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Coated string questions


Notes_Norton

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I play a weekly gig on a dock over a salt water lagoon, so I started investigating coated strings to see if I could prolong their life span.

 

What I found out is that the coating is only on the wound strings. The 1, 2, & 3 strings are identical to the uncoated strings by all the manufacturers.

 

Since the problem I have is the 1st and 2nd strings rusting so coated strings would be a waste of money for me.

 

And as I think about it, the unwound strings have always lost their brilliance before the would strings did even before I got the lagoon gig. So for me, coated strings would be a waste of money anyway.

 

So my question to the other guitarists on this forum is:

 

Which strings wear out the quickest for you?

 

The wound or unwound strings?

 

Notes

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Hey Notes.... Normally the unwound ones do, but that's just logical. They are thinner, under a bit more tension, and get played a little heavier during the lead moments. As for the wear on yours, a number of years ago, 20 I think (Dating my old butt...) A company called Maxima (I think) came out with gold coated strings. They were virtual indestructible, maintaining a clear and ringing tone thru-out their life. D'Addario has something similar with their Chromes....

 

I live within 3 blocks of the ocean on 3 sides of me, but I don't suffer the issues you have. You might be one of those people with slightly more acidic sweat, that kill strings. A friend of mine has that, and can play a guitar with brand new strings for a few minutes. Next day, you can see where his fingers were.

 

It sounds stupid and basic, but do you wipe the strings off after you play?

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As you know, sets are made up of wound and plain steel strings. In addition to the NANOWEB and POLYWEB Coatings that protect all wound strings, Elixir Plain Steel Strings feature an innovative Anti-Rust Plating that prevents rust and corrosion and extends the life of plain steel strings. - See more at: http://www.elixirstrings.com/support/elixir-strings-faq.html#sthash.2jWL4jBw.dpuf

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I don't think that's true. I live in a humid place where regular strings will pit and rust in a week or two even if I never lay a finger on the guitar. Elixer's unwound strings don't. They must have something on them because all the other uncoated brands I've tried start to rust.

I agree. The E,B and G's on my Nano's are coated, for sure.

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guess I hope no one tells my Elixir unwound strings that they are supposed to rust! I live near beach in Thailand: humid, hot & salty (hmmm name for a band?) and they last, and longer than any other coated string I've tried. Would seem silly only to coat wound strings. They aren't the ones that go poof in the night....

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I play a weekly gig on a dock over a salt water lagoon, so I started investigating coated strings to see if I could prolong their life span.

 

What I found out is that the coating is only on the wound strings. The 1, 2, & 3 strings are identical to the uncoated strings by all the Manufacturers.

 

Just put a little WD40 on a towel and wipe the individual strings, then let it dry. WD40 is a moisture inhibitor that was designed for the military to prevent their weapons from rusting and works quite well on guitar strings in doing the same.

 

You may want to try stainless steel strings too. They can still build up crud but they wont rust. In any case, you just have to change your strings more often if they are going bad. People's expectations are very different here. Some may use a heavier gauge and think 6 months is a short time between changes. To others 3 weeks is the limit. For me, one or possibly two gigs if I'm switching guitars and the strings get replaced. If I go longer the wrapped strings are worn at the frets and become difficult to keep in tune. I play very hard and don't need string breaks during a gig either.

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1) Yes I wipe them down after playing

 

2) Yes my hands are a bit acidic (the lacquer on my saxes are proof of that)

 

3) I tried Elixers and the first two strings didn't last any longer than plain D'Addarios

 

4) All the unwound strings are stainless, having the 4,5&6 strings wound in steel wouldn't do any good

 

5) Thanks for the WD40 suggestion but I'm not willing to absorb that through my fingers every day

 

Playing on the dock of the lagoon, at high tide you can see the salt water under us between the slats. Keeping all the jacks/plugs clean is a challenge too. But I love the gig, we're going on our 7th year there and the regulars are like extended family to us. The owners and managers treat us nicely too and even the resident cat comes out to greet us when we arrive.

 

I live about 300' from the same lagoon (a few miles south), and about 30' on top of an ancient sand dune. I don't use AC and I have two almost identical guitars (same body style, different pickups - one for gigs and one for practice). The unwound strings on the practice guitar will eventually rust, but they go dead way before they get any rust on them.

 

I've talked to a few other guitarists, and they tell me the E and B strings go dead the quickest, so I'm wondering what the deal is with coated strings when most people lose the unwound strings first?

 

Is it just a gimmick to shrink the membranes in our wallet? ;)

 

Notes

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That's rubbish.

 

 

 

Yep....I don't believe that for a second either. I've been using Elixers for probably 6 years now and did direct comparisons to every major manufacturer out there. D'Addarios included. There is no way Elixers didn't last longer than any of them.

