Effective life of uncoated guitar strings

Judson · #1 02-23-2012, 06:50 AM

Excuse me for dredging up yet another variation on a veritable dead horse of a topic ... sometimes things get talked about at such length that it just seems better to start over.

I now have John Pearse uncoated 80/20s on one guitar and D'Addario uncoated 80/20s on the other. After around 40 hours of play (over about 3 weeks) , I'm beginning to feel as if my strings are sounding odd on both guitars.

The oddness is difficult to describe in words. "Lack of sparkle" comes to mind. "Twankiness" perhaps? I dunno. Just generally not nearly as satisfying as they sounded only a week ago. Harder to tune as well.

Certainly the adage, "Your mileage may vary" would apply to the effective life of strings. Still, the mileage seems to vary so widely that I'm sort of curious as to where my experience lies on the spectrum.

I hear stories of people who claim they get months ... even years out of a set of strings.

And then I hear of gigging professionals who say the change them every week.

I'm about to put on new strings just because I feel like I need them at this point, but I wonder ... is 30-40 hours of play over a 3-week period a reasonable amount of life to get out of a set of a set of uncoated 80/20s ???

.

rcoolz · #2 02-23-2012, 07:46 AM

Thats about the time line for me also....I think it has a lot to do with the acidity of your perspiration that stays on the strings..I know guys that there strings last a lot longer ...But I hate coated strings

Landru · #3 02-23-2012, 07:54 AM

Sure - that sounds about right.

I find that I'll change strings when they get a little tough to manage - like not staying in tune with the full chord. This sometimes doesn't happen for awhile, but I'd say that two months is about my max time for a set to stay on.

This really varies person to person.

Hambone · #4 02-23-2012, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackville

Excuse me for dredging up yet another variation on a veritable dead horse of a topic ... sometimes things get talked about at such length that it just seems better to start over.

I now have John Pearse uncoated 80/20s on one guitar and D'Addario uncoated 80/20s on the other. After around 40 hours of play (over about 3 weeks) , I'm beginning to feel as if my strings are sounding odd on both guitars.

The oddness is difficult to describe in words. "Lack of sparkle" comes to mind. "Twankiness" perhaps? I dunno. Just generally not nearly as satisfying as they sounded only a week ago. Harder to tune as well.

Certainly the adage, "Your mileage may vary" would apply to the effective life of strings. Still, the mileage seems to vary so widely that I'm sort of curious as to where my experience lies on the spectrum.

I hear stories of people who claim they get months ... even years out of a set of strings.

And then I hear of gigging professionals who say the change them every week.

I'm about to put on new strings just because I feel like I need them at this point, but I wonder ... is 30-40 hours of play over a 3-week period a reasonable amount of life to get out of a set of a set of uncoated 80/20s ???

.

That's the max i generally get.

Herb Hunter · #5 02-23-2012, 08:06 AM

Tommy Emmanuel changes strings before each performance which works out to almost daily.

The issue is not only personal epidermal acidity but perspiration. If I don't play long enough for my hands to become damp, uncoated strings last me for days and days but if my hands become damp, I have to replace the strings after as little as two hours.

riorider · #6 02-23-2012, 08:10 AM

There are other factors - ambient humidity and temperature; how aggressively you play; type and manufacturer of the strings; etc. But - generally - 30-40 hours is about "right". For some!

My son has very acidic sweat in his hands - after playing one of my guitars for an hour - even washing his hands first - I can see the corrosion starting by the next day. (uncoated PB any string I've had on). He uses coated strings and gets about 1/3 the life most of us get out of an uncoated set.

You are using the best evaluation, though - how they sound to you, difficulty in tuning or staying in tune, how they look.

It's a relatively inexpensive way of keeping your guitar sounding its best!

Cheers!

Phil

310Taylor · #7 02-23-2012, 08:12 AM

3 weeks absolutely. If you like the tone of new strings change them. Some folks like them with a little age. But 3 weeks is about when mine change as well. Wiping them down def extends them.

L20A · #8 02-23-2012, 08:15 AM

I agree with the others on this.
40 hours of play time is about max for me.
I have even had to change strings after 1 long jam session. [5 to 6 hours]

One thing that will make your strings last longer is to wash your hands before playing. You will be surprised at just how much longer the strings will last when your hands are clean.

brencat · #9 02-23-2012, 08:16 AM

Hi Black. On my Seagull S6, the strings that have lasted the longest for me were the Martin MSP 4100 and the D'Addario EJ16 -- both around 5 weeks, playing ~ 10-12 hrs per week.

The John Pearce 600L were the worst sounding and shortest lasting strings I ever used on the S6. I pulled them off because I just couldn't take it after about 10 days.

