Another Guitar Stringing Post

[MikeRivers]

I was given a package of Martin strings that I was unfamiliar with (I usually use just plain ol' bronze, these are "Flexcore") and when I opened the pack, I was surprised to find three envelopes, not six. Now I'm all for saving trees, but my first though was that if I was on stage and had to change a string, this would really slow me down. And sure enough, I think it took me longer than usual to re-string the guitar.

 

The strings were packaged as:

3rd and 6th

2nd and 5th

1st and 4th

 

No question that you'd get the two in a package mixed up, so I'll give them credit for that, but I just found it awkward to deal with loose strings two at a time.

 

It's been a couple of years since I bought any new strings. Do they all do this now? Does anyone else? Does anyone else find this awkward?

 

Surely I have something more important to do, like maybe re-string my banjo now.

[BushmasterM4]

Thats a first for me. I buy alot of strings too. I set up guitars on the side and own a few, so I always have a variety on hand. And Ive never had that show up. Must be a Martin thing. ? Time to carry some micrometers or calipers with you

[Lukenskywalker]

Martin Bronze strings have been coming like that for quite some time...I buy all manner of acoustic, electric guitar, and bass strings...I guess it'a been a good 9 years ago now that strings have been coming this way...

Fender Bullets still come indie wrapped but D'Addario come in one blister pack and the strings are color coded on the bridge end...not so good for me cuz I am hopelessly color blind.

I do at least 1-2 string changes per week on my dozen or so guitars.

My Ric 12 I take to 'The Pic of the Ric's and have Chris Clayton do a string change and a neck set-up 2-3 times a year,

Ric strings for a 12 string are hard to come by the single pack...most music stores will only order them in sets of 12...that's been my experience anyway.

I kinda like stringing my axes...very theraputic...the only guitar stringing that causes me consternation is my Fender classical acoustic with those nylon strings...not much fun...I can never get the wrap right at the bridge.

 

Once you get used to the different packings of different makes of strings it becomes routine...

 

As for playing out and breaking a string, that;s a good point you made, ...I mean low lights, color blindness stage jitters etc.

If I break a string I'll just use a back-up acoustic or electric even though it not might be the best axe for that particular song.

[Jeff da Weasel]

I was given a package of Martin strings that I was unfamiliar with (I usually use just plain ol' bronze, these are "Flexcore") and when I opened the pack, I was surprised to find three envelopes, not six.

 

They've been coming this way for at least a decade, maybe more. How often do you change strings, Mike?

 

The strings were packaged as: 3rd and 6th 2nd and 5th 1st and 4th

 

There's actually another reason for this, and it works nicely. I find it better to re-string in this order (6th, 3rd, 5th, 2nd, 4th, 1st) because a) it tends to keep the other strings out of the way while I'm inserting and winding the strings to the tuning machines, and b) because it doesn't apply excess tension on half the neck before you get to the other side.

[Lee Flier]

They've been coming this way for at least a decade, maybe more. How often do you change strings, Mike?

 

I usually buy sets of strings in bulk, so I don't have to worry about ever running out. So it was a long time between when strings started being shipped that way and when I found out about it.

 

I don't generally play my acoustic at gigs, so I wouldn't have an onstage emergency there, but it would be a pain to change a string at a gig from a package that's done that way. Not that I'd get the strings confused (I think they package them with the 1st and 4th strings together et al because it's difficult to confuse wound strings with plain, even by feel) but if you accidentally pull both strings out of the package or have a hard time separating them, it could be a problem.

[Dingoist]

Happened to me Monday night at the jam i host, Martin's are not usually my go to strings, but i had a pack because i was going to test drive them. Broke a string, grabbed the pack (which happened to be my only spares on hand) and had a WTF moment.

 

Fortunately it was another guy leading the song, and i was just doing some light accompaniment so it wasn't a major problem.

 

The major gaff was right at the beginning when i put my beer down on a wobbly table after the first little sip, which sent it crashing on the floor, almost drenching my equipment bag and monitor. That caused more ruckus than the string with broken glass and beer everywhere

[Lukenskywalker]

The major gaff was right at the beginning when i put my beer down on a wobbly table after the first little sip, which sent it crashing on the floor, almost drenching my equipment bag and monitor. That caused more ruckus than the string with broken glass and beer everywhere

 

no facepalm required...I would say just about every forumite on HC who performs/performed Live has had a similiar moment at at least one time in their gigging career.

