String Care
Care
Care, climate, and the number of hours played will vary the life of your strings.
Rosin buildup can dramatically affect the condition of your strings and their tone.
Strings should be wiped with a soft cloth to remove rosin after each use to prevent
buildup.
Wipe each string to remove rosin from playing area
In addition, alcohol on a soft cloth may be used to remove rosin. However,
do not allow any alcohol to come in contact with the instrument.
It will damage the finish and devalue the instrument.
Strings may need to be replaced as soon as three months and up to twelve months depending on use. Beginners typically will only need to change strings once a year while professionals will likely change their strings three or more times a year. Many players like to keep spare strings on hand to be prepared if a string should break. This is a good practice to follow, but be advised that strings may deteriorate when stored over time, causing tarnish, breakage, and loss of brilliance. Strings in this condition due to months of storage are not returnable.
String BreakageWipe each string to remove rosin from playing area
Strings may need to be replaced as soon as three months and up to twelve months depending on use. Beginners typically will only need to change strings once a year while professionals will likely change their strings three or more times a year. Many players like to keep spare strings on hand to be prepared if a string should break. This is a good practice to follow, but be advised that strings may deteriorate when stored over time, causing tarnish, breakage, and loss of brilliance. Strings in this condition due to months of storage are not returnable.
Broken strings are a part of life for the string player. Breakage occurs for a
variety of reasons, including wear, environmental conditions, sharp areas on
the instrument, exceeding pitch, and defect. Frequent string breakage may indicate
a problem with the instrument's setup. Have a local luthier inspect the instrument
to find the problem.
Wear: Strings wear over time and may break from constant use. Replace strings periodically to prevent this.
Environmental Concerns: Humid or dry conditions could cause the string to deteriorate and break.
Exceeding pitch: Tuning the string beyond the pitch it is designed for will increase stress on the string and may cause breakage.
Defects: String manufacturers produce a very consistent product. However, there will always be a small percentage of strings manufactured that are defective.
Setup Concerns: Sharp points at the tailpiece, string adjuster, bridge, nut, or pegs may cause the string to break. Always rub the bridge and nut with a No.2 pencil when installing new strings to provide a smooth surface for the string to glide over. In addition, breakage may occur from winding the string too close to the side wall of the pegbox, winding the strings on top of each other, or from forcing the string into a groove that is too tight at the tailpiece or string adjuster.
Wear: Strings wear over time and may break from constant use. Replace strings periodically to prevent this.
Environmental Concerns: Humid or dry conditions could cause the string to deteriorate and break.
Exceeding pitch: Tuning the string beyond the pitch it is designed for will increase stress on the string and may cause breakage.
Defects: String manufacturers produce a very consistent product. However, there will always be a small percentage of strings manufactured that are defective.
Setup Concerns: Sharp points at the tailpiece, string adjuster, bridge, nut, or pegs may cause the string to break. Always rub the bridge and nut with a No.2 pencil when installing new strings to provide a smooth surface for the string to glide over. In addition, breakage may occur from winding the string too close to the side wall of the pegbox, winding the strings on top of each other, or from forcing the string into a groove that is too tight at the tailpiece or string adjuster.
Feel free to link to this page for all non-commercial or commercial purposes, however
the contents of this article are
© Southwest Strings 2003-2012 and all rights are reserved.
(So please don't copy our content!)
© Southwest Strings 2003-2012 and all rights are reserved.
(So please don't copy our content!)