strings sounds like cr*p after a week

[weimark]

hello guys,

when i change my guitar strings and put a new set, my guitar sounds amazing but after about a week of playing no more than 30min a day it sounds very bad.
that's not the first time i see it, and it's kinda strange. does the strings have such a small lifetime, or there's something else wrong?
is there a good string cleaner or something to help?

 

[Erik Monsonis]

Get Elixirs!

Welcome to the forum btw.

 

[Trevoire520]

That's pretty normal man. Most guys here change their strings each day of recording as they start to lose brightness pretty quickly.

 

[weimark]

Welcome to the forum btw.

hey thanks dude

well, i'm recording a lot and changing the strings often is out of the question, as i don't have much money to spend.
elixirs or coated strings are a good idea, but how much longer will they last?

 

[AD Chaos]

Elixirs will be less bright when new, but will also decay much slower, IME. How much is totally subjective, of course.

 

[weimark]

Elixirs will be less bright when new, but will also decay much slower, IME. How much is totally subjective, of course.

hmm thanks.

will a good string cleaner remove the dirt of the old strings and make them brighter?

 

[Trevoire520]

Never really used any string cleaners personally. Washing your hands before you play guitar, and wiping down the strings with a cloth after playing should help.

 

[weimark]

cool thanks.

actually i've changed the strings last time on 24/9, and it's interesting to listen to songs i recorded since then.
there's a huge change in the sound over the days..

 

[JeffTD]

This is just par for the course. Save changing strings every day for when you're recording actual releases, not just jamming/recording ideas/writing.

 

[greyskull]

Ernie Balls are terrible for this... but Rotosound... JESUS that shit sounds dead out the packet.

D'addario FTW

 

[Melb_shredder]

Dr Strings, D'addario and Elixers are all great... But honestly.. Even after 1 gig my strings are completely dull and lifeless. Sad reality...

Www.stringsbymail.com <- buy yourself lots for cheap

 

[weimark]

but Rotosound... JESUS that shit sounds dead out the packet.

haha that's funny.

i usually when put new strings turn the highs on the amp up to 10, but now i have to turn them to 4 or else it sounds haaarsh. somethings wrong

 

[Sloan]

Another vote for Elixers or other coated strings. I timed myself to see how long it takes for a pack of Ernie Balls to get skanky, it was 2 hours. Some people can play with the same strings for a long time, but others like me have some kind of corrosive acid sweat. Even my guitar bridges, pickups and shit get all nasty and rusted after a year or so.

 

[if6was9]

You can clean the grime off them but they're never "like new" again.
A cloth dipped in soapy hot water pinched along the string does the trick, wd 40 sprayed on a cloth does the same but better with the downside of it smells like shit and you want to keep both well away from your electronics and touching the frets/wood. Wipe then down well after cleaning.

Boiling the wound strings in a pot of water does the ticket too, thats the old school way of doing it.

These will all give your guitar strings back some life but the best way is still to just restring often, clean your hands before you play and to wipe the strings down after/during playing.

 

[weimark]

by the way i'm cleaning the strings with a dunlop cloth.
is there any possibility that it have left cotton in the strings and that's the reason they sound pretty damn dead?