[MikeRivers]

Ric strings for a 12 string are hard to come by the single pack...most music stores will only order them in sets of 12...that's been my experience anyway.

 

I always bought strings individually for my (acoustic) 12-string. I tune it 4 frets down from standard (B on the top and bottom) and the low B is 0.069". In 1970, I had a six month gig where I was playing it nearly every day, so I bought strings to make up a dozen sets. I still have a few sets left. I don't play it a lot any more.

 

As for playing out and breaking a string, that;s a good point you made, ...I mean low lights, color blindness stage jitters etc. If I break a string I'll just use a back-up acoustic or electric even though it not might be the best axe for that particular song.

 

I guess you're not famous enough yet to have a guitar tech, eh?

[MikeRivers]

They've been coming this way for at least a decade, maybe more. How often do you change strings, Mike?

 

Mostly when they break, but maybe twice a year whether they need it or not. I know I've bought some Martin strings in the past couple of years. I just looked in the string drawer and found a Martin M150 set, opened the package, and sure enough - 3 envelopes. Maybe I didn't care last time I put a set of those on.

 

I wish I could find my collection of antique string envelopes, though. Man, that would bring back memories. Anyone remember Mapes strings, which came with a little piece of "Sepam cloth" (emery paper) to polish them? A dollar a set back in about 1960.

 

There's actually another reason for this, and it works nicely. I find it better to re-string in this order (6th, 3rd, 5th, 2nd, 4th, 1st) because a) it tends to keep the other strings out of the way while I'm inserting and winding the strings to the tuning machines, and b) because it doesn't apply excess tension on half the neck before you get to the other side.

 

I usually do 6-1-5-2-5-3. And I used to remember the firing order of the cyninders of my 1953 flathead V-8 Ford engine, too. Now I get it mixed up with my Hertz #1 Gold card number.

[Jeff da Weasel]

[Ernest Buckley]

I was given a package of Martin strings that I was unfamiliar with (I usually use just plain ol' bronze, these are "Flexcore") and when I opened the pack, I was surprised to find three envelopes, not six. Now I'm all for saving trees, but my first though was that if I was on stage and had to change a string, this would really slow me down. And sure enough, I think it took me longer than usual to re-string the guitar. The strings were packaged as: 3rd and 6th 2nd and 5th 1st and 4th No question that you'd get the two in a package mixed up, so I'll give them credit for that, but I just found it awkward to deal with loose strings two at a time. It's been a couple of years since I bought any new strings. Do they all do this now? Does anyone else? Does anyone else find this awkward? Surely I have something more important to do, like maybe re-string my banjo now.

 

 

[Dingoist]

no facepalm required...I would say just about every forumite on HC who performs/performed Live has had a similiar moment at at least one time in their gigging career.

 

I was more embarrassed by the wastage of beer. I'm from the maritimes of Canada, so *that* is a cardinal sin.

 

But I will admit to have the string thingy throw me for a momentary loop when I expected in pairs of adjacent strings, but then I read the individual packages and all was okay, so unlike Mike, for me it was about 5 seconds of confusion. :poke:

[blue2blue]

I guess it's cause I use Martins a lot, but, yeah, I've noticed this for years. I think some others are doing it, too. It's never bothered me at all because I'm usually replacing all the strings at once and on those generally rare occasions when I have to replace a broken string, I almost always try to do it from an open set or even a set of used strings. I generally take it as a sign that the strings need changing when I break a string, so, for me, it's more like putting on the rollaway spare: 50 miles or less.

[nice keetee]

a lost lyric from turn turn turn

 

a time to change the strings

[Lukenskywalker]

And I used to remember the firing order of the cyninders of my 1953 flathead V-8 Ford engine, too. Now I get it mixed up with my Hertz #1 Gold card number.

 

Jeez, Mike, you brought back some major memories about remembering the firing order oF your V-8 Flathead Ford engine..what a 'Mill' that was/is.

[Sgt. Rock]

The packaging in America or this world sucks. Doesn't matter if it's guitar strings or toilet paper.

[Lukenskywalker]

I guess it's cause I use Martins a lot, but, yeah, I've noticed this for years. I think some others are doing it, too. It's never bothered me at all because I'm usually replacing all the strings at once and on those generally rare occasions when I have to replace a broken string, I almost always try to do it from an open set or even a set of used strings. I generally take it as a sign that the strings need changing when I break a string, so, for me, it's more like putting on the rollaway spare: 50 miles or less.

