Sweaty Hands :mad:

[Fox Mulder]

My hands tend to sweat in an abnormal manner while I'm playing and my strings which I put on 2 days back have stained a bit.

Anyone else facing this? What do you think would be a solution to...umm... make your hands sweat less? *I don't mean sweatless, but you know.. sweat less*

 

[Metaltastic]

The solution I think is to just keep a dry rag handy at all times and wipe down the strings/fretboard whenever you're done playing! That and washing your hands pretty regularly, so at least it's not grimy sweat I feel your pain though dude, maybe not to THAT degree, but I know black Jazz III's are pretty maddening for me because of their slipperiness, for example (though a little grip tape takes care of that, thank you Adam AND MAX GRIPS ARE INBOUND SOON YESYESYESYESYES)

 

[Fox Mulder]

^That I do, but you know - at times in can be pretty unreliable. You're playing something that you're ecstatic about and all of a sudden to stop, repeat. Ugh. I guess I have to live with it. And yes, I'm an overly hygienic person.

What's your take on stainless steel strings? I know I still gotta use a string cleaner to take out the grim.

 

[Notuern]

Well, before shows you could do the classic trick: Wash your hands in medical alcohol!
It dries the living fuck out of them, so you shouldnt do it everyday, but as i said, it can be a life saver before shows(Slippery picks is not very fun live. ).

Other then that i dont know anything except getting botox treatment, which apparently works wonders for a year or so before having to get another treatment.. however, as a guitarist im a bit concerned about getting neurotoxic injected in my f-ing hands!

 

[sirscratch01]

Switch to coated strings, I use Elixirs live for that very reason. My hands get pretty sweaty and the coating keeps those things alive for months even with pretty aggressive use. I really like how they sound too, although it's possible i just grew to like it because i've been using nothing but them for 4 years or so. I got tired of changing my old strings every week because they were rusted to shit and dead as hell by then.

 

[Notuern]

Elexir sucks though.. they buy strings from D'addario that didnt pass their quality control, and then they basically dip the string in gortex(They used to be good though.).
Its better to buy cleartone or something, because it uses good strings, and it gets "dipped" before being wound.

 

[sirscratch01]

Really? i'd never heard that, not that i don't believe it because i definitely know companies take as many shortcuts as they can. But mind if I ask where you heard that? I'd be interested to read a bit about it.

 

[Notuern]

Really? i'd never heard that, not that i don't believe it because i definitely know companies take as many shortcuts as they can. But mind if I ask where you heard that? I'd be interested to read a bit about it.

I work in a music store, and it was actually the reseller of Elixir him self that said it.. they where about to stop taking in Elixir to Sweden due to the low quality now days.
Seriously, a reseller telling us that his own product sucks and that we shouldn't buy it!

The reseller of Cleartone said the same thing, although i took that one with a pinch of salt considering that they are competitors.

But another string-tip i have is DR Tite Fit, because they are round wound, and wound so tight, theres basically no grit collecting between the wounds, so they live allot longer then other strings without sounding a bit dampened like Elixir and Cleartone does.

 

[Keregioz]

I have the same problem and it's really annoying. Unfortunately the only solution I've found is washing my hands before I start playing and quite often I even have to wash them again after playing for some time.

Despite what Notuern says I'm willing to give elixirs a try because they seem to be the only solution at this point. My main problem is not with the round wound strings but with the plain ones. They start corroding and my fingers can't slide on them freely and make playing really uncomfortable.

I'll look into cleartone too though...never heard of them before.

 

[deanbailey]

I'm not a doctor or a specialist but sweating is your body's natural process for cooling down so maybe the problem is that you're easily over heated when playing.
Staying relaxed and in a cool (accidental pun) environment will probably help your playing more than new strings (although they do help).

Look at your movements, are you really struggling to play something? Are you extremely nervous when playing? Are your movements too crazy/wild and flashy/unorthodox. Are you head banging in studio
Are you breathing correctly lol (this happens when taking on that big riff you know you'll struggle with).

 

[Toni S.]

I don't find my hands very sweaty at all while I'm playing, but I hate it when my friends play my guitars and after they have played them they are all sticky and stuff!

 

[Notuern]

Despite what Notuern says I'm willing to give elixirs a try because they seem to be the only solution at this point. My main problem is not with the round wound strings but with the plain ones. They start corroding and my fingers can't slide on them freely and make playing really uncomfortable.

I'll look into cleartone too though...never heard of them before.

I actually didnt mean roundwound, i meant roundCORE!
Sorry for that one, but anyways, in normal string the core is hexagonal, but DR Tite Fit's are round, which make them allot more even in tuning and less dirt/corrosion occur(They dont feel as sharp to the fingers either.).

I have the same problem as you, but i cant stand Elixirs because they sound like dirty strings right out of the box, and after playing on them for a few weeks they start to fringe like crazy..

The above one is a worn out Elixir, the one below is a brand new Cleartone string(Also coated, but coated before being wound.).
This is how Elixir markets their strings(Always make me cringe!):

 

[Keregioz]

I'm not a doctor or a specialist but sweating is your body's natural process for cooling down so maybe the problem is that you're easily over heated when playing.
Staying relaxed and in a cool (accidental pun) environment will probably help your playing more than new strings (although they do help).

Look at your movements, are you really struggling to play something? Are you extremely nervous when playing? Are your movements too crazy/wild and flashy/unorthodox. Are you head banging in studio
Are you breathing correctly lol (this happens when taking on that big riff you know you'll struggle with).

Nah...some people just sweat more...it's natural.

Notuern, I will get both elixirs and cleartone to try to see what are the differences. That photo of the coated elixir is interesting, didn't think that the coating would be so obvious but I know they have two kinds of coatings one is thicker and make the strings more dull sounding and the other is much thinner...I'm guessing that photo is the thick one.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Elexir sucks though.. they buy strings from D'addario that didnt pass their quality control, and then they basically dip the string in gortex(They used to be good though.).
Its better to buy cleartone or something, because it uses good strings, and it gets "dipped" before being wound.

Wow, I guess that explains something.
I switched from D'Addario for a little while to Elixir, and then went back to Elixir, and the D'Addarios really did just sound that bit better and felt better.

 

[Metaltastic]

Bleccchhhh, it's like a cocoon uke: And Kimon, yeah, that's probably polyweb, the nanoweb is the thinner coating (but D'addario all the way for me! )

 

[Notuern]

Bleccchhhh, it's like a cocoon uke: And Kimon, yeah, that's probably polyweb, the nanoweb is the thinner coating (but D'addario all the way for me! )

D'addario actually has an EXP-set, just like the Cleartone its coated BEFORE winding, which makes the coating thinner, more durable and it doesnt dull out the tone.