Nylon string wear question

[rodmbds]

Hi everybody! I'm new to classical/nylon string guitars and I've got a question concerning string wear. Especially over the frets, where strings make contact with them when pressed down.

I've already searched around the net and much has been said about how hard the strings are pressed and how long they're kept and played on the guitar and etc.

But my issue is: I've just them on my nylon guitar and I could notice some small dark spots on the strings, right above the frets. That'd been like half an hour playing, they haven't even held their tuning yet!

It's not deep fret wear, just these dark spots I mentioned. I'm guessing nylon strings come with some sort of "coating" to make them shine and bright when first putting them on the guitar, but I could be wrong. Never happened on my steel guitar.

Any thoughts? Btw, I'm using Daddario's nylon, medium, EJ27 red package.

Thanks a lot for any kind of "light" on the matter.

[Mr. Scott]

Hello, I don't think you need to worry about string wear after just half an hour's play unless you have a bad set, which is unlikely. It is, however, quite common for the wound strings to wear out before the plain ones and there has been at least one thread recently on that very subject; it is not unheard of to change just the wound strings and keep the plain, or trebles, on for longer, perhaps at a ratio of 2:1.
So don't panic! Hope that helps.

[rodmbds]

Thanks. I guess it's right to think those dark spots are more of a "coating wear" than actually damage to the windings. Am I mistaken?

[Dulcilo]

Are you sure it is discoloration? Or is it just a reflection of the fretwire on the shiny surface of the string?

[rodmbds]

Discoloration might be an idea. Definitely not the reflection, that was my first guess but I've ruled that out.

Any ohter thoughts? Thanks lot!

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by rodmbds

Discoloration might be an idea.

Any other thoughts? Thanks lot!

The EJ27's feature silver plated copper wound basses.
The staining could be from a chemical reaction of some kind due to your particular body chemistry and the acidity levels of your skin or sweat. And it might be accentuated more where the string touches the fret metal, because of conductivity. Some people wear out strings faster than others because of particular body chemistry and ph levels.
It's just a guess (neither a doc nor a chemist), since it seems otherwise unusual that the string would discolor so quickly.
If that turns out to be the cause, then coated strings might be a solution. Like D'Addarios EXP series.

[zhunter]

If you are used to steel string, and steel string side to side vibrato is part of your technique, you may be causing additional wear with the side to side movement. And nylon won't respond the same way so there can be a tendency to use even wider vibrato. That can wear nylon string windings pretty quickly.

Another factor is fret condition. If you have a new nylon string you may want to check the frets. I have purchased new three Cordobas and two entry level Yamahas and all suffered from dull mildly abrasive frets that felt scratchy when pressing on the strings. The frets looked OK with an even finish but were dull in appearance and lacked a smooth surface. All benefited from a polish with a fine grit micromesh pad (in the 4000 range). These scratchy frets can definitely speed up wear.

Other than that, windings do wear on nylon and the discoloring you describe does happen. I think you getting there after only 1/2 hour is a little soon.

hunter

[rodmbds]

Ok guys, thanks a lot. I'd search a lot about fret wear but haven't actually gone to the discoloration area. It does really seem the cause.

The 4000 grit also sound like a great idea, thanks. I'll be checking more on that later, as I also want to trst out thenstrings durability, apart frm the apparent discoloration.

Again, thank you guys for the replies!

[rodmbds]

So, I've been trying/wearing the ej27 strings and the marks are still going on. Yesterday I tried just rubbing one of the wound strings against a random fret and got this mark immediately. Like a pencil mark. Didn't push too hard nor for long.

I got some guesses, which include my frets being dirty. I also wonder why this didn't happen when I used to have another nylon set which was low tension.

Is it possible that low tension strings result in more durability of the string due to less stress? By durability I mean physical durability of the material and of course not the tone and kick you get from a new set.

Thanks again everybody!

[Paraclete]

Originally Posted by rodmbds

So, I've been trying/wearing the ej27 strings and the marks are still going on. Yesterday I tried just rubbing one of the wound strings against a random fret and got this mark immediately. Like a pencil mark. Didn't push too hard nor for long.

I got some guesses, which include my frets being dirty. I also wonder why this didn't happen when I used to have another nylon set which was low tension.

Is it possible that low tension strings result in more durability of the string due to less stress? By durability I mean physical durability of the material and of course not the tone and kick you get from a new set.

Thanks again everybody!

I would think string composition before tension. Silver plated tends to mar easily. I don't have this problem at all with high tension Savarez red card strings. Also, I clean my frets/fretboard at each string change with oil (lizard spit fretboard conditioner at the moment) and OOOO-steel wool.