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Stings got Shaggy


beter pan

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In my new Taylor 110 acoustic guitar, I am using Elixir Nanoweb 80/20 Bronze Custom Light .011 - .052 Strings. I am playing my guitar predominantly with Dunlop Tortex .88mm picks. However, after being used for about two weeks, the coating, where the pick hits the strings, above the soundhole, becomes shaggy, like cotton-threads; and the colour of the strings lose their brightness, starting to have a slightly greenish rust-like colour. This seems weird to me, since I neither use a hard pick, nor hit the strings too harshly (since no string got broken).

Being more an electric guitar guy, I am new to playing acoustic guitar. But having tried many electric guitar strings (especially Ernie Ball Slinky strings) across years, I never experienced such an issue. I really could not understand this, since I heard Elixirs were of most durable, and most long standing acoustic strings.

Can someone explain this...

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It's not too common, but it's not unheard of to have the coating of coated strings come off in places where fingers or picks contact the strings. That's one thing, but the green stuff is something else. That's corrosion. Bronze or brass corrosion is commonly green. Whatever is in that guitar's environment would have to be pretty bad to corrode strings like that. I have heard of some people's body chemistry causing that sort of thing, but if that was the case, this would be happening up on the fret board too.

 

Moisture, humidity, acid rain, air pollution, something in that guitar's environment is corrosive causing that.

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Some people don't like Elixers because the Gore coating does fray - particularly the heavily coated Polywebs.   Nanowebs are much thinner coating and most folks don't report problems with then (I use almost exclusively Nanos and get no fuzzyness (but I finger pick)).   There are other long life strings that don't use the Gore coating (EXP's, DR Dragonskins, Martin extended play, several others) that you might try.

The usual reason for string to discolor is contact with some chemical - sometimes just the oils or sweat from your fingers.  I wouldn't expect that in the area that your pick hits the string tho.

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This is pretty confusing since there is almost no corrosion and shagginess on strings on the fretboard. Moreover, although I am living by the sea, I don't have a very moist skin, since I never suffered from hand-sweat. I wonder whether this is a issue of the coating of Elixir Phosphor Bronze Nanowebs. (I used two sets of them and in every set of strings this problem occured.) I recently ordered Ernie Ball Everlasts. I hope they won't have the same issue. I am confused. And I am really surprised of this strange string issue since this is my first three months with an acoustic guitar...:)

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  • 4 weeks later...
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Well it seems that I have a case of "shaggy stings" myself. The Elixir Nanos on my Yammie are about a year old, but have very little play time on them. (It's my vacation guitar.) So on my recent vacation to the beach, they started shedding, just over the sound hole where the pick hits them. They're okay up on the fretboard though. No green corrosion either... yet.

 

What good is the coating if it sheds off like that? mad.gif

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FretFiend. wrote:

Well it seems that I have a case of "shaggy stings" myself. The Elixir Nanos on my Yammie are about a year old, but have very little play time on them. (It's my vacation guitar.) So on my recent vacation to the beach, they started shedding, just over the sound hole where the pick hits them. They're okay up on the fretboard though. No green corrosion either... yet.

 

What good is the coating if it sheds off like that?
mad.gif

 

 

 

Sangeman complained about the same thing but I thought he might have been mistaken about them being Nanowebs.

Not the polywebs though?

I know they will ...

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