How long will strings last unplayed??

[markallen]

I was reading through the "changing strings" thread and it occurred to me I have no idea how long a set of strings would last on a guitar sitting in its case and not being used. Any ideas? I know strings begin to oxidize once the package is opened, but have no idea how long before they go dead if never played.

[flaggerphil]

I once had a set of strings sit on an old Yamaha guitar I had for almost 20 years.  They were a bit corroded, but still playable.  I have no idea what brand they were, though.

[Cindy]

My local Best Buy had a gorgeous all koa GAce (don't know the style number) which obviously still had its original strings. Since I had never heard a koa guitar, I was eager to give it a try. The strings were SOOO bad that the sound was incredibly tinny. I've heard $199 guitars which sounded MUCH better. The sad thing was that I couldn't tell what the koa might have sounded like because it was truly that bad and tinny.

[dkoloff]

My local Best Buy had a gorgeous all koa GAce (don't know the style number) which obviously still had its original strings. Since I had never heard a koa guitar, I was eager to give it a try. The strings were SOOO bad that the sound was incredibly tinny. I've heard $199 guitars which sounded MUCH better. The sad thing was that I couldn't tell what the koa might have sounded like because it was truly that bad and tinny.

Unplayed I think was more the question for this one..........they can stay quite awhile unplayed but when you get to the box stores unplayed is rarely going to happen. They do take a beating and changing is not a priority.

[Cindy]

My local Best Buy had a gorgeous all koa GAce (don't know the style number) which obviously still had its original strings. Since I had never heard a koa guitar, I was eager to give it a try. The strings were SOOO bad that the sound was incredibly tinny. I've heard $199 guitars which sounded MUCH better. The sad thing was that I couldn't tell what the koa might have sounded like because it was truly that bad and tinny.

Unplayed I think was more the question for this one..........they can stay quite awhile unplayed but when you get to the box stores unplayed is rarely going to happen. They do take a beating and changing is not a priority.

Actually it was hung so high up on the wall that an employee had to climb up to get it. I guess they didn't want people messing around with it. The whole time I played it, I was supervised. When I was done, it went back to its place near the rafters.

[cotten]

The very thought of unplayed strings on a nice guitar makes me cry.   

Thankfully, I've never tried this experiment, and I hope I never do.

cotten

[michaelw]

different companies package their strings in different ways -
individually in paper sleeves, 2 per sleeve or all in a plastic bag,
with the package shrink wrapped in plastic or not

haven't tried it, but perhaps putting the unused/unopened sets into a heavy duty
plastic bag & using one of those vacuum seal food storage thingees to pull out
all the air would extend the life of strings (no air, no oxidation, no corrosion) ...

just a thought

[bo1142]

I try to buy in bulk, so I use some methods to ensure that they will have longevity.  I put them in a ziploc bag with a few silica packets to keep the moisture low.  I use standard D'addario EJ16's on a few guitars and have sets that are 3 years old that sound as good as a new set from GC. But, this example is for packages of strings, not strings already on a guitar.

Like cotten, I have never had a guitar sit around long enough to find out.  I try to play all of mine at least a few times a week.

[andyi5]

While I was over in the UK last year, I pulled out my old '89 strat and decided to really clean it up. It got some heavy use back in the early '90's, but since then has been mostly stored. The guitar came up beautifully and I was surprised to see I had a full set of new strings still in the case. I put them on and they played just like any new set from the store. Think I must have had them 18 years before I put them on!!!

[andyi5]

Apologies, didn't read the op properly! Incidently though, these strings were only in paper envelopes so wouldn't have been sealed to guard against oxidisation.

I did have an L5 copy which I put a new set of strings on once. I hardly played it, then was away several months and when I got back to it the strings had acompletely lost their shine and sustain, without being played at all.

[DMBfan41]

The very thought of unplayed strings on a nice guitar makes me cry.   

Thankfully, I've never tried this experiment, and I hope I never do.

cotten

What he said.

[dkoloff]

My local Best Buy had a gorgeous all koa GAce (don't know the style number) which obviously still had its original strings. Since I had never heard a koa guitar, I was eager to give it a try. The strings were SOOO bad that the sound was incredibly tinny. I've heard $199 guitars which sounded MUCH better. The sad thing was that I couldn't tell what the koa might have sounded like because it was truly that bad and tinny.

Unplayed I think was more the question for this one..........they can stay quite awhile unplayed but when you get to the box stores unplayed is rarely going to happen. They do take a beating and changing is not a priority.

Actually it was hung so high up on the wall that an employee had to climb up to get it. I guess they didn't want people messing around with it. The whole time I played it, I was supervised. When I was done, it went back to its place near the rafters.

I like my local GC better then....they are very good about letting you go in and play. Now they just opened up a Platinum area so I will let you know if they protect that area a little bit stronger.

[not darth]

The very thought of unplayed strings on a nice guitar makes me cry.   

Thankfully, I've never tried this experiment, and I hope I never do.

cotten

Exactly!  I kinda hate hearing about guys that have 40 guitars, or twelve motorcycles, or 75 rifles/pistols.  Not jealousy, I just think it's a shame when examples of great craftsmanship go mostly unused.  I do see the attraction of owning things that hold collector and/or sentimental value, but at some point it just feels like warehousing stock. 
Motorcycles in particular deteriorate from non-use.  Seals dry out, tires get flat spots, fluids separate and sludge becomes layered like sedimentary mineral deposits, it's just terrible on them. 
I've seen guns that have been left in cases so long that they've corroded where they contacted the felt or canvas.   
And with musical instruments, it's just sad if they lay mute, cased up and stowed away.   

Everything was made to be used, and nothing, including us, lasts forever so we may as well appreciate what we can, while we can.

-K

[andyi5]

Yes, completely agree Cotten's viewpoint. It's a crying shame to collect guitars and then just store them - I hope my post didn't make it sound like I do that! My guitars I loved from my youth are true old friends - an old Yamaha jumbo, and an 80's Strat plus, they both grew with me and picked up dints and scars along the way. Although I've a couple of other cheap guitars from back then which are pretty worthless, I could never let those two go. I've lived away from the UK since the mid 1990's and I can't travel with these guitars - so regrettably they do sit unplayed most of the time, but the first thing I do when I visit home is to pull them out of their cases.

Oddly I never really discovered until quite recently that you can get travel guitars that are portable and sound great. The GS mini has been a ray of sunshine.

[Terry]

Everything was made to be used, and nothing, including us, lasts forever so we may as well appreciate what we can, while we can.

-K

Nice way to look at the big picture of things.