cost of strings
 

I was browsing my eBay history looking for something completely different today and saw what I paid for a ten pack of Daddario Ej17s back in July 2015.

I decided to track my purchases of this single item and this is what I found :

July 15 - £41 ($55)
Sep - 15 - £45
Jun 16 - £51
Oct 16 - £55
Jun 17 - £56
Today (if I bought them ) - £65 - ($87).

Ebay also likes to tell me about "offers" from the USA
Current cheapest price in the US - £35! (but with £10 postage and presumably unknown import, Excise and taxes on top.

So, have strings increased by over 50% in the US in the last two years?

I just checked Sweetwater and Strings & Beyond and it looks like there has been a price increase here, but not 50%. Earlier in the year I could buy a 10 pack of EJ17's for about $45 and now they're listed at $58. That sucks because I go through a lot of strings.

I can't say unequivically across the board, but I've seen increases pretty much everywhere. When I came back to playing 5 years ago I was buying Elixir strings for $10. Now $16. Gibson electrics went for $6. Now $8+.

Guitars too largely have gone up in price. Fender MIM Strats 5 years ago were regularly selling for $400. Now $600 for the basic model with a push for inflated "premium" MIMs. . MIA's could be had for $1000, now $1300-1400+ Gibson did try unsuccessfully raise prices by 30% in 2015, but got so much push back that they rescinded the increases in 2016.

But it's not limited to guitar stuff. Food prices have skyrocketed. Car prices too. Housing in some areas. The govt would have you believe that we have 2% inflation. I just want to know what dimension they are getting those numbers from (yeah- I know it's their "market basket")? Unfortunately your boss uses the 2%number to give you your "cost of living" increase. I digress. Sorry.

They must have gone up. I used to watch the online sales and bought strings whether I needed them or not. I use coated strings, mostly and wound up paying 4-5 bucks a set for D'Addario EXP and about 6 bucks a set for Martin Lifespan. At 64, I'd guess I'm pretty well set for life. Those deals are long gone in the last two years, I'd say. Bogo sales with already low prices.

I just got a 12 pack of D'Addario EJ16s for $30 a week ago.

OK, not a normal thing cause it was a Black Friday sale but it was a good deal.

Haven't seen any big increases in the ones I buy. Might look at the exchange rate and the various additional charges applied when the enter the UK.

If you look around, you can still get good prices for strings.
I'm not sure what the difference is between Martin strings and D'Addario strings
but I found Martin Phosphor Bronze strings at Strings and Beyond for $2.99 a set if you buy 10 sets.
https://www.stringsandbeyond.com/map...*oIg3SdlsyegRu

Yes, I expect to pay more for products made outside the EU, and of course our sales tax on all but food and essentials is 20% (similar in most other EU countries).

but 52% ???

Hi, your digression is interesting.

Inflation in the UK is said to have reached 3% (which is high for us but we ain't seen nothin' yet)

I always budget on 5% a year for household bills, - I don't know about groceries because my wife buys them all. (We budget separately).

I'ver just looked at the prices of what my guitars would cost now - I couldn't afford them now.

Then add free shipping and it's a winner:guitar:

Honestly, the price of strings is something I don’t even look at. I know the strings I like best for each of my guitars, and I know which dealers offer the best prices...it is what it is. I have to put gasoline in my car whether it’s $3.69/gallon or $2.29/gallon, and I have to change strings when they need changed whether they’re $5 or $8.

Two years ago, I paid ~$45 for a 10-pack of D'Addario EJ16 strings. On Black Friday 2016, I got them for just over $20. In 2017, I also got the $30 Black Friday 12-pack special, and the 10-pack are $44-46.

Other string brands vary $5-8 with a little more for Aluminum Bronze or Nickel Bronze. I haven't noticed a significant price increase, but I also shop around between 4-5 places to find the best price, and then buy in quantities to get free shipping, no sales tax, etc.

