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Author Topic:  How old are your strings?
Roual Ranes

 

From:
Atlanta, Texas, USA
Post  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 Rolling Eyes Laughing
Shucks.........can't get the pic to upload.....they are Sho-Bud 068s
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John Billings


From:
Ohio, USA
Post  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
Post  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
Post  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.
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Jim Smith


From:
Midlothian, TX, USA
Post  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
Post  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" ? Whoa! Rolling Eyes
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  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
Post  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
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Dale Rottacker


From:
Walla Walla Washington, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2015 11:36 am    
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Henry Matthews wrote:


Image post by request from Roual on original post. Here you go Bob. Those are old.


Henry...did you pull those out of my Steelseat?...I have/had a bunch of them...dependent upon your answer Laughing Laughing
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Roual Ranes

 

From:
Atlanta, Texas, USA
Post  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
Post  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
Post  Posted 23 Jan 2015 11:50 am    
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My spare strings are several years old. I change strings on my pedal steel about twice a year. On my non-pedal steels, about every three years or so. Anything more is a waste of money IMO.
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 23 Jan 2015 12:41 pm    
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Well... Let's see... I'm 60, so that would make them ??????????????
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Alan Brookes


From:
Brummy living in Southern California
Post  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. Laughing Rolling Eyes

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. Laughing
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 23 Jan 2015 4:21 pm    
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That's when you need a guitar tech, Alan. Are you married?
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Joe Savage

 

From:
St. Paul, MN
Post  Posted 23 Jan 2015 6:25 pm    
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My strings are "old enough to know better"! Razz
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Elton Smith


From:
Texas, USA
Post  Posted 23 Jan 2015 7:51 pm    
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If they have that"new Nashville sound" I think I would trash them.
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 24 Jan 2015 3:47 am    
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Alan Brookes wrote:
"still has original strings" Laughing

'This car has its original tires!'
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Alan Brookes


From:
Brummy living in Southern California
Post  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. Laughing
In fact very little is on my meagre budget nowadays. Crying or Very sad Rolling Eyes
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Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 24 Jan 2015 5:24 pm    
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Richard, is your wife a guitar tech? Confused
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John Billings


From:
Ohio, USA
Post  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
Post  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
Post  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. Cool
I traded him chair massage for the information.
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Alan Brookes


From:
Brummy living in Southern California
Post  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. Whoa!
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John Billings


From:
Ohio, USA
Post  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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