Hello Everyone. When i bought my deluxe strat i noticed that after im done playing it, i would have black streaks on my fingers from the strings. i bought the dunlop care kit and, cleaned fretboard and polished the body n stuff and, layed on a new set of d'addario 9s. ..tuned her up and played for a bit and, same thing. black stuff on my fingers from the strings. i noticed that when i did the fretboard clean and, changed strings on my squier and epiphone, (d'addario 10s on squier and ghs boomers 10s on epi) im getting same thing but, now that it has been awhile ago im not getting the black on my fingers anymore. i wipe the strings down after im done playing and putting them back in the case. whats what the black stuff?.....

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2009 american deluxe ash stratocaster

2009 epiphone es-335 dot.
2009 65 drri amp
2009 fender vibro champ-xD amp.
2009 takamine g-4400 acoustic/electric guitar

1980 fender harvard reverb 1 amp

Best guess Dave:
the black is a chemical reaction between your fingers and the metal used on the strings-since you say you wipe the instrument and strings down everytime after you play.

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So heres to your survival, swimming up the stream, crossing over one dam after another till we get to Rock and Roll Heavens Gate!

I have black on my fingers every time I play any of my guitars...I don't clean them... Different string brands and gauge made no difference... I dont care anymore and just enjoy playing...

Nothing to worry about,I've always noticed the newer and cleaner the strings are the blacker my fingers get....now if the strings get gummy and sticky that's not a good thing...I can't stand to pick up somebody's guitar and feel that.

I get the same problem too. However, I play rosewood fretboards and you get oil and dirt off of that when you're playing. I never had that problem when playing a maple neck. It doesn't matter if the string are old or new, its the fretboard oil rubbing off...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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I don't think that this has been mentioned before, but when you change strings, instead of throwing them out, consider sending them to someone less fortunate :

http://secondstringsproject.org/

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Thank you for the replies i appreciate it..guess i will live with it lol.

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2009 american deluxe ash stratocaster

2009 epiphone es-335 dot.
2009 65 drri amp
2009 fender vibro champ-xD amp.
2009 takamine g-4400 acoustic/electric guitar

1980 fender harvard reverb 1 amp