Ask a Question
or
Create a Poll
  1. Home /
  2. Questions /
  3. Entertainment
  4. / Music
  5. / Musical Instruments

by Mictian on February 28th, 2005

Mictian

Question

Help answer this question below.

What is the best way to prevent electric guitar strings from rusting?

  • Like
  • Report
Share:
Other

Answers. Showing one answer.

  • by Child Of The 60s on July 28th, 2005

    Child Of The 60s

    The single most effective way of preventing strings from becoming soiled and dull sounding (and getting longer life out of them) is to simply wash your hands BEFORE you play. This alone will prevent the majority of the gunk from accumulating. The dirt and oils from your hands will collect in the windings of guitar strings; making them lose their tone, and eventually their elasticity (making breaking one much easier to accomplish) and their ability to stay in tune. When you've finished playing, wipe them down with a clean, dry cloth- and don't just wipe off the tops of the strings. Slide your cloth under the strings as well. Lastly, keep your guitar in its case when you're not playing it.

    Actual rust on guitar strings is extremely rare. Unless you got ahold of some defective strings that had some rust on them to start with; you'd have to leave a guitar exposed to the elements for a long time to see rust on the strings.

    Comments

    • YES! you discussed the best preventive measures

      gone

      by gone on April 22nd, 2006

    • Mine have some black in a few areas...I obviously got them oily and dirty last time I played them, then didn't dry off the strings and stored it for 6 months. What can I use to clean off the gunk from the few areas on the strings? I don't really want to shell out for new strings because they were fairly new Martin's best strings.

      Anonymous

      by Anonymous on January 30th, 2007

    • Chronic One: The black in some areas is just dirt. It has however had a nice long time to settle in. Clean it off as best as you can with whatever you've got. Take a look at the fingerboard alongside the frets. Got an accumulation of gunk there? You might try wiping down the fingerboard with a LITTLE lighter fluid on a decent cloth like a diaper (paper towels are a nuh-uh). It dries really fast and won't hurt anything as long as you don't saturate the area. I've never been to a point where I did this, but friends of mine would take their strings off and boil them. They swore they'd get an extra couple of weeks life out of them. As for me, if they sound dead; or are seemingly harder to keep tuned, I just pop for a new set. $5 give or take. Forego a Dr Pepper and the accompanying junk food one time. Cut out a couple of unneccessary cruises in the car. It doesn't take much at today's prices to find an extra fin.

      Child Of The 60s

      by Child Of The 60s on January 31st, 2007

    • I like the idea of washing my hands before playing, reminds me of how some religions make you wash your hands before handling scripture. Worship the axe!

      santinodhillon85

      by santinodhillon85 on March 16th, 2010

    • Like
    • Report

    4 comments | Post one | Permalink

Want to attach an image to your answer? Click here.

Did this answer your question? If not, then ask a new question or create a poll.

More Questions. Additional questions in this category.

You're reading What is the best way to prevent electric guitar strings from rusting?

Follow us on Facebook!

Related Ads

Related Questions

Professionally Researched

Answerbag

a Demand Media company