New vs. Old Strings

[Christopher Caruana]

Will a fresh pair of strings sustain longer than an old pair of strings?

[ImmortalSix]

in theory, yes.

[Jay 77]

Nah, they'll be the same. I've never noticed a difference in sustain, just in tone and feel.

[Christopher Caruana]

What exactly happens to strings when they get old? Besides dirt and gunk built up. What causes them to sound dull and life-less?

[Boogie Bill]

New strings will always offer the most possible sustain. The key to a musical string: it must have the same mass and the same diameter for every segment of the string. Once fret wear or dirt buildup begins, the string can no longer intonate properly.

Once the dirt, oil and dead skin cells from your hands starts to build up, the string will lose its brightness and intonation. The metals begin to corrode as the plating begins to wear off and microscopic rust and corrosion begin. The strings began to lose mass along the length of the string where the frets wear into the sting. The microscopically sharp edges of the wrap wires get rounded off as you finger the strings, and they lose brightness. The pick abrades the string. A slight bump and the strings can be dented. Your slide wears down the top of the string. Within minutes the string is no longer perfectly round and of the same mass.

They might still look new, but a microscopic look at the surface of a string will reveal the devastation that occurs, simply from the touch of your hands. And it starts happening from the moment you pull the new string out of the package.

Bill

[Christopher Caruana]

New strings will always offer the most possible sustain. The key to a musical string: it must have the same mass and the same diameter for every segment of the string. Once fret wear or dirt buildup begins, the string can no longer intonate properly.

Once the dirt, oil and dead skin cells from your hands starts to build up, the string will lose its brightness and intonation. The metals begin to corrode as the plating begins to wear off and microscopic rust and corrosion begin. The strings began to lose mass along the length of the string where the frets wear into the sting. The microscopically sharp edges of the wrap wires get rounded off as you finger the strings, and they lose brightness. The pick abrades the string. A slight bump and the strings can be dented. Your slide wears down the top of the string. Within minutes the string is no longer perfectly round and of the same mass.

They might still look new, but a microscopic look at the surface of a string will reveal the devastation that occurs, simply from the touch of your hands. And it starts happening from the moment you pull the new string out of the package.

Bill

So thats why they always say to put brand new strings on before you intonate?

[ImmortalSix]

New strings will always offer the most possible sustain. The key to a musical string: it must have the same mass and the same diameter for every segment of the string. Once fret wear or dirt buildup begins, the string can no longer intonate properly.

Once the dirt, oil and dead skin cells from your hands starts to build up, the string will lose its brightness and intonation. The metals begin to corrode as the plating begins to wear off and microscopic rust and corrosion begin. The strings began to lose mass along the length of the string where the frets wear into the sting. The microscopically sharp edges of the wrap wires get rounded off as you finger the strings, and they lose brightness. The pick abrades the string. A slight bump and the strings can be dented. Your slide wears down the top of the string. Within minutes the string is no longer perfectly round and of the same mass.

They might still look new, but a microscopic look at the surface of a string will reveal the devastation that occurs, simply from the touch of your hands. And it starts happening from the moment you pull the new string out of the package.

Bill

What this means for your weekend, tonight at 11.

[uOpt]

Ah, but what is sustain?

It the same problem as with every "sustain" discussion.

The high overtones decay faster, much faster. So putting more treble into the same actual tone will appear shorter.

The brighter bass strings of a fresh set could hence give the impression of faster decay when what actually decays is what wasn't in the old strings in the first place.

Of course any inbalancing trait (such as rust or dirt) will actually destroy sustain.

[serizawa]

what this means for your weekend, tonight at 11.

+1

[arellanon]

Will a fresh pair of strings sustain longer than an old pair of strings?

I can't prove that they will but obviously the mechanics change due the wear and tear of the strings after use.

More than anything I love the feel and tone of new strings as well as the smell of lemon oil on my fretboard, lol.

[jake_xms3_punk]

old gunk covered strings deaden quicker then new strings. new strings vibrate longer and have more sustain, more clarity and better overall tone. some people prefer the sound of worn in strings, i dont!

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

New sustains more to my ears.

[Mincer]

Well, I can get harmonics better with new strings, and I think they at least sustain high frequencies better. Good thing they aren't as expensive as bass strings (although my double ball-end strings are more expensive). I change them usually after every performance. Must be the Italian part of me, I sweat olive oil.