strings, what and when?

[djsbluesbar]

HI, i'm in leicester and there is only one shop that sells yor national strings, however they charge nearly £8 a set, I play alot, evey day and do open mic nites every week and, play alot of finger style not just slide. i would change your strings weekly, is this too soon and how can i make them last longer as its only your national strings i love?! i play a full steel "vintage"single cone and a "ozark" wooden electroresofonic. also i use open D and G, what gauge is best? Thanks

[robn]

Hi djsbluesbar,

Welcome to the forum

There are no “rules” about string life, so my answer reflects only what I have experienced!

I use MM National Newtones exclusively and have never heard enough degradation to feel the need for a weekly string change, despite playing every day. My absolute max change rate would be once a month (12 sets per year) and only then if the strings were noticeably dead. I use open G, open D and standard tuning within virtually every open mic, busking or practice session. Multiple retuning kills strings faster than leaving them set in one tuning, but even so I get at least a month from a set. Do you clean the strings after each session? “Swipe” or “Fast Fret” work well to prolong string life.

My “once a month max” is for the phosphor bronze Newtone National sets – the pure nickel sets last me for at least 8 weeks. I find I’m changing nickel strings just for something to do, rather than because they actually need to be changed

I play in the open air a lot, so my strings are subject to heat, humidity and salty sea air. Even so, I have not bought more than 12 phosphor bronze sets or 6 pure nickel sets of MM National Newtone strings in any one year.

I've just remembered one other thing that made a huge difference to my string consumption – I now use Dunlop plastic finger picks. When I used metal finger picks I could “kill” a set of phosphor bronze strings in a couple of hours at a jam session

Your question about string gauges is a little more ambiguous. I use 13-56 gauge strings, which suit my guitar and playing style (I have a wood bodied single cone fitted with a National Resophonic cone). The thicker cones in your Vintage and Ozark may well need a heavier gauge of string to really make them “sing”. But every guitar is different. Too light a set will sound “weak” and too heavy a set will “choke” the cone and you will loose sustain.

Robn

[Michael Messer]

Hi djsbluesbar,

Welcome to our forum!

I recommmend 15 to 56 MM National Strings for open D & G tunings on single-cone guitars. On some Tricones I like the heavy 16 to 59s. I used to use 16 to 59s on my Duolian, it sounded incredible, so perhaps you should try some on your guitar. The only way to find out is to have a go.

To prolong the life of your strings: after playing clean the strings with a Chamois leather (a real one, not the fake stuff), it will remove all the moisture from the strings. Give each string a really good rub with the chamois wrapped around the string.
Also clean your guitar with the leather. I never travel without one. Also, to brighten old wound strings - lay the guitar on your lap (Hawaiian style), with your right hand fret the string at the highest fret, and with your left hand pull the string and let is slap against the fretboard 'THWACK!' >this will shake out the dirt than can build up between the windings of the string. Newtone strings being round core, do not collect dirt like regular hexagonal core strings, but they do collect a bit.

Another suggestion for prolonging the life of your Newtone strings is ......kee a spare set with you and just don't change your strings. See how long they will last you. I have just been teaching, performing and jamming at the Euro Blues 'Blues Week', I played for 10 hours a day for a week on one set of strings. I changed them on the last day for an evening performance, but that was just because I thought I should!

Newtone strings should last a long time. Some players like to change strings for every gig and some once a month.

In addition - I am sure you can Newtone MM National strings cheaper than 8 quid a set. Contact Newtone direct and ask on this forum.

Keep in touch and please let us know how you get on with 'making strings last longer'.

Shine On,
Michael.

[djsbluesbar]

thanks guys for your replies, guess alot of it is down to me being lazy. slap my wrists-i never clean my strings! doh. lesson learnt me thinks. same on my electric(strat) those strings discolour(plain ones) after a couple of hours! a mate in a shop reckons i have particualy acidic sweat?. anyway thanks again, Ive saved this site, really useful stuff on here and no know-it-alls
dj

[Bill Stig]

Try strings direct:

www.stringsdirect.co.uk/Catalogue/ViewProduct.aspx?productId=721

Whenever I've ordered from them, which is a lot of times, they arrive the next day. It says they don't have the 16s in in bronze, but it said that on the site last time so I phoned them and they sent me 2 packets the next day.

Bill

[wolvoboy]

Hi everyone i was over Nottingham the weekend visiting my son,he wanted to take up guitar so i convinced him to take up reso guitar and gave him one of my reso,s it needed new strings so we went up the road from his house to the nearest guitar shop, not thinking that they would stock mm newtone stings i asked i they had any heavy sets that i could substitute when ask what guitar they were for i replied for a resonator guitar ,she said these are the best you can get and pulled out a box full of mm newtone strings,and loads of heavy slides,the lady was very help full and new a lot about resonator guitars.
the shop is Dave Mann Music 123 Mansfield rd, Nottingham.
visit www.davemann.co.uk
really nice and friendly staff ,they specialise ine acoustic guitars and have some real nice guitars in stock.
keep pickin and slidin
wolvoboy