Guitar Strings Rust?

[ash]

lemon oil is commonly used and usually sold in most musical shops, good for wiping down the fretboard, and keeping the strings clean, another thought just come into my head is coated strings, i've never used them but that would stop the rust for sure, no idea how much more expensive they are, i've heard elixir are the best, have a look : elixir

 

[Tolak]

WD40 is good for displacing moisture, spray a little on a rag & wipe the strings. Works good on the hardware, and will double as starting fluid for gasoline engines.

If you get into dropped tunings, 9's might give you some fret buzz, depending on your setup. 10's aren't that much more difficult to bend, try stringing a guitar with 12's, play on that for a while, & go back to 10's. Expect to do a neck adjust when going between string guages.

When I was playing for a few hours or more a day I used to change strings weekly, if they lasted that long.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Haha cool, i'll look around for the stuff mentioned, and i'll ask my dad if he has any WD-40 around the house.

BTW, whats a "fast neck" ? And also, in the future, if i change gauge to 10's, do i have to do anything to the neck?

P.T.

 

[Tolak]

A fast neck is one with a thinner profile front to back, a thinner neck. If you can get the action as low as possible with a thin neck without any buzzing, it is fast. The problem with a thin neck is warping over the long term. Unless you are getting a really high end guitar, they have to balance the cost of materials with the sale price. Also, wood is more unpredictable than aquatics, professionals make an educated guess as to what wood will work best for guitars for the price. More wood generally means more tone, too thin of a neck makes tone suffer. Also, some people like to have a little more meat to the neck, it's a personal preference thing. Strats have a pretty fast neck, try picking up a higher end Ibanez next time you are at a guitar shop, they have a really fast neck.

Usually going up or down a gauge doesn't affect the neck adjustment. Going from lighter to heavier will tend to pull up on the neck a little, raising the action a bit. To correct this you need a little more pull on the truss rod. This isn't something to crank on, 1/8 turn tighter would be the most to do in a 24 hour period. This adjustment takes a little bit to settle in, it isn't instant, you are dealing with wood. Only do this if necessary.

http/www.fender.com/support/setup/stratsetup.php is a pretty good guide for setup. I've been doing them by eye & ear for years, too bad the internet wasn't available 25 years ago.

 

[Phantom Thief]

Hmm, so which guitar has a "slow" neck then? And what's action? Sorry, i'm really not knowledgable with guitars, yet anyway . At this rate, i'm gonna know a fair bit pretty soon.

P.T.

 

[Tolak]

A slower neck would be a thicker, heavier neck, most often found on classical or jazz guitars. That old National has a neck like a log, thick & heavy.

Action refers to the space between the strings & frets. This is adjusted mainly with the bridge, and somewhat with the truss rod. The Fenders with the 3 bolt neck have the micro adjust to help with this, the older 4 bolt necks don't have this, & need to be shimmed. Many people like a really low action, this requires a light touch with the pick. Hit the strings a little too hard & they buzz out. I like my action a little higher, and show those strings no mercy when I feel like it.

 

[Phantom Thief]

The lower three strings have rusted again (the thinner ones). So based on the date i last changed the strings, that's slightly more than 2 weeks. Is this too quick? I've made absolutely sure that i cleaned the strings after every time i play it.

P.T.

 

[ash]

wow! i've never ever experienced proper rust that quickly, i don't want to patronise you, but are you sure it is rust and not just the natural de-colouration and grime over time? i'm guessing it must be something to do with your humidity, i'd advise either buying a dehumidifier for the room, buying some elixir coated strings, or just putting up withrusty strings! - sorry i can't be of more help!

 

[Tolak]

Part of it has to do with body chemistry as well. Some peoples skin oils are more corrosive than others. If you are playing a couple hours daily, new strings every 2 weeks isn't excessive, I used to change mine weekly.

 

[Phantom Thief]

I've changed the strings, Elixir strings this time. I really don't want to have to change strings every friggin 2 weeks. Not too pricey either, if they last as long as they're supposed to.

P.T.

 

[ash]

awesome, let me know how it goes, i've never played with coated strings before, how do they sound?

 

[daspricey]

your soppossed to change your guitar strings every 2 weeks(if played alot)
i've just change mine.
always wash your hands b4 playing.

david