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hippieNug
Aug-26-2011, 12:11am
I recently bought new Weber about 2 months ago. I was amazed at how quick the strings went dead after only 2 months of medium play. I just wrote it off and figured the strings must have been on there a bit before me purchasing it. I believe the strings on it were GHS. I just changed the set 2 days ago to D'Addario J74's. Yes, that did the trick. The mandolin came back to life. But here I am today noticing the strings seem much more dead than they were two days ago, with maybe a two hours of play in between. The color of the strings even look duller. The only thing I can think of is my case humidifier. Maybe? I have an Oasis Plus+ case humidifier. Being in AZ I think it is a necessity. But could this be what is killing my strings so quickly? Does the humidity make strings tarnish?

Cheers!

MikeEdgerton
Aug-26-2011, 12:17am
Excess oil on your fingers, humidity. They can both contribute to it. If you're a guitar player that took up the mandolin you might be a bit sensitive to dead stings. I know some mandolin players that never change their strings because they want them to be a little dead.

rico mando
Aug-26-2011, 12:46am
wash your hands before playing and try using a product like fast fret , is the only thing i can think of suggesting may be try elixer or some other brand of coated strings . and stop eating Doritos when you play

Ivan Kelsall
Aug-26-2011, 1:37am
I've found that my strings J-74's sound slightly over-bright when i first put them on either of my Mandolins & it takes a couple of days of playing to get them 'settled in'. Re.only lasting 2 months,there are folks on here who change them every week or so. Humidity, if left un-checked could cause the strings to tarnish,after all the strings are metal & metal oxidises (rusts / tarnishes) dependent on it's exposure to moisture. A more common cause of string tarnishing is skin acidity & moisture. Some people have a really acidic skin & can take the chrome off a car fender.There's nothing thatyou can really do about that except maybe wipe the strings over with some form of string cleaner / oil after every playing session. Personally,i use '3-in-one oil'. A slight dab on a clean cloth,wipe the strings (not the fingerboard) over & then wipe it off well. '3-in one oil' contains an anti-oxidant to help prevent metal from tarnishing & i've used it on my Banjo strings for over 40 years & my Guitar strings for 15 years,to keep them free from oxidisation.The strings feel as smooth as silk afterwards as well,
Ivan

G7MOF
Aug-26-2011, 4:19am
There's nothing as nice sounding as a slightly dull set of strings. (IMO)

tkdboyd
Aug-26-2011, 6:57am
I like my strings slightly dull, the new formula for the EXP 77's are a little to twangy/harshly bright. I need to A/B them to the EXP 74s to see what type of difference there is in them (if any regarding sound). May have to go back to non-coated strings? I use the dull end of a Dawg pick and it can still sound shrill with coated strings especially depending on the type of music I am playing, angle of attack, etc...

The OP is from AZ, a reply from Jersey,Vancouver, two from GB, and one from IN. All slightly different climates than AZ!

fredfrank
Aug-26-2011, 7:36am
This will fix it.

http://www.stringthis.com/drstringlife.html

farmerjones
Aug-26-2011, 7:56am
interesting. Ordinarily i'd chalk up string wear to body chemestry. But In AZ?
Who knows what's in a case as far as material, foam and adheasives? To me, case are for transport only. I've got a 12 x 14 room i humidify in the winter for all my wooden toys. Seems like it's easier to get a room stable with a big humidifier, compared to a case. Get a good humidity gage. Case gages i've dealt with were dicey at best. Just one man's experience.

John McGann
Aug-26-2011, 8:02am
Two months is a long time for a set of strings, even if you don't play an hour a day...

Laird
Aug-26-2011, 8:23am
Just a wipe-down after playing with a handy cloth will extend the life some.

Willie Poole
Aug-26-2011, 12:05pm
I have often wondered if strings sitting in a music store for months on end will have a lesser lasting life, do they have to be under tension to start going bad? That being said I do order strings six sets at a time and have never noticed any of them being "dead" when they were installed....There is one string company that send string on a long cardboard slab, they contend that coiling the strings takes away some of their life, I don`t know myself...

I wipe my strings before and after every use with "Finger Ease", I like it better than 3 in 1 oil myself, I also get it free....I usually don`t change strings until they seem to be completely dead....I just don`t like the ringing that come with new strings....I have heard of people removing strings and boiling them and they say it gets the oil out and they sound like new, I have never done this but if it works, more power to them.....

Paul Kotapish
Aug-26-2011, 12:34pm
Some folks love that dead-string sound and rarely change strings. For me, a couple of weeks is max for a set of strings. I don't worry about it too much if I'm mostly playing around the house or at coffeehouse-type gigs, but I typically change strings before every concert or whenever I want to be sure about clarity and intonation.

fiddler37
Aug-26-2011, 7:57pm
For what it is worth: I have gone through a lot of different strings. I like and have settled in on the GHS Silk & Steel (Doyle Lawson Models) and like them very much. These last a longf time for me, do not go dead, and do not tarnish like the bronze strings do. GHS also makes a Silk and Bronze but I like the Silk and Steel much better.

allenhopkins
Aug-26-2011, 9:08pm
Might try some of the plastic-coated strings, like D'Addario EXP or Elixir. My experience with Elixir guitar strings (when they first came out, I got a coupon for a free set), is that they never sounded "new," but they sounded OK for a long time. If body chemistry is what's affecting your strings, the plastic coating will protect the metal, at least until it wears thin or through.

Miss Lonelyhearts
Aug-26-2011, 10:34pm
It might be the Weber settling in, too. I'd be leery of humidifying it too much. Webers are made in a pretty dry climate, where relative humidity often ranges down into the teens, even the low teens (I live 70 miles from the shop). So if you quickly pump a bunch of moisture into a Weber, it could affect the tone, day to day.

hippieNug
Aug-30-2011, 1:15am
I'd be leery of humidifying it too much. Webers are made in a pretty dry climate, where relative humidity often ranges down into the teens, even the low teens (I live 70 miles from the shop). So if you quickly pump a bunch of moisture into a Weber, it could affect the tone, day to day.

Really? I know Montana has a dry climate, but I can't imagine that they don't humidify the shop to like 40%. I know the store I bought it at was 45-50%.

Steve Ostrander
Aug-30-2011, 2:39pm
I get about 6 weeks out of a set of strings. Less if I play several gigs.