 

Sometimes when I break a string, maybe into a few weeks of playing, I can attribute to a bad wrap on my part, excessive bending of a particular string..(in my case the G string) At that point, I make a note and insert in into the original packet indicating ;

'This set of strings was purchased/strung on this date but the {censored}ing G string done gave out again on...( fill in the date)

[Lukenskywalker]

I always bought strings individually for my (acoustic) 12-string. I tune it 4 frets down from standard (B on the top and bottom) and the low B is 0.069". In 1970, I had a six month gig where I was playing it nearly every day, so I bought strings to make up a dozen sets. I still have a few sets left. I don't play it a lot any more. I guess you're not famous enough yet to have a guitar tech, eh?

 

When I was sixteen, my High School buddy (Drummer) and fellow songwriter wrote some pimply faced wussy/twinkie songs about our break-ups with our 'bee-hive' haired Italian GF''s

Who woulda thought that a 'battle of the bands ' win (1965) would get us a cool Jewish local DJ who decided to take us under his wing....to make a long story short, he pushed us locally and always treated us like his kids...

 

We got to the point that two of our songs hit the charts regionally and one of them went into the Top Forty..

Our Mgr. realized that our (the Band) hearts and souls weren't into a musical career at that time...we were just local yokel kids with different aspirations... ...He even had us set up as a very possible appearance on 'Shindig'

 

He sold one of our songs to a soul group that took it to top ten in the Seventies... We were overwhelmed that a band of their stature would even consider singing our dumbass tune.... and later on thru the years , we reflected how lucky we were to be in the right place at the right time...something like that could only have happened back in those days....

 

Ok, back to your 'guitar tech' query... I guess I had one when I was sixteen,

I remember the guitar I was playing in my garage was a Silvertone /danolectro played thru an Amp that my dad had built from Navy surplus equipment (he also built our PA system)

When we recorded our demo at a North Jersey studio they gave me a semi- hollow electric...possibly a Casino...and ...

{censored}, it was all tuned and handed to me on my stool,,,

so in answer to your original ?

I guess I did have a guitar tech once in my life

[Lukenskywalker]

I was more embarrassed by the wastage of beer. I'm from the maritimes of Canada, so *that* is a cardinal sin. But I will admit to have the string thingy throw me for a momentary loop when I expected in pairs of adjacent strings, but then I read the individual packages and all was okay, so unlike Mike, for me it was about 5 seconds of confusion. :poke:

 

ok, so being from the Maritimes of Canada you are already a Bud...many pleasant trips to Cape Breton and 'Newfie-land'

My brother and I picked up two cool travelling companions in Belgium, from Nova Scotia (french side). and we toured alot of Western Europe together before they went home... and we headed to Morocco.....they showed us how to add a bit of tomato juice to our beer as we traveled.

 

Ok my Bro, if you have the time and/or inclination...please refer to my bad beer moment on Jeff Leites thread (page 2) 're; How do you respond to a friendly audience after a major 'train wreck?' 8/26 post #20

 

cheers,Luke

[LeonardScaper]

......when I was sixteen, I remember the guitar I was playing in my garage was a Silvertone /danolectro

 

Yeah.......I had that same guitar in '65. Played it through a solid state Silvertone bass amp (6x10). That's probably why the neighbors kept calling the police during band practice.

 

Shindig........shaking head......bugaloo, baby.

 

Been using those Martin strings for years now.

[Lukenskywalker]

 

a lost lyric from turn turn turn a time to change the strings

 

 

'I swear it's not too late.'

[Lukenskywalker]

Yeah.......I had that same guitar in '65. Played it through a solid state Silvertone bass amp (6x10). That's probably why the neighbors kept calling the police during band practice. Shindig........shaking head......bugaloo, baby.

 

not to mention 'Hullabalo'

 

color of your 'Danny'? mine was copper wif' white fabric type accents.

[blue2blue]

Sometimes when I break a string, maybe into a few weeks of playing, I can attribute to a bad wrap on my part, excessive bending of a particular string..(in my case the G string) At that point, I make a note and insert in into the original packet indicating ; 'This set of strings was purchased/strung on this date but the {censored}ing G string done gave out again on...( fill in the date)

I used to break a lot of G's on my classicals for some reason.

[nice keetee]

I have rusty strings on some I am lazy.

[nice keetee]

 

'I swear it's not too late.'

 

 

Byrds are good.