 

And the OP seems to be ignoring Joy-z's post which contains direct information from elixer that says their unwound strings ARE treated...

 

"Elixir Plain Steel Strings feature an innovative Anti-Rust Plating that prevents rust and corrosion and extends the life of plain steel strings"

 

The funny thing is.....I'd rather be using Ernie Ball regular slinkys. For tone those are my favorite. They just wear out SO quickly it's more trouble than it's worth doing the changes all the time.

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After playing Cleartones I'm thinking they might be applying the same sort of plating on all 6 that Elixir use on the unwound strings. It's like back to the future - when I lived in the tropics 30 years ago I used to use Maxima gold coated strings because they were the only ones at the time that could stand up to the sweat and humidity. I think they're branded Optima now. I'd buy them if I could justify the price.

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I have to agree with Notes Norton. The times I've used coated strings, the unwound strings didn't last me any longer then normal strings. Not that they would break, its just they lost their brightness at a normal rate. I believe guys who use the coated strings judge them by how long they last vs how long they retain their tone, and if you gain up an amp a good deal of that tone isn't going to matter.

 

The unwrapped are just chromed steel and suffer the same issues any other set has. The wound coated strings do last longer but I'd need an extra E B &G string to swap out half was through the sets life to rebalance the tone.

 

Those first three seemed to get dull fairly quick from what I remember. A good part of that may have been because I do bend the crap out of strings and they just didn't hold up for me. I do like them on my electric sitar however. The buzz bridge works well with the coated strings and since I don't play that instrument very often the coating on the wrapped strings do make them last longer. For my every day work horses I use a few brands that get me what I need.

 

The other part is I prefer to have all 6 grow duller at the same time. With only three coated, the first three are very noticeable to my ears when they go dull. There again, I do mostly recording now where those small differences are very noticeable, especially recording direct. Through an amp where you have the speaker roll off the high end, and the gain cranked up, it would likely may take much longer to notice the treble loss.

 

Luckily there are many choices out there and most do quite well. If coated strings are good for what you do then you should stick with them.

 

I just don't like the way they aged tone wise, and I would need to change them just as often as normal strings to keep a good tonal balance so the additional cost just doesn't add up for me.

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I have to agree with Notes Norton. The times I've used coated strings, the unwound strings didn't last me any longer then normal strings. Not that they would break, its just they lost their brightness at a normal rate. I believe guys who use the coated strings judge them by how long they last vs how long they retain their tone, and if you gain up an amp a good deal of that tone isn't going to matter.

 

The unwrapped are just chromed steel and suffer the same issues any other set has. The wound coated strings do last longer but I'd need an extra E B &G string to swap out half was through the sets life to rebalance the tone.

 

Those first three seemed to get dull fairly quick from what I remember. A good part of that may have been because I do bend the crap out of strings and they just didn't hold up for me. I do like them on my electric sitar however. The buzz bridge works well with the coated strings and since I don't play that instrument very often the coating on the wrapped strings do make them last longer. For my every day work horses I use a few brands that get me what I need.

 

The other part is I prefer to have all 6 grow duller at the same time. With only three coated, the first three are very noticeable to my ears when they go dull. There again, I do mostly recording now where those small differences are very noticeable, especially recording direct. Through an amp where you have the speaker roll off the high end, and the gain cranked up, it would likely may take much longer to notice the treble loss.

 

Luckily there are many choices out there and most do quite well. If coated strings are good for what you do then you should stick with them.

 

I just don't like the way they aged tone wise, and I would need to change them just as often as normal strings to keep a good tonal balance so the additional cost just doesn't add up for me.

 

 

 

Yeah...that's exactly what we're saying.....they LAST longer. The OP's issue was rusting....not "tone life"

 

If you're talking about losing their tone....well...elixirs don't have as good tone as other brands from the beginning anyway. As I said before...I would rather use Ernie Ball regular's over pretty much every other string including the Elixirs I use.....but I sacrifice a bit of tone for WAY longer life and not having to change the strings every bloody two weeks.

 

Again...elixir unwound strings ARE anti rust treated...so they are NOT like every other brand.

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I'm definitely not talking about breaking, I'm talking about losing their tone and sustain. Rusting was an add-on and it seems people hung on to that part of the post without understanding the rest (perhaps my communication skills are partially at fault).

 

I would never keep a string on until it breaks, I gig for a living.

 

The Elixirs (1) never sounded as clear as my D'Addarios to begin with (2) went dead and lost their sustain at about the same rate.

 

And they answer I got from Elixir was that the non-wound strings aren't coated with anything special - I've ditched the e-mail so I don't know the exact wording.

 

I wrote:

And as I think about it, the unwound strings have always lost their brilliance before the would strings did even before I got the lagoon gig. So for me, coated strings would be a waste of money anyway.

