[jimbomonkeypie]

I really love that crisp, "metallic" sound that new strings have when you put them on your guitar. I'm not sure why, but it entices me to play the guitar moreso than when the strings have been worn in and subsequently lost this sound.

Is there any way to treat the strings so they retain this "just-put-on" sound? Or do I have to keep buying new strings to reproduce it?

[Graeme! Yes, Graeme!]

There are a few options that help strings stay brighter for longer, but there's only so much you can do before you really need new strings.

I like to use Elixir strings. I find the polyweb coating helps them to sound new for longer, and I like the tone of Elixirs anyway, they tend to work very well on my Takamine. Some people find their tone to be too mellow, but there are alternative coated strings on which the coating is less apparent and has less of an effect on the tone. One example is the D'Addario EXP range, on which the coating goes around the binding itself, rather than on the entire string when it's already been bound, if you see what I mean. I don't like the tone of them as much, but they do last longer than standard wound strings.

You can also perform a sort of clean up on old strings by boiling them. It helps take off some of the corrosion and grime that builds up. Personally, I see it as a lot of effort for the results, and I find it's better to just change strings if you're going to do that. But, it is an alternative to buying a new set when money's tight.

Other good tips include the obvious - make sure you play when your hands are clean so that you get less dirt ont he strings, always wipe down your guitar after playing with a lint free cloth and so on.

At the end of the day though, there's only so much you can do and strings do need to be changed from time to time.

[airscape17]

Do alcohol wipes work? As they're pretty cheap anyway. And would it make any difference between something like Kyser and standard handwash or medical alcohol wipes? (Whatever's cheaper, I mean an alcohol wipe's an alcohol wipe, right?)

[The_buffalo]

I'd use the alcohol wipes on my hands, to clean them before I played - I wouldn't use them on the guitar, just a clean, lint free cloth.

[superhodge88]

The strings on my guitar are about 20 years old (although they where out of use for a large part of that) How weird is it going to sound with new strings?

[Graeme! Yes, Graeme!]

Not weird, better. 20 year old strings should have been changed about ninteen and a half years ago at least.

[theprik]

Not weird, better. 20 year old strings should have been changed about ninteen and a half years ago at least.

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[laker0902]

I was given my grandma's guitar after she died. It needed a fixer-upper, as it had been sitting in her attic for about 50 years, with the original strings on it. Also, they weren't loosened, they were still fairly tight, so they had cut themselves deeply into the tuners. Had to replace all the tuners (and the strings, obviously).

~Sara

[narad1986]

tip , before you put the string on , spray some WD-40 into a piece of tissue paper and run it along the string , ball end and all.

[Crawdaddy]

tip , before you put the string on , spray some WD-40 into a piece of tissue paper and run it along the string , ball end and all.

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Then if you've been playing with a pick,place the pick in your mouth to hold it and fingerpick instead.That way you can help your vocal chords too if they happen to be a bit rusty.