The Indiana Welsh-American HHP wrote:

Yeah, I think it's just a giant conspiracy by American guitar string manufacturers to punish the British for the way the Brexit vote went.

Naturally, I have no idea why they should even care about that, but, you know, they're a fairly fickle lot.


whm

Homes and durable goods like cars don't drive inflation as much as you'd think, because most folks don't buy them on a regular basis. If they survey 100 folks, maybe 10% have purchased or refinanced a new home, so only the 10% whose mortgage changed will affect inflation. Also, the government does not include food and energy in their estimate of core inflation rate, because their prices are rather volatile.

My raise is not tied to inflation. We never get cost of living raises. Our raises are based on merit (performance appraisal), corporate profits, and labor grade.

No. I buy GHS strings at Strings and Beyond, and checked my order history. Here is a listing of how the price changed from my orders placed in 2015/2016 to the current listed price:

Phosphor Bronze 6 pack: Was $31 - Is $33 (6.5% increase)
Signature Bronze: Was $6.95 - Is $7.39 (6.3% increase)
Vintage Bronze: Was $4.95 - Is $5.49 (11% increase)
White Bronze: Was $6.99 - Is $6.99 (no change)
Bright Bronze: Was $5.95 - Is $6.39 (7.4% increase)

This is where I find FastFret pays for itself many times over - I can get months of use out of a set of strings, by reviving them with FF before playing - I realise this doesn't work for everyone tho..

Same for me.

I know, but volatility can be averaged over a time period. Failing to take the food, which is HUGE, unavoidable expense in our daily lives and energy, the two things we ALWAYS need/use is kind of like a pregnant lady only confessing to gaining weight. IMO it is disingenuous at best. Social Security increases are based almost entirely on the CPI.

Lucky you. Some jobs have that. I worked on straight commission for a few years so I know what merit pay is. But try being a teacher or administrative assistant a non-union employee or someone who the company regards as an expense rather than a profit center. The CPI is convenient for employers, but in terms of buying power for the employee, he has to take it in the shorts.

Just an observation, not a criticism, but, I see guitar lists in signatures here listing thousands to tens-of thousands of dollars worth of instruments. I know that many members here are working musicians or just play a hell of lot more than I ever did or will. Some change strings weekly (me, maybe three, four times a year) but compared to the investment in guitars, the cost of strings is pretty nominal. OK, leaving out, like, Martin Titaniums. If you are a working musician, then strings must certainly be a deductable business expense, assuming that you actually report the income and operate as a business. I guess that along with GAS goes SAS -- String Acquisition Syndrome. We all have to pay for all of our addictions.

Go for it Wade . . . ho ho ho

Shades of the Boston Tea-Party, I blame Presidents Trump and Putin :D:D

I would suggest you are no longer getting such a good deal through Ebay as you once did, and this gives the impression that prices have risen so much.

From the UK I mainly use Fretsounds and StringDirect. Looking back at some purchases from these (made in Stirling) I note that:

- D’Addario NBs price FELL over the last 18 months or so - by about 5%, and 80/20s stayed the same. (StringsDirect)

- EJ16s went up less than 15% over the last 3 years, and Martin FX for my 12 string went up 5%

Also no dramatic changes in other strings I use, such as Wyres PBs.

Surely not so bad given the exchange rate change over the period.

Trust this helps,

When I was playing in Irish bars for my living I changed the strings on both my guitar and my mountain dulcimer (which is the instrument where I'm a far more advanced player, actually) not once a week but every other show.

This was before the invention of coated strings, but for me it was less about tone than it was tuning reliability. The effect that metal fatigue has on string life is routinely ignored on this forum, with most of the participants preferring to talk about corrosion or whatever. The effect of all that kinetic energy pulsing through these spindly little skeins of metal seems to barely rate a mention.

