Cleaning after practice?

[PiSan]

Whenever I'm done practicing for the day I normally run a cloth over the strings and place the guitar in it's case. I replaced the strings about 3 months ago and the 3 high strings are starting to feel "gunky". If I slide my fingers along them there's noticable resistance which is not present on new strings.

Should I be cleaning them more thoroughly? Or should they naturally "decay" within 3 months (that seems to short to me).

[toshiro]

A lot of people change their strings inside a month, if you're getting 3 months that's great.

It's only steel, and no amount of cleaning is going to protect it from rust, and even if you could they will still wear against the frets. Some people have more acidic sweat too, so their strings don't last as long. Feel the under-side of your strings and see how bad the "notches" are from the frets. These are the main reason to replace strings IMO, because they affect your intonation.

Me? I try to change my strings every 2-3 weeks, based on how much play-time the guitar sees. I hate worn strings though, so YMMV.

[Al M]

2 words...... FAST FRET

[rgr]

2 more words; NEW STRINGS. If you play a lot, 3 months is quite a bit of age on strings. It's time for some new ones, you might pick up a spare pack while you're there.

-R

[Drew]

Agreed, three months is rather a while.

When I was gigging a lot, I'd never let them go more than a month, and change them before any big gig. these days, I just wait until I break a string or start a new recording project or something.

Guitar strings are cheap- don't be afraid to change them.

-D

[Jammy]

I wipe down my strings after every time I use my guitar, and fast fret occasionally.

[The Euphor]

Originally Posted by Drew

Guitar strings are cheap- don't be afraid to change them.

-D

Please, buy me some strings!

[Drew]

I might consider if if shipping to Norway wouldn't be so bad... Anyway, five or six bucks isn't much when you compare it to the price of a five hundred to thousand dollar instrument... Sure, they add up over a while, but it's the cost of keeping an excellent instrument in top playing shape.

-D

[The Dark Wolf]

Originally Posted by rgr

2 more words; NEW STRINGS. If you play a lot, 3 months is quite a bit of age on strings. It's time for some new ones, you might pick up a spare pack while you're there.

-R

2 MORE words: BLACK DIAMOND. These strings are like Elixir's, but EVERY string is coated in a black coating that GREATLY, GREATLY extends the life of your strings. I have super-sweaty hands, AND a nickel allergy, so I've tried 'em all. Even plain steel strings have nickel... whoda thunk? I've had the same strings on now (play at home and at band practice 2 times week) for almost 3 months, and I've never seen anything like it. All my strings are like new (INCLUDING the treble strings. Ya don't get that with Elixir).

Fast fret? Got it. That Dr Z stuff? Got it. Elixirs? Yup. Cleaning? I'm so anal about cleaning. I wipe my guitar THOUROUGHLY down almost every single time I play it, and always after practice. All those things are nice, but for my money, nothing beats Black Diamond (I sound like a company shill, lol).