Ever try a set a strings and remove them quickly?

[FingahPickah]

I do have preferred string sets for particular guitars but will still experiment occasionally with gauges and/or alloys on all of my guitars.

I love the sound of my 2022 D-18 with PB mediums (usually D'Addario or Martin).

What rarely happens - did happen today.

I put on a set of Martin 80/20 Treated Lifespans 2.0.... I knew within minutes they just did not work on this guitar. Volume, low end and clarity were drastically reduced. I took them off within minutes and replaced them with a set of D'Addario EJ17 and "Voila" ... it sounded great.

Just a dud ($15) set? Maybe...

I love the sound and feel of D'Addario (EJ12) 80/20 mediums on my (Sitka/Mahogany) Larrivee 000-40

[David Eastwood]

I think I’d have at least given them a day or two before dumping them.

[Rev Roy]

I generally give new strings at least a few days before making any serious judgments. Even if my initial assessment is negative.

[ChrisE]

I tried Martin Retro monel on my D-18 and they sounded great. Then I tried some on my HD-28 and they sounded awful. I took them off the next day and saved them for the next string change on the D-18.

[Wade Hampton]

No, sometimes you can just tell. I understand that giving new strings a few days to acclimatize is only fair, but sometimes these sets we experiment with are so instantly loathsome that pulling them off instantly seems like an act of mercy.

That was my experience with D’Addario Flattops. I’ve never encountered any strings that I hated so overwhelmingly so immediately. There wasn’t any point in giving them time to settle in because I hated their feel as much as I hated their sound. They came off in less than an hour.

Naturally, plenty of people have a different experience with them and like them just fine, but they weren’t a good match for me, let’s leave it at that.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Pdubs76]

I’ve put strings on and hated them, and then after a week or so, I ended up loving them. So, I always give them time to settle in. I do remember early in my guitar journey, putting on a set, then removing them and putting them on another guitar.

[FingahPickah]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

No, sometimes you can just tell. I understand that giving new strings a few days to acclimatize is only fair, but sometimes these sets we experiment with are so instantly loathsome that pulling them off instantly seems like an act of mercy.

Wade Hampton Miller

You nailed it, Wade.. I've let other strings settle in before (to be fair). Sometimes they turned out to be ok.
But with these ... I just knew.

[Bob Womack]

Back when I was a teen I broke a string and all I had was nickel-plated steel electric strings, so I put them on. Nope, nope, nope. I convinced my parents to buy me a set of a acoustic string post-haste.

Bob

[nostatic]

is 10 minutes "quickly"? If so, then yes. I know pretty quickly if I hate something. Literally yesterday I put a set of chromes on the I-30 and couldn't get them off fast enough. I did the same sometime back with nickel bronze on the JL - just didn't like the feel of them.

[warfrat73]

Yes, a few times.

[Don54]

Yes. I had Taylor 714ce from 2001 til about 2010. It was a unicorn. I’ve never played another Taylor that sounded as good. It sounded great with .12’s. I put on .13’s twice and both times they came right off.

[AcousticDreams]

Oh yeah...I know straight away.

However, on rare occasion I find out those very same strings will work great on an entirely different style guitar. So don't through them away. You never know, they might be the cat's meow on a different guitar.

[ScottSD]

My record is about a week, normally I get 6 months or so out of a set.

Scott

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

...I understand that giving new strings a few days to acclimatize is only fair, but sometimes these sets we experiment with are so instantly loathsome that pulling them off instantly seems like an act of mercy....

I has this very experience with John Pearse Pure Nickels on my carbon fiber Blackbird Lucky 13. Jut NOT a match. I suffered with them for two days trying to let them break in, then took off a new set of strings. They are good strings that work fine on my wood guitars, so it was a bit shocking. Unfortunately that guitar was 24.75" scale so they were then too short to re-use on my longer scale guitars.

I learned a long tie ago that unwinding and rewinding strings onto a post is an exercise in bleeding and frustration.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I learned a long tie ago that unwinding and rewinding strings onto a post is an exercise in bleeding and frustration.

Same here. Every decade or so I forget that, or decide to go ahead and try to restring strings I haven’t liked on one guitar onto another anyway, and it’s always a mistake, and usually a bloody mistake at that.


whm