I have Martin 80/20s on the S6 currently and they are 'okay' but the 4100s and EJ16s are better for this guitar, IMO.

Now my new Martin GPCPA4 came with the coated Lifespan MSP7100 and I have played the sh*t out of this guitar in the last 3 weeks I've had it (probably ~ 45 hrs logged so far) and just last night I noticed a change in the strings response. This surprised me because I was expecting these to last much longer. But I've been playing down 1/2 step for some Alice in Chains music the last 2 nights and maybe that stressed them a bit? Not sure...

Take my response with a grain of salt -- I've only been playing guitar 5+ mos so perhaps I'm not qualified to make these opinions.

ljguitar · #10 02-23-2012, 08:21 AM

Hi B-ville...

It kind of depends on the tone you like and the amount of sustain you need, and whether the intonation holds.

For me, non-coated strings at about 20 hours of play are losing it to the point I will change them. But as an all-flesh fingerstyler, my style craves long sustained notes, and my habit of bending lots-o-notes does the 2nd string in pretty early in the game.

Coated strings (Elixir Nano Phosphor Bronze specifically) last about double that amount of play or even a bit more. If I need a little sparkle back in the highs then I change strings 1 & 2.

Strummers on the other hand might not notice my picky-points about the tone or sustain for a while after I'm disgusted with 'em. The intonation, I'm not so sure about that.

My playing with others tends to make me think the old adage "Guitarists spend half our lives tuning, and the other half playing out of tune…" might just be true.

One last point - when I'm doing studio work, I tend to use non-coated and change them after about 5-6 hours recording so if there are punch-in or more track work to do later (as in a week or two later) the tone will match well.

Judson · #11 02-23-2012, 08:30 AM

LOL ... I like that quote ... "Guitarists spend half our lives tuning, and the other half playing out of tune…"

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi B-ville...

It kind of depends on the tone you like and the amount of sustain you need, and whether the intonation holds.

For me, non-coated strings at about 20 hours of play are losing it to the point I will change them. But as an all-flesh fingerstyler, my style craves long sustained notes, and my habit of bending lots-o-notes does the 2nd string in pretty early in the game.

Coated strings (Elixir Nano Phosphor Bronze specifically) last about double that amount of play or even a bit more. If I need a little sparkle back in the highs then I change strings 1 & 2.

Strummers on the other hand might not notice my picky-points about the tone or sustain for a while after I'm disgusted with 'em. The intonation, I'm not so sure about that.

My playing with others tends to make me think the old adage "Guitarists spend half our lives tuning, and the other half playing out of tune…" might just be true.

One last point - when I'm doing studio work, I tend to use non-coated and change them after about 5-6 hours recording so if there are punch-in or more track work to do later (as in a week or two later) the tone will match well.

Kerbie · #12 02-23-2012, 08:36 AM

Your timeframe sounds pretty close to mine. I can get about a month out of uncoated strings. I found the single best thing I can do to prolong their life is to diligently wipe them down after each use. That's a big help to me.

ljguitar · #13 02-23-2012, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackville

...After around 40 hours of play (over about 3 weeks) , I'm beginning to feel as if my strings are sounding odd on both guitars.

Hi again B-ville...

For me the sound, feel, and intonation of the strings is everything expressive that I'm trying to push out to the listeners - it's not just playing the right notes.

So the minute they go funk-i-fied in any area, it's time in my mind to change them. I may delay a day or two if I have a performance coming up and stage the string change closer to the public performance (sometimes the day of).

Also, if I'm using 80/20s on a guitar, they are going to display the lack of sparkle much more quickly than phosphor bronze - coated or non-coated.

Judson · #14 02-23-2012, 09:07 AM

Ahhh ... so you get more mileage out of phosphor bronze than 80/20 ??? Good to know. I've got uncoated PB sets in John Pearse and D'Addario waiting their turn. They're going on tonight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi again B-ville...

For me the sound, feel, and intonation of the strings is everything expressive that I'm trying to push out to the listeners - it's not just playing the right notes.

So the minute they go funk-i-fied in any area, it's time in my mind to change them. I may delay a day or two if I have a performance coming up and stage the string change closer to the public performance (sometimes the day of).

Also, if I'm using 80/20s on a guitar, they are going to display the lack of sparkle much more quickly than phosphor bronze - coated or non-coated.

Wade Hampton · #15 02-23-2012, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackville

Ahhh ... so you get more mileage out of phosphor bronze than 80/20 ??? Good to know. I've got uncoated PB sets in John Pearse and D'Addario waiting their turn. They're going on tonight.

Right. I use John Pearse strings, using 80/20 on some instruments but phosphor bronze on most of them, and I get at least half again as much usable lifespan out of the phosphors.

whm