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Topic: How old are your strings? |
Roual Ranes
From: Atlanta, Texas, USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2015 4:38 pm
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I needed a couple of reserve strings.............got the last three the store had. Now I can sound like Buddy, Jimmy and Curly....................duh. :roll
Shucks.........can't get the pic to upload.....they are Sho-Bud 068s |
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John Billings
From: Ohio, USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2015 5:35 pm
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Old strings suck. I won't go a month without changing them. |
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Roual Ranes
From: Atlanta, Texas, USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2015 6:03 pm
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I sent the pic to Henry Matthews in hopes that he can get posted.
How long has Sho-Bud been out of business ? |
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Henry Matthews
From: Texarkana, Ark USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2015 6:07 pm
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Image post by request from Roual on original post. Here you go Bob. Those are old. _________________ Henry Matthews
D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes. |
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Jim Smith
From: Midlothian, TX, USA
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Posted 20 Jan 2015 9:46 pm
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I still have some individual gauge Dekley strings from when I left in 1980. As long as they're not rusted, they still work just fine. |
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Roual Ranes
From: Atlanta, Texas, USA
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Posted 21 Jan 2015 5:37 am
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I think I should hang on to these. After all, how many strings have "that Nashville sound" ? |
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Jack Stoner
From: Kansas City, MO
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Posted 21 Jan 2015 7:02 am
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I've got some old Sho-Bud singles and some old Emmons "Extra Lively" singles. Even a couple of Little Roy Wiggins "Music City" strings. I don't intend to use any of them, just keeping them. |
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Bob Carlucci
From: Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 21 Jan 2015 10:41 am
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My strings are almost as old as the drawers I'm wearing, so yeah,, pretty old... bob _________________ I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Dale Rottacker
From: Walla Walla Washington, USA
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Roual Ranes
From: Atlanta, Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2015 5:30 am
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Most music stores do not carry single strings anymore.
I can see the headaches involved. |
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Alan Brookes
From: Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 23 Jan 2015 11:00 am
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I have some old Gibson strings, but they're unusable. I opened one of the packets up recently and they have rust spots on them.
There are people out there who collect old string packets, by the way. |
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Doug Beaumier
From: Northampton, MA
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Richard Sinkler
From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 23 Jan 2015 12:41 pm
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Well... Let's see... I'm 60, so that would make them ?????????????? _________________ Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Alan Brookes
From: Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 23 Jan 2015 3:57 pm
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I'm always amused by the folks on eBay who sell what they think of as "antique" instruments, but know nothing about them at all. They often advertise an instrument as "still has original strings", as though that would be a selling point, when, in practice, it's more likely to mean that the instrument has been neglected.
At the other end of the spectrum we have musicians who proudly announce that they put a set of new strings on before every performance. If, like me, they had over a hundred instruments, they wouldn't be so keen to constantly change the strings, or they would have no time left to play them, and certainly no money left for refreshments. |
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Richard Sinkler
From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 23 Jan 2015 4:21 pm
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That's when you need a guitar tech, Alan. Are you married? _________________ Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Joe Savage
From: St. Paul, MN
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Posted 23 Jan 2015 6:25 pm
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My strings are "old enough to know better"! |
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Elton Smith
From: Texas, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2015 7:51 pm
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If they have that"new Nashville sound" I think I would trash them. _________________ Gibson Les Paul
Reverend Avenger
Paul Reed Smith
Fender Telecaster
MSA S10 Classic
ShoBud
Old Peavy Amps |
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Charlie McDonald
From: out of the blue
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 3:47 am
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Alan Brookes wrote: |
"still has original strings" |
'This car has its original tires!' |
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Alan Brookes
From: Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 3:52 pm
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Richard Sinkler wrote: |
That's when you need a guitar tech, Alan. Are you married? |
Yes, but I'm also retired, and a guitar tech. is not on my meagre budget.
In fact very little is on my meagre budget nowadays. |
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Charlie McDonald
From: out of the blue
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 5:24 pm
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Richard, is your wife a guitar tech? _________________ Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons |
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John Billings
From: Ohio, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2015 8:25 pm
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Wow! I'm always surprised by how many guys play with old, dead strings! I can't stand that muddy sound. When I was actively gigging, I changed my strings on my Kline Uni every 4 weeks. I wanted it to sound like a brand new grand piano, with brand new strings. You think Paul Franklin uses the same strings for a year? Maybe if you play a coup[le nights a week in your bedroom,,,, but come on! Strings don't last that long! |
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Chris Schlotzhauer
From: Colleyville, Tx. USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2015 11:53 am
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I have a ton of old strings.
I have always wondered if they have a shelf life. |
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Charlie McDonald
From: out of the blue
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Posted 25 Jan 2015 12:12 pm
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I don't think they have a limit on shelf life.
I got out my old stainless ones, and noticed that the plains could use some steel wooling.
My early bass days, uniformly dead ones were the thing.
I would boil mine occasionally for a little briteness.
Now I use RotoSounds, coated strings.
Recommended for fretless by Sergio Mendes' bass player.
I traded him chair massage for the information. _________________ Those that say don't know; those that know don't say.--Buddy Emmons |
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Alan Brookes
From: Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 25 Jan 2015 3:00 pm
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I think it's about like food; the shelf life depends on the condition they've been stored in. If you could store them in a vacuum they would last thousands of years and still be fresh, but that's not practical. It's humidity that wears them out quickest. Extremes of temperature aren't going to harm unused strings, after all, they're metal, they just expand and contract.
If you think it's bad now, pity the musicians in days of yore, who had to use sheepgut strings, which not only varied in diameter but they could also attract bacteria and go rotten. |
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John Billings
From: Ohio, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2015 3:02 pm
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" who had to use sheepgut strings,"
Yeah, but at least you had a quick lunch with you! I like tripe! |
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