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  #16  
Old 11-20-2015, 08:41 AM
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fazool fazool is offline
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  #17  
Old 11-20-2015, 08:56 AM
Riverwolf Riverwolf is offline
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  #18  
Old 11-20-2015, 09:46 AM
Jim Jim is offline
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It depends on how you define guitar strings. Sure you can put some guitar strings on a guitar but if you are able to hear what your guitar sounds like after about 2 to 4 weeks they are no longer what they sounded like when you first put them on. Are they still guitar strings at that point? To me, no they are not. Sure they will make noises for as long as you leave them on but your guitar will not be sounding like it can if it had fresh strings - it will sound pretty dead. If you have a halfway decent guitar it is silly not to keep it sounding the best that it can for lack of spending a few dollars and taking a few minutes to replace the strings. If you buy string sets by the dozen they are even cheaper.
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  #19  
Old 11-20-2015, 10:08 AM
JimmerO JimmerO is offline
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Even if you find some magical cleaner to keep them clean and free of tarnish they won't last forever.

Because the guitar is a fretted instrument, playing fretted notes will necessarily put kinks in the strings. When a string is new the entire string will vibrate uniformly. If you play a 12th fret harmonic it will vibrate in two segments. Eventually, the kinks that get into the strings make different segments vibrate independently. You are able to compensate the pitch with tuning but at some point the string will start to go "false". What that means is that the plucked pitch will be higher than the pitch as it sustains its vibration. This is called a "bell" tone because that's what a bell sounds like when struck due to its shape and the vibration propagating throughout the bell.

So at some point even if a string still maintains it's luster and pretty sound qualities it may go false. At that point it won't sound good and is very hard to play since the intonation goes all over the place especially when strumming.
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  #20  
Old 11-20-2015, 11:17 AM
gfspencer gfspencer is offline
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Back in the 60s - when I was in High School and College - I played strings until they broke.

I just bought a 1930s Regal resonator guitar. When I opened the case I found a box of Gold Seal strings.
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  #21  
Old 11-21-2015, 09:56 AM
zabdart zabdart is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by guitar344 View Post
I heard it's possible for a string to stay on a guitar for 30 years. Strings mainly break because of over tuning or misuse.
Should sound pretty dead and "thunky" by then. There's a reason why you need to change strings, you know...
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  #22  
Old 11-21-2015, 10:06 AM
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madhat madhat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MHC View Post
I visited my mother-in-law recently and while I was helping her clean out her basement we found her old Sears Silvertone guitar. That guitar was probably more than 50 years old - and it still had the original strings! She told me that she was into folk music and took guitar lessons for about a year, but when her third, fourth, fifth, and sixth child came along, the guitar ended up in the basement. We also found her book of beginner folk tunes with her student markings from 50 years ago.

So, I tuned up those original strings and played folk songs like "Clementine" "Streets of Laredo" and "Oh Susanna" for over an hour while she sung along. Between songs, memories and stories poured out of my dear mother-in-law.

I'm sure the guitar could have sounded better with fresh strings, but I count this as among my favorite musical experiences of my life.
Wow! That is a very cool story- thanks for sharing!

madhat.
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