All About Guitars

 Powered by Max Banner Ads 

Spend thirty seconds playing a guitar strung with old, corroded strings and youll never want to strum on old strings again — unless youre strange and lazy like me. I havent changed the strings on my acoustic guitar for over a year. Every song Ive ever recorded was tracked with crusty strings. Every song Ive ever recorded sounds like crap, too, but lets not get judgy.

For those of you who dont know or dont want to admit you know, there is a sort of black soot that leaches onto your fingertips when you play really old, dirty strings. It smells like pennies with chicken grease. Strings have a good shelf life in the package but once you play them the metal reacts with your own sweat and filth and skin cells. I was working my way through 50 Acoustic Licks on my acoustic the other night (Petes Best) and in a freak accident I blinked one of my eyelids inside out and, as anyone would, I tried to pry it loose again, but with a sooty finger. It burned for a long time.

Beyond the health risks, crusty strings have a characteristic anti-tone. Part of the fun in playing the guitar is hearing the incredible timbres and upper harmonics, and those sounds arent so incredible when theyre bubbling through year-old finger muck. A lot of guitarists find new strings too bright and brash, and I know Eddie Van Halen has said that worn-in strings were crucial to his brown sound tone. But theres a difference between worn-in and dead. And after the strings go dead, they start to decay.

At any rate, I think Ive made my point. Playing old strings is terrible and potentially dangerous and I dont know why I do it. I chalk it up as one of the many terrible cross-over habits from my youth; guitar strings were expensive when I had to buy them with leftover milk money. So I only changed them when they broke. Simply put, my acoustic strings arent broken yet.

Im working hard to change those habits. In fact, I have several packs of fresh strings in my drawer right now. But mostly Im more careful about touching my eyes.

Duration : 0:0:53

Technorati Tags: change, guitar, how, lessons, strings, to, truefire

Related Articles

1. Online Golf Lessons …
2. Oil Painting Lesson - Wilson Bickford - Sun Rays …
3. Learn About The Guitar Amp And How It Works …
4. Learn Guitar Tab - How to Play Guitar …

Trackbacks

1. Money Management: Your Account Size and Money Management Strategies …
2. [WATCH]: Taylor Guitar Partners with GE Capital for Distribution and Sales Finance Expertise …
3. [WATCH]: How to Change Motorcycle Tires : Removing a Motorcycle Tire's Carter Pin & Axle Nut …
4. LOSING BELLY FAT NATURALLY FLAT STOMACH EXERCISES DIET vs pills HOW TO.wmv …