So even then, as a skinny single guy in my twenties making ends meet but not much than that, the cost of strings was irrelevant. Whatever my out of pocket costs, they simply didn't compare to the agony of trying to get through a set in a rowdy Irish bar where the Paddies were getting restive because I was popping strings left and right. All because I'd been a dork and hadn't changed my strings like I should have.

Reliability and the "don't have to worry about it" factor completely outweighed any worries about the cost of strings.

As costly addictions go, changing your strings on a regular basis rates somewhere between:

1.) Doing the daily crossword puzzle;

and

2.) Allowing yourself four Oreo cookies with your lunch.


Wade Hampton Miller

Be very careful buying strings on eBay.

eBay counterfeit strings are a pretty popular issue.

Only buy your strings from an authorized dealer.

Hey, Wade, You are absolutely right. I don't really care what strings cost since none of us can play without them, anyway.

I am totally addicted to the New York Times crosswords, working my way through ALL of the back ones. (I'm up to March, 2007) as well as each day's current one. Had to give up the oreos, though -- too many calories. Well maybe 4 oreo minis now and then!

"Oh then tell me Sean O' Farrell, tell me why you hurry so ... "

Hi Rod,
Strings Direct were always my preferred provider, ,and always speedy delivery,but a couple of years ago theri prices got less competitive.

They are a regular ebay seller, but "reddansette" (Craigs Music) have been better priced.

I checked out fretsounds - hadn't heard of them, but they don't even stock ej17s!

BTW - to Fazool, this business about "fake" strings - all you need to do is look at seller's details to see if it is a genuine seller or not.

Taylor puts Elixir strings on their guitars not because they are the ultimate tonal choice, but because they last longer and sound better in a retail setting. That is a distinct competitive advantage, and other brands are jumping on the coated string bandwagon (EXP, Cleartone, Lifespan, etc). Many of us Taylor owners are perfectly happy with Elixir strings, however. Polyweb are fully coated and are slippery (and also sprout "fuzzies" when strummed). Nanoweb have only the grooves coated, with bare windings exposed. Less slippery, more finger noise, and feel more like regular uncoated strings. There is a place for both types.

Long before coated string were ever on the market, I discovered GHS White Bronze strings, with 52% nickel alloy. Those cost the same as most uncoated strings, but last 3-4 times as long as other brands (for me). In terms of the full life cycle, the White Bronze often beat Elixirs, but for guitars that don't get played very often Elixir is the way to go. YMMV.

String pricing discussions always remind me of owning an airplane in Alaska. When aviation gas went from under $3 to north of $5 a gallon a few years ago (while auto fuel went past $4 a gallon) I knew many pilots that essentially stopped flying. Never mind that owning an airplane costs about $5K per year in fixed expenses (insurance, tie-down or hangar, chart updates, annual inspection, other maintenance) before you ever turn the prop. Fuel is the least expensive element of that hobby. A simple 50 hour oil change is nearly $100 -- if you do it yourself -- and closer to $200 if you pay a mechanic.

Ah, you evil backslider, you! We'll be sending the calorie police by to monitor your consumption by the first of next week.

Then rmgjsps (which is pronounced "rumga jaspus") concluded by quoting the opening line of "The Rising of the Moon":


To which I reply:


Sláinte mhaith.

And for those of you who despise Irish music:

Póg mo thóin....


Wade Hampton "There Beside That Singing River..." Miller

Earl49, I have a fair number of good quality guitars and I don't stint on maintenance nor string changes.
I don't care for coated strings in fact I tried a set again a while ago, but they don't last any longer than uncoated for me.

I use Ej17s on four dreads, a jumbo, two archtops and and a Weissenborn, and I change them, plus other types for other instruments.

I don't begrudge changing strings, in fact I enjoy it, but I am simply asking if prices have hiked by 50% in two years elsewhere.

I'm aware of the currency exchange rate changes but this seems radical.
For info I've checked prices in Germany and they have hike similarly there too.

WOW that's a lot. I saw a buck or two going up but not near this pries that you pay Andy.