My strings go zing! They are 15 year old new old stock

Lynn Kasdorf · From: Waterford Virginia, USA

I've noticed that my C6 neck of my SKH Emmons just sounds terrible lately. I am using SIT Buddy Emmons signature series. The sound is sort of like a sitar and is quite annoying.

Before my gig yesterday, I tried to get to the bottom of it. I slacked the strings and cleaned and buffed the changer fingers and removed to minor indentations on the middle strings, where the problem is worse. I thought this helped, but I wasn't sure, so I swapped in new strings and I thought that helped, but on the gig, I just hated my sound. The issue can't be the nuts because it happens at any fret- not just open.

Curiously, I am using the same brand of string on my E9 and I never have this problem at all. Just on the bottom neck.

So- these new packs of strings (I only have about 3 packes left) are at least 15 years old. I wonder if they can get "stale"?

I have another SKH Emmons that doesn't have this problem- of course, it doesn't have these strings- it has the strings that were on it when I bought it, and they sound great.

At the risk of starting a firestorm, what strings should I buy that are affordable and long lasting and don't zing?

Thanks-
Lynn Kasdorf
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Gary L Reed · From: Castle Rock, CO

Lynn, I just installed a new set of Live Steel Strings (Stainless) that I purchased thru the forum. Didn't know my old Bud could sound so good. Made a lot of difference. I would recommend you try them.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Live Steel String user here too (nickel). I would think any brand that is 15 years old would be a recipe for disaster.
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Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Someone posted recently that strings can indeed deteriorate in storage - maybe a "use before" date would be overkill, though.
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Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

You might have that zing, with the 15 year old strings...

Do Wop, Do Wop, Do Wop...

Well, it just sounded like a song!
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Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Metal + oxygen = oxidized metal

Oxidized metal prevents a string from vibrating properly -- kinda like a tire that isn't balanced.

It may show up as pits that you feel with your fingernail when you run it across the string, and/or as powdery rust all across the surface. In either case, oxidation/rust is the beginning of the end for the string.

I buy strings by the dozen of each gauge I use. Near the end of the dozen (a year or more old) I start noticing pits and rust and discoloration. Individual strings by the dozen are so reasonably priced, I will sometimes just buy another dozen and throw the last 2 or 3 away if they look too funky.

When people ask me what kind of strings I use, I say 'FRESH STRINGS'. Most brands work fine for a month or so, in my experience. That's about as long as they are usually on my guitars, so the brand is less important than the freshness.

I rarely buy pedal steel sets because they sell very slowly. A set of strings packaged for steel could sit around the store or distributor for a long time, compared to how fast 6 string sets sell. New strings, a dozen at a time, in a sealed package, work fine for me.

Once they have been in the elements for a year or more, ALL BETS ARE OFF.

ONE LAST POINT:
I think it would be WONDERFUL if string mfgrs would just stamp the date a string was put into a package for sales on the package. It would not be expensive to do and would really benefit the player BUT I DOUBT MFGRS WOULD DO IT because it is NOT to their advantage to broadcast how old that 'new' string actually is. Smile

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Howard Parker · From: Maryland

Lynn,

I can sacrifice a set of D'Addarios for you.

Your karma is good with me! Laughing

h

Lynn Kasdorf · From: Waterford Virginia, USA

I ordered some LiveSteel strings for both necks. I'll see how they affect the C6 whine.

I noticed on JustStrings that they sell Curt Managan strings. This is a new one on me! Anybody here ever used them?

Thanks for the offer, Howard. I'll see what the new strings do.

I am such a cheap bastard- I change strings every two years, whether they need it or not.
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Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

Strings can deteriorate in storage. It all depends on how they've been stored. I recently opened a box of Gibson strings that were about 70 yrs. old, and they had patches of rust. I'm not going to attempt to use them.
If you're going to store strings over a long period, and it makes sense to buy them in bulk to save cost, I recommend that you put them into a plastic container with some of those little moisture-absorbing packets that they put into medicine jars.

Bobby Lee, you sell strings. How long do they stay in stock between the time you get them and you sell them, and how do you store them to keep them fresh?

Lynn Kasdorf · From: Waterford Virginia, USA

There is no obvious corrosion on these strings. The problem I'm hearing is mostly on the lighter wound strings. So maybe there is corrosion between the winding and core that I can't see.
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Gary L Reed · From: Castle Rock, CO

Lynn, I have used Curt Mangan strings for a long time on my 6 string guitars. No problem. Also, because they are made here in Colo. I like to help the hometowners!! Have not tried them on the PSG but would not hesitate to do so.

Glenn Uhler · From: Trenton, New Jersey, USA

All wound strings are wound with a certain amount of tension on the windings. Over time, temperature changes will allow the tension on the windings to relax, making a loosely wound string, which sounds terrible. This is more apt to happen with smaller gauge strings, because there isn't as much metal in the windings. The heaviest gauge strings hardly unwind at all.

In Alans' case, any string, especially a plain one, will be prone to breaking where there is any corrosion, because the string is actually smaller in size at the corrosion.
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John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

+ they were wound in a 3/4" circle to fit in the package. That might mess with the windings too.

JR Ross · From: New Mexico, USA

You may have string divits in your changer that need to be carefully shaved out with very fine sand paper

Dennis Russell · From: California, USA

I had this very problem when I changed strings last week on my ETS 10 stringer. It was only happening on the plain 6th string. I double checked to make sure every thing was smooth and lubed and still had the problem. I had been using GHS strings, but this time around I tried some George L's. I finally came to the conclusion that the sitar effect was happening because the twists in the end of the string to hold the ball end happened to lie right on the main curve and pressure point of the changer, causing the string to not be able to lie flat against the changer, thereby causing a slight sitar-like buzz. I could not remedy the problem with that particular string or another George L string from another pack that I had. I tried several ways of seating the string on the changer, trying to get to get the flattest "lie" on the changer, but still no luck. When I put the old string back on, the sitar buzz went away, but I noticed that the twists on the GHS string did not come up as far, so the "lie" wasn't an issue because the string was able to have good contact and exert proper pressure where it needed to.

I've used Live Steel, GHS, D'addarios and George L's in the past, and never had this happen, but the 6ths out of the newer George L packs must have longer twists, or are twisted differently than they were before. I don't think it was an old age issue with the strings, because the problem didn't happen on any other string. I think that because the 6th is the thickest of the unwound strings, the .02 extra thickness on the twists was enough to cause a problem.

So, I guess the lesson I learned that day is "if you're getting buzzed, check where your twists sit".
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John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Dennis,
Had that same problem back in the Seventies, when all I could buy were Earnie Ball strings. My problem wagon the 3rd string. The string knot was just too long

Peter den Hartogh · From: Cape Town, South Africa

Dennis, I also have an ETS and I had the same problem. I took the offending string and pushed it through the hole of an old stringball, so there were 2 stringballs at the end. I carefully guided that into the changer string slot and the winding ended up in the right place.
Hope this helps.

Larry Bressington · From: Nebraska

Check fingers for grooving.
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