Last weekend I decided to catch up on some guitar restringing. I noticed that the strings on my G&L ASAT Special Semi-Hollow Body were getting a little rough from the corrosion on the unwound high end. I grabbed a set of strings from my stash and proceeded through the changing process. As I got down to the last string (the high E), it became apparent right away that something was wrong. As I reached into the paper envelope to pull out the string, it didn't feel quite right. When I looked at the string, there were spots of rust colored corrosion in different areas along the entire string. This was a brand new string right out of an unopened package.

I have to admit that I was slightly frustrated, but not overly so. I realize that things like this can happen, even if I only had this set of strings for a couple months. Since I did not have another set of the same strings on hand, I unstrung the entire guitar and threw the whole set away. I am kind of a perfectionist, and I don't like to mix string brands or gauges. I grabbed another set of string of a different brand which had the same plastic sleeve packaging with paper envelopes holding two strings each.

I was getting these strings out of the package while thinking about what could have happened to cause such a rare case of brand new string corrosion. This time I didn't even get the flap opened on the paper sleeve when I saw it. I immediately noticed a somewhat circular rust colored stain on the outer packaging paper. I was stunned! I pulled the string out of the sleeve only to find that this one was even worse than the string from the previous set I had just thrown away. I went back to my music room and started going through the rest of the strings I had with this same unsealed plastic sleeve packaging. Out of the five sets on hand, only one set was good.

My music room is a very dry place, and there is not a lot of humidity in the area. There is no reason whatsoever that I can think of in which two month old strings would corrode like this, especially in the environment they were stored. I am not sure what went wrong, but I can tell you one thing. I will only use strings that come in sealed packages from this point on. I made this decision based on the fact that I have fifty or so sets of D'Addario strings which are packaged in vacuum sealed plastic bags. I have had some of these sets for over two years, and these were what I ended up using on this guitar in the end. They were in perfect condition, as if they had just come off the factory floor.

This blog is not meant to be an endorsement of D'Addario strings. I understand that there are a lot of great strings on the market, and many players prefer different brands. It is my opinion however that some string makers need to rethink their packaging methods. They need to realize that even though their product is relatively inexpensive in comparison to other guitar products, in the long run, an average player will probably spend as much on strings as they did on the guitar itself. No player deserves to open a set of bad strings unless they spilled liquid on them, or stored them improperly. I just threw out about twenty-five dollars in bad strings from two different companies. I have purposely not mentioned the companies here, but I assure you that I will be sending them my complaint in writing.

Gary Allen