was not fun…LMAO
But I am ready for a BIG FAT PIZZA….

 

[jmp45]

Speedy recovery Trident, sorry to hear..

 

[jmp45]

So you wash your hands well so you don't get grime on the strings but are willing to play a guitar that is full of sticky kaka sweat crud? 10 years of it?
I guess if it works for you but makes no sense for me.
I sweat so much as per previous pic that they would fall apart. Horrible feeling to me to play a cruddy guitar!

Same here.. I sweat in the shower

 

[Trident]

TY JMP….I had the surgery Aug1st and was on my feet doing my thing again 8 days after…
The Dr.’s gave me a WALKER…LMFAO…I used it on the way home and put that damn thing in the closet and said, I will not creep around with a cart with 2 wheels and tennis balls…
I am already back to work and won’t let this keep me down

 

[StrummerJoe]

Luckily, I don't have the sweat issues some players have. My strings last for a very long time.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

In the hospital Vin…The ole ticker finally got pissed off and told me NO..
They fixed a hereditary issue, but it sure was not fun…LMAO
But I am ready for a BIG FAT PIZZA….

Wow sorry to hear that. Sounds like you are doing much hetter and I hope that helps in the long run!!

Luckily, I don't have the sweat issues some players have. My strings last for a very long time.

Yeah. It's when I gig. Lots of movement, usually hot, lights... even a rehearsal is bad. Sitting at home, no.

 

[jmp45]

TY JMP….I had the surgery Aug1st and was on my feet doing my thing again 8 days after…
The Dr.’s gave me a WALKER…LMFAO…I used it on the way home and put that damn thing in the closet and said, I will not creep around with a cart with 2 wheels and tennis balls…
I am already back to work and won’t let this keep me down

Yes, get rid of the walker.. Walk it off bro

 

[DreamerDeceiver]

Just call the COPS!

The donut dopes will come running

We figured you were in the can.


Glad to see you're on the mend

 

[JeffMcLeod]

What I do is keep a microfiber cloth in a sandwich baggie to keep all dust & debris away from it,

lol don't ask me why bro, this just cracked me up.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

lol don't ask me why bro, this just cracked me up.

There's a story behind that Jeff, if you care to read for a bit:

I was filing off some fret sprout on a cheap old guitar once, and the only thing I had to wipe off all the debris on the guitar was a nearby microfiber cloth. Not thinking, I wiped what little teeny tiny filings were on the guitar, then shook the cloth out. Later when I was done, the last thing I did was grab the cloth and give the guitar one last good wipe down. Immediately, I noticed that the guitar's poly was all scratched with swirls and stuff. So I threw the cloth over on another table, and moved on with the guitar.

Next day, I grabbed the cloth from where I set it on the table, and threw it in the garbage so I wouldn't accidentrically use it again. Then I opened a brand new one, and "geniusly" set it down in the same spot where the bad one was (of course I wasn't thinking). Later, I grabbed the new cloth to wipe some schmunda off the rosewood back and sides, and guess what? Tons of new scratches in the poly! Why? Because I set it in the same spot as the dirty one, and microfiber cloths are so good at what they do, they'll pick up anything and everything! They're like a magnet: they'll pick up dust, dirt, sand, coal, pizza crusts... old shoes, tires, tools you leave laying around - once, I even found a Hot Wheels truck. And some camping gear. UPDATE: And some old cigars that said "Congratulations, it's a Dumbass!".

So that's why I keep 'em in baggies now. There will be no more mistakes with microfiber cloths - you just don't fool around with those things, see?

By the way, I highly recommend microfiber cloths for cleaning guitars, computer & TV screens, sunglasses, phones. But don't buy the guitar brand names like Fender, GHS, etc. - those are WAY overpriced. You'll go through them even just because they will collects dirt and oils off your hands each time you use them. Also, don't bother trying to wash them: no matter what you do, the stuff they trap doesn't come out, and if you put them in the washing machine, old and new soap will never come out. When they start leaving tiny spots on the stuff you clean, time to throw them in a box in the garage for other uses.

I get 'em by the pack from Amazon. They're fairly large, so sometimes I'll cut them in half: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HRCDDL1/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_5?smid=A3F26DF64ZIPJZ&psc=1

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Also, don't bother trying to wash them: no matter what you do, the stuff they trap doesn't come out, and if you put them in the washing machine, old and new soap will never come out.

Just the tiniest bit of dishsoap. Wash by hand rinse really well under faucet hang to dry. I have done that for years with some of mine. For camera lenwes. I just use old ripped clothes as rags to clean guitars