My Sweat Eats Strings

[DylanGuitar]

My sweat eats guitar strings. I am always baffled on how people say "yeah great strings, have had them on for a month and they still sound great!"

I can get 3 shows max (with wiping down between sets) before they become dead and the top 3 strings a little grimy.

I have a buddy who has it even worse.

Any suggestions? I once gigged with a guy who had a product that you actually put on your hands before you play for just this problem, but I've lost contact with him.

[Drifting]

It can be due to your eating habits, but sometimes, that's just the way it is.

[DylanGuitar]

Ok so what eating habits will help this?

[jmoose]

Have you tried stainless steel strings?

Some people have a nickle allergy...

Other times its nothing abnormal. If you put a set of strings on and play two 90 minute sets a night, 3 nights a week you're gonna need to change your strings more often then someone who only plays 30 minutes a night at home. If I'm putting long hours in recording, strings might get changed once every few days on the main guitars while the one I'm only using every so often, those strings might actually go a month or longer.

[martinsmith06]

My dog eats everything I leave on the coffee table... (sorry man, had to do it )

[arthur rotfeld]

Elixir nanowebs last me weeks or even months.

I get a day or two from regular strings.

[jojogun1957]

I have the same problem.I notice it mostly on the wound strings.I use fast fret,just go over the strings several times after playing making sure you get enough of it on them.
I 'am sure there are other products for this,but fast fret is cheap and easy to find.

[jarek_anderson]

I use DR strings. I can't get a whole night out of d'addarios... they are dead sounding by the second hour long set, and one breaks before the end of the night.

DR coats all strings, it makes a big difference. I just peeled a set off my tele that had been on for a year. And my sweat is acid.

A buddy told me that two of the worst offenders for increasing your pH level are beer and nicotine. I told him fat chance they were never going to enter my sytem again....hahaha

[yabasta]

isnt there string cleaner?

i used to care about always having new strings. dont get me wrong it makes a huge difference.

But i'm down to rock some dirty strings for a while!

[UncleLarry]

I always wipe each string down with WD-40 immediately after I change them. I also will do that right before a gig. It seems to keep the gunk and corrosion thing from happening as quickly. I've been using D'Addario strings for probably the last 15 years or so.

[bandofthieves™]

Originally Posted by DylanGuitar

Ok so what eating habits will help this?

I don't have an acidity problem but a fellow player was told to lay off the salt and that would help..Go figure.

[man_mars]

Originally Posted by harrlj

I always wipe each string down with WD-40 immediately after I change them. I also will do that right before a gig. It seems to keep the gunk and corrosion thing from happening as quickly. I've been using D'Addario strings for probably the last 15 years or so.

+1....I do this after every gig and it keeps the strings in great condition for much longer.

Maybe you could also try the new Ernie Ball 'Coated/Titanium' strings. Although it's just a coating, Titanium by all accounts resist corrosion the best.

Cheers !!!

[TwoTubMan]

I can dissolve a set of strings in a matter of hours. I try to avoid playing other folks guitars just as a matter of courtesy. The Kendrick strings are what I finally settled on, but my Strats really miss that low .052 on the Ernie Ball Heavy/Light Slinkies that I used to use.

[Purplexi]

Originally Posted by harrlj

I always wipe each string down with WD-40 immediately after I change them. I also will do that right before a gig. It seems to keep the gunk and corrosion thing from happening as quickly. I've been using D'Addario strings for probably the last 15 years or so.

I agree with this application in theory but I find WD 40 to be more of a rust accelerator than inhibitor. There are a number of superior metal preservants out there. I sometimes utilize military or hunting grade oil(Break Free etc) at the nut of my strat for tuning stabilization. String cleaners and oils seem to save the strings for a short time only, beware of toxicity.

[kludge]

Make sure you wash your hands before playing, too. It'll neutralize the salts that accumulate from your sweat, and get off all the little food particles and stuff. Even if you can't see it, your hands have a lot of stuff on them that gets stuck in the strings.

But don't mind me. I can go MONTHS without changing strings. I mostly change them because the bottoms are dented from fretting.