How come guitar strings don't come prestretched?

[C-4]

The thing that I can't stand the most is doing 20 minutes of stretching my strings whenever I put a new set on to make em stay in tune. How come we can't have prestretched strings?

 

No offense, but 20 minutes to stretch out your new strings?!

 

As you put them on and bring each one to pitch separately, stretch them, then bring back to pitch that particular string several times if you strung the string to the post correctly.

 

Without rushing, I can change my strings in 15 minutes, including stretching and retuning. It should not be that big a deal, really.

[headless]

Of course, I use the "locking" method of installing the strings on the tuner-post:

 

http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/repair/acoustic-guitar/string-changing.php

 

And I also find it's a good idea to use my hand to keep tension on the string, as I wind it on the tuning machine post, and not just let the string go floppy as I wind it.

[RaVenCAD]

 

scale streaches strings at a different rate.. i think.. a les paul would not need strings as stretched as a fender strat.. not sure but this seems plausible

 

 

No, it doesn't..

[Ditched]

20 minutes I'll have my guitar completely restrung and "stretched". Me thinks u doing this wrong! - or just making it harder than it needs to be.

[bsman]

 

 

Good lord lovey! Doesn't he have people to do his string-stretching for him???

[Steadfastly]

Perhaps you'll understand after watching and listening to this.

 

[YOUTUBE]4_MVOZnhLVc[/YOUTUBE]

[Oosell]

Very interesting philosophical question.

 

One may also ask...Why are turds pointed?

And the answer is, "So your arse dosen't snap shut".

 

[jerry_picker]

The stretching that is most important depends on the string ends being in place on the individual guitar, properly wrapped on the tuning post and anchored in the tailpiece.

Without that, any pre-stretching is perfunctory.

[RaVenCAD]

Very interesting philosophical question. One may also ask...Why are turds pointed? And the answer is, "So your arse dosen't snap shut".

 

Welcome to my signature

[WRGKMC]

A guitar is a tempered instrument. Besides the string wrap on the tuners on the ball ends, its not the strings you're stretching in, Its the Relief in the neck adjusting itself back to where its supposed to be.

 

If you are taking a long time to get tuning in, dollars for donuts you're removing all the strings when replacing. Try replacing one string at a time to keep pressure on the truss as most manufacturers suggest.

 

If you have a thick neck and remove all your strings you may not see as much setteling as a thin neck has.

 

An average set .009~42 strings have about 110lbs pull on the neck. Wrap the strings with a few more turns on the tuners for a littel more pressure against the nut it may vary a pound or two at the most. The truss is the counter balance to this pull and it varies how quickly it may adjust to the changes.

 

With a thin neck the truss pressure can get all wacked out when you remove all the strings. This and not knowing how to wrap tuners so strings dont slip, and dipping the ball ends in some CA and letting it dry will fix the most of tha other issues.

 

You also have strings bending to frets and fret wear. This will vary between players and where they feel comfortabley in tune. How setteled in strings were before doing a setup and intonation are another issue but I'll skip those.

[Dougie.Douglas]

 

Interesting stuff Thanks!

[John Davis]

It's human nature to want to start off with something tight and stretch it out yourself...

[EADGBE]

How come guitar strings don't come prestretched?

I hope they never come pre-stretched. Stretching them on purpose will cause them to wear out prematurely. Just put them on and play. Re-tune as necessary. Stretching or compression is the reason why you replace strings.

[BoneNut]

I hope they never come pre-stretched. Stretching them on purpose will cause them to wear out prematurely. Just put them on and play. Re-tune as necessary. Stretching or compression is the reason why you replace strings.

 

:facepalm:

:facepalm:

:facepalm:

[jerry_picker]

A guitar is a tempered instrument. Besides the string wrap on the tuners on the ball ends, its not the strings you're stretching in, Its the Relief in the neck adjusting itself back to where its supposed to be.

 

With all respect, I beg to disagree and offer this example for consideration:

 

Break one string (say the B). The other unbroken ones typically stay in tune with that tension suddenly released. When that single string is replaced, it and it alone requires stretching in the break-in period. If this were a truss rod tension phenomenon, all the strings would be involved. This strongly supports stretching to be a string-specific phenomenon.

 

Further, during the stretching break-in period it is not unusual for the new string to lower by more than a full step with the initial pulls, which, in isolation (replacing one string) is highly unlikely to be a truss-rod phenomenon considering that neighboring strings are off my at most a few cents (if at all). Also, this lowering is corrected by simply "tuning up", which after a few trials and several minutes (20 in the OP) is stable. Truss rod adjustments typically take several hours to stabilize.