Do You Enjoy Dead Strings?

[Wellington]

I've always been pretty quick on the draw to replace my strings as soon as they start dying, but the last few weeks I just haven't gotten around to taking off the 80/20's I have on, now, I played very little but when I have been I've been really digging the tone, most be the style of play I've been doing. It's on my Guild D-40T, and it's giving me J-45 vibes just with actual sustain and more responsiveness still, but it's got that tone feel thatbi associate with J-45's. It's pretty enjoyable for now, I've had a fresh pack of Sunbeam lights waiting to get strung but I keep putting it off!

Anyone hear like dead string tone sometimes?

[Wade Hampton]

Not me, boy. I like my strings to be fresh and alive in order to get the full range of harmonics that the instrument is capable of.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Mobilemike]

Sometimes on some guitars it can be a cool sound. Not one I’d like all the time but a cool color for certain moments.

[jaymarsch]

No, not me. I want access to the fullest spectrum of sound ringing out. If I want a more deadened tone, I'll use muting techniques.

Best,
Jayne

[FingahPickah]

Negative. Dead is dead. I love the crisp sound and feel of new strings.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Not me, boy. I like my strings to be fresh and alive in order to get the full range of harmonics that the instrument is capable of.


Wade Hampton Miller

Yep…ditto.

[rick-slo]

I prefer strings that have been played in somewhat. The brand new scratchy zing sound not as pleasant to my ears.
Don't like "dead" strings because dead strings are dead. I usually keep the same set of strings on until I notice any
decrease in intonation secondary to worn spots in strings.

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

I prefer strings that have been played in somewhat. The brand new scratchy zing sound not as pleasant to my ears.
I usually keep the same set of strings on until I notice any worn string related decrease in intonation.

+1

I usually play Elixirs and fingerpick all my instruments using my nails as picks.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

[steelvibe]

No I do not. I hate brand new strings too, but dead are the worst.

[kizz]

People have different perceptions of when strings are dead, it's been up in some threads once. For me, strings are dead when they've completely lost all sound. I'm one of those people who feel good with a set of ej16 two weeks in and beyond, I don't think the guitar loses anything sonically, it's more the playability of the strings that makes me switch.

[Skeezix]

I too prefer broken-in strings over the ting and sizzle of brand new strings. I feel like broken-in strings make for slightly more intimate feel compared to a brand new set. More so on one guitar than the others, though. Depends a bit on the type/brand of strings, too, and maybe somewhat on playing style (e.g., fingerpicking airy new age instrumentals vs flatpick shredding funky stuff or bluegrass). Furthermore, one player’s “dead” may be another player’s “broken-in”, so if your definition of “dead” is bronze strings that looks like dirty nickel with kinks above each fret then I guess I am not a fan of dead strings. I’ll leave a set of strings on for quite a while, but I also enjoy the radical change in going from well worn strings to a shiny new set and then the gradual journey in tone as the strings wear.

[Brucebubs]

I like them fresh - and my SJ-200 has let me know it won't tolerate old dead strings!

[b1j]

Zing > thud

[Brent Hahn]

Depends. For single-string stuff on my Martin, brand new strings have that nasal bluegrass "point" that you can't get any other way. For strummy stuff on my 70's Japanese lawsuit dread, brand new strings are "crashy" and it takes a couple days to get them to calm down so they sound like music. Then they reach a stasis that persists until there comes a point where they start to sound out of tune even when the tuner says they're not.

[jontewright]

Not really my cup of tea. I think they sound ok for certain things but then as soon as I change them I realise I was wrong and it's a vast improvement.