How long do D'Addario ECG25 Chromes Light strings last?

[phcorrigan]

I've had these on my Gretsch for a couple of months now, and they still play and sound great. Is this normal? Am I missing something?

[YamahaGuy]

I tried those awhile back and really liked them. I currently use the EJ21 roundwounds and they last a very long time on my electric guitars. Once you start having tuning stability issues with the strings, then it may be time to change them. But with the flat wounds, they kind of sound dull right from the start, so they really won't ever sound dead as acoustic strings will. I hope that makes sense and helps.

[Marley]

I'm convinced, probably never to be un-convinced, that the longevity of strings has more to do with the gunk that does or does not come out of your fingers. I'll say my fingers emit no gunk. I can keep strings on guitars for years and they do just fine. Granted they don't sound like they do fresh out of the package but they don't sound like that a week later either-especially electrics. I have several friends who must change strings very frequently. One friend in particular can put on a fresh set of strings, play a show and the next day the strings have green tarnish and gunk on them. In 30+ years of playing, I've never had green on any set of strings. One thing I do at least 60-70% of the time before I grab one of my nice guitars is wash my hands.

I just visited my dad in Arizona for Thanksgiving. I have a low end Yamaha acoustic that stays out there. It stays in it's cardboard style case on top of the cabinet in his laundry room. It has the original strings still on it. When I popped it open a few weeks ago it was still perfectly in tune from my last visit 2 years ago. I brought that guitar out there 16 years ago. Granted it's a dry climate and the strings need to be changed mainly due to the indentations over the frets but the guitar still sounds pretty darn good.

[jseth]

Chromes are pretty much flat wound strings, right? I use the 13's on my Gibson ES 175.

They should last a really long time, at least mine do. They sound kind of "doinky" when they go on, and they stay there forever, it seems! Perfect for the old-school jazz tone that I want from that guitar.

I would not use those strings on any guitar that I wanted to hear sustain from... to me, that's not where flat wound strings excel.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

I've had these on my Gretsch for a couple of months now, and they still play and sound great. Is this normal? Am I missing something?

Perfectly normal - I have ECG23's/24's/25's on my Gretsch guitars, ECG26's on my Godin CW II and Carlo Robelli ES-450 (a '53 ES-5N knockoff) jazzboxes, and they usually last about 2-3 months before I can feel/hear the difference. FWIW flatwounds will sustain on a solidbody, as long as your requirements aren't excessive (don't expect 30-second Santana-style single notes without massive amounts of gain), your instrument is properly set up, and your touch is sensitive enough (finesse it with more of a jazz player's technique and you'll be surprised) - my P-90 LP has ECG23's (10-48) and I used it for a Woodstock tribute show back in August with no problem...

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Perfectly normal

Thanks. That brings the effective string cost way down! I'm amazed at how good these still feel and sound. I have never played flatwound strings before, and I absolutely love these!