Guitar string shelf life?

[Stuball48]

I still have strings that I brought home with other stuff when I came back from US - I take a set and put it on a Guild - and WOW - I Feel Good - dadadada - so good, so good . . . - naturally I do not have a reference.

Years ago I worked with a trio - the guitar player was the dictator - but he had this idea, that whenever he goeas on-stage, the strings must be new, because the audience deserves it - one day we had two outdoor gigs about 100 miles apart and tight schedule - in the van heading to second gig he was putting new strings on his Telecaster.

I could not hear any difference - might be fatigue within a hour of gig - but I still respect him for that - even though for other reasons he does not deserve that much of my respect. . . . . . .

Sonny James, "Young Love" changed strings every performance, also.

 

[adorshki]

Depends on the packaging, if they're sealed like in GHS's new 6 packs of 10-46 Boomers, they should last indefinitely.

If they're not sealed, they will oxidize in the packaging, although some the older sleeves were treated to prevent this somehow, nothing will be as good as totally sealed packaging.

Yep. Although I seen to recall a member from Hawaii who experienced some oxidation in sealed GHS's I think, a couple of years ago.
I think we figured there had to be a packaging defect or some other anomaly, allowing humidity into the packs..

 

[adorshki]

it's hard for me to weigh in on this topic, as i never let strings last too long in their packaging
i pretty much change strings on one of my Guilds every 2 weeks.

I thought you kicked the habit?

 

[adorshki]

As long as you don't open them I think you should be fine. After using Elixirs for a while I just picked up some EJ16's to try and im curious to see what their lifespan looks like

I used to get 40 and more hours out of 'em but the sweet spot is from about 2-20 hours.

 

[Westerly Wood]

I thought you kicked the habit?

I will keep trying Al, but I keep failing.