 

and I also wrote:

Which strings wear out the quickest for you?

 

The wound or unwound strings?

 

Which has nothing to do with breaking.

 

A string wears out when the tone dulls, the sustain shortens, and the intonation goes out do to the frets wearing 'zebra stripes' on the bottom.

 

If you think the Elixirs are worth the extra money, so be it.

 

But I repeat the initial questions, which was the point of the post:

 

Which strings wear out quickest for you?

 

The wound or the unwound strings?

 

Notes

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Yeah...that's exactly what we're saying.....they LAST longer. The OP's issue was rusting....not "tone life"

 

If you're talking about losing their tone....well...elixirs don't have as good tone as other brands from the beginning anyway. As I said before...I would rather use Ernie Ball regular's over pretty much every other string including the Elixirs I use.....but I sacrifice a bit of tone for WAY longer life and not having to change the strings every bloody two weeks.

 

Again...elixir unwound strings ARE anti rust treated...so they are NOT like every other brand.

 

I don't think Notes or myself disagree about the wound strings. Its the unwound strings that become a problem in short order. The extra life on the wound strings isn't any good for me if the unwound strings are dead sounding. I think I got a few days out of them before they began to sound unbalanced. I prefer to have all my strings loose tone evenly. I can always crank the treble up a tad when they are worn or cut it back when they are new. Having some strings dull and others crisp is like changing only strings that break and having that new string stand out like a sore thumb.

 

I'm not a fan of D'Addario 9/46 gauge guitar strings I use. I do have some spare sets and use them on occasion but they don't feel right to me when properly intonated. The B and G strings are a bit off in tension. The bass guitar strings on the other hand are quite excellent and keep their life a very long time but for the gauges I use 9/46 the string tensions aren't as good as other brands I use, nor is their lifespan.

 

The Two brands I been using mostly are SIT and Safarzo strings. The center strings are a tad stiffer and they retain their tone and tuning the longest of all brands I can buy. If there were better I'd buy them because I have no loyalty to brands.

 

Boomers aren't bad either considering their price. They tend to sound a bit warmer within a day or two then remain that way for their lifespan. They too have better lifespan and remaining in tune but they may be a little more susceptible to corrosion then the others.

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I'm definitely not talking about breaking, I'm talking about losing their tone and sustain. Rusting was an add-on and it seems people hung on to that part of the post without understanding the rest (perhaps my communication skills are partially at fault). . . .

 

. . . If you think the Elixirs are worth the extra money, so be it. . . .

Unfortunately, I haven't left a set on long enough to notice. I'm new enough to electric that I've been experimenting with strings and don't tend to leave them on that long.

So, in your case, do the strings corrode before they lose their tone and sustain or do they lose tone and sustain first? If corrosion gets them first, perhaps coated strings might be worth it; if they lose tone and sustain first, then probably not. Either way, the gold plated Optimas I originally recommended probably aren't for you.

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The guitar in my home loses tone and sustain first. As I said, I live about 300' from the lagoon and do not use air conditioning.

 

The almost identical guitar that I gig with (same body, different pickups) and play on the dock rusts quickly. I suppose I get salt on my hands from touching other things.

 

The rust on the gigging guitar is an added problem, but even without that, the first and second strings and to a lesser extend the third lose their sparkle, sustain and intonation first.

 

For me, even for my in-home practice guitar buying coated strings that extend the life of the wound strings is a waste of money. Why pay more when the unwound strings are the deciding factor for changing the set anyway? At least for me.

 

I first started investigating coated strings as a way to extend the life of a string set. I wrote to Elixir, D'Addario and another company or two as recommended by friends on the Gibson forum, and they all pretty much said that their unwound strings are the same in both the coated and uncoated brands.

 

So then I started to wonder, why buy coated strings at all? Extending the life span of the wound strings seems like a worthless idea when for me the high strings die out quicker. That's when I decided to post this informal poll, wondering if other people lose their high string or low string luster first. But perhaps I worded the post wrong, I didn't want to offend anyone who gets good service from coated strings. That's why I wanted to know if some people lose their wound strings first.

 

Ever since I started playing guitar, I've noticed the unwound strings wear faster. Especially the E and B. They get touchy on intonation up the neck, probably because I bend a lot and it puts 'zebra stripes' on the back, and they lose their tone and sustain. I've never had that problem with the wound strings, perhaps because I replace the entire set when the first and second lose their brightness.

 

Does anyone out there lose the wound string tone, sustain and intonation first?

 

Thanks,

Notes

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Does anyone out there lose the wound string tone, sustain and intonation first?

 

Thanks,

Notes

I'd say everyone does to a degree as they're thinner.

 

I have an answer to all your questions, stop whining and change your strings more often. They are not expensive.

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