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Post subject: How to make/keep your guitar strings shiny?
Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:44 am
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Hey everyone!
It always bums me when i see that my guitar strings have lost their beautiful shine after a week of putting them on! I know that humidity and sweat from our fingers cause this, but I was wondering if there are any tricks to make them clean and shiny again!

any suggestions?

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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:46 am
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I wipe the strings down after each use or as needed, that helps stop them from rusting. During the warmer weather I wipe the strings down numerous times while I play to prevent moisture from building up due to your hand sweating.


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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:41 am
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Hiya Rose,

I've been using the string swipe for a few years now, it's quick and very easy to use. And delivers results, which is the important thing.

http://www.guitartools.co.uk/guitar_string_care.html


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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:16 am
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I saw something interesting in Guitar Player called the string cleaner.

Made by ToneGear. Looks like a nice tool. :)

www.TheStringCleaner.com


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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:18 am
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fhopkins wrote:
I saw something interesting in Guitar Player called the string cleaner.

Made by ToneGear. Looks like a nice tool. :)

www.TheStringCleaner.com


I have heard good things about that, but I have gotten the same results washing my hands before playing, then using an old shirt or sock to clean the strings after playing.

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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:29 am
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i dont think you can totally avoid this from happening. the strings are bound to oxidize and lose shine eventually no matter what. its metal, and the air is full of moisture, which means nature has pre-determined your strings to rust

i religiously wipe my strings everytime after i play to wipe off the sweat and oil, that will at least delay the process

the real issue at hand is getting your strings to prolong their TONE LIFE. fortunately, they will discolor long before the tone dies out. unshiny strings dont bother me one bit because they still sound good for awhile.

ive been trying to seek out ways to preserve tone life, which is almost as futile as preserving the shinyness. tried blue steel strings, but i soon realized that its a huge crock of s**t. i mean maybe the core wire IS stronger, it may be, but the next paragraph will explain why its a waste of money and manufacturing.

my research up to now concludes the fact that wound strings are always the heart of tone gone bad. they will go dead much faster than plain strings. why? the windings catch every miniscule piece of debris from your fingers and the air. this will effectively DAMPEN the string vibration, causing dull and dead tone. some prefer this mellow quality, but many do not. unless we find a way to clean the windings, we cant help this.

the string cleaner couldnt possibly get into the windings deep enough, the spaces are so small.
boiling strings is bad because the constant detuning and retuning of strings causes MAJOR fatigue, which kills tone life
Elixir strings (as well as other brand coated strings) are actually a logical option. they do protect the windings. however, the coating is said to wear off after playing awhile, and also, coated strings seem to roll off the highs a bit, which are crucial for sound clarity and bright tone

so...i guess we're f***ed


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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:17 am
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'Wipe them down a bit with a dry soft cloth, sometimes, that's it.

Change when they get too nasty for personal taste.


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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:24 am
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The best way to keep them shiney is to change them. However, you can extend life your strings tremendously by washing your hands with soap before you play. Seriously....

People tend to blow this off but try it. The main thing that gets in the string winds is dead skin and finger oil. Without the oil, the skin would fly off with vibration, but the oil works like glue to stick the skin to the string and get into the winds. Then as you play you rub it in as you slide, fret and bend notes/chords. The soap will remove much of the oil from your skin, and even get some out of your pours. Even if your hands look clean, wash them first. And then wipe down the strings after you are done.

Nothing I have tried works better than this. My buddies guitars get more coroded than any I have seen. I try to tell him this but he just blows me off saying "my hands are clean I just sweat a lot when I play". If you wipe the sweat away when your done this would help. He just play whenever he feels like it and does not wipe down after. Its not only what you can see/feel on your hands, it what you cannot see/feel as well. And for god sakes don't play after eating chicken wings or other greasy food without washing your hands :roll:

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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 4:41 pm
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keep tham how they are :D

my strings are almost black cause the fretb finish comes off easy on this fretless and the sliding up & down the strings thake the dirt n' sweat off ur fingers

my friends think my dtrings were custom coated black and i just had to laugh (hahaha) :lol:

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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:02 pm
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I always keep a "sweat cloth" (usually an old T-shirt) nearby when I'm playing to wipe down the strings, from time to time (that's the sweaty one), and another "sweat cloth" for when I'm done. The second cloth is used to polish the guitar after I'm completely done playing (and I sometimes use guitar polish on the body-depending on how much I sweated while playing). I also wipe down the fingerboard too, and apply a conditioner/cleaner to the fingerboard when I change strings.

I've never had any string get rust, because I'm always wiping them down, but they do get discolored a bit, after a week or so......but I don't really care about that. I play a lot with other people, so I probably changed strings about once a month or less.....so I don't take any chances of breaking strings when I'm jamming.

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Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:09 pm
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Gotta agree - wash hands first and wipe the guitar down when done. But change strings every month? Not for me. Maybe if was gigging full time.


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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:20 am
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bro , play your fender and wipe the strings after fender has products clothes and such to help you with that.

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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:33 am
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Hi Rose, always good to see a Thread with your name on it.
I'm afraid I can't help you though, I have Acid-like sweat that leaves the strings Dull after about a half hour of playing, and rust-colored in a couple days. I Wash my hands with Borax before I play , it really cleans the oils off your hands, so I can play for about an hour before it kicks in. Well, I guess I had a tip after all :)

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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:21 am
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Wipe after playing,
but change them when they go dead,
not sure buffing them back to looking shiny will get the sound back.

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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:25 am
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I wash my hands before playing then wipe the whole guitar down when I'm finished. I also change strings often. 8)


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