elixir, are they worth it?

[jgcable]

Nope... Elixers were only good in the 19th century when someone was ill. They are a rip-off for guitar players.
I love saying nope in this thread.

[bratfink]

If anyone can rust strings as fast as I can then you would see the benefit of Elixirs. A set of Super Slinky's will be knackered in a week with me playing them. I guess I must have really acidic sweat or something but I used to have to change the strings on all of my guitars once a week because they would look like they hade been at the bottom of the sea for 30 years! You think I'm joking!!!

I tried a set of Elixirs and they were still shiny and good after 3 months! I then bough some older ones off Ebay, because they were cheaper, and they didn't last very long. So now I have bought a box of brand new ones from my local shop and they are great again.

Moral of the story is they must have improved the quality recently. And they have started selling individual strings, it's just most shops still don't know this fact. I order 11 - 49's and a bunch of 52's to replace the 49's.

[StukaJU87]

I don't care how much one person sweats or how acidic their sweat might be. ANY decent brand of strings will last more than one week. All you have to do is wipe them down before the guitar is put away.


Guys, really. What are we doing here? Playing intense rehearsals and gigs and just throwing the guitar back in the case?

[Nazgul]

ANY decent brand of strings will last more than one week. All you have to do is wipe them down before the guitar is put away.

I bought a pack of new daddarios for my rx10d, put them on and played them for about 2 hours then wiped them down. next day played for about 4 hours and wiped them down and same for one day after. then I got a Jackson Stars so rx10d was resting (not in the case or gig bag) for one day with no playing. A day later I took rx10d to play a bit and the 3 treble strigns were completely rusted.
For my Jackson Stars I bought Elixirs again, and now after about 60 hours of playing on them, they still sound the same and shine like new .

[bratfink]

I don't care how much one person sweats or how acidic their sweat might be. ANY decent brand of strings will last more than one week. All you have to do is wipe them down before the guitar is put away.


Guys, really. What are we doing here? Playing intense rehearsals and gigs and just throwing the guitar back in the case?

Yes, I have gone to the trouble of seeking out some rare and expensive guitars just to not look after them and let the strings go rusty .

I have tried all the usual methods of prolonging string life on all the other makes I have used and none are effective. Maybe if I were to use Bilt Hamber or POR 15 on them they might not rust, works on my Charger ...

Elixir's are the ONLY strings I have found that are not susceptable to my corrosive sweat.

[jgcable]

I have been playing for 30 years. I have a ton of guitars. Some in cases, some just thrown around the house. NONE of my guitars have ever had rusted strings. I just run a cloth over the strings once (sometimes I don't even do that). Many of my guitars have had the same strings on them for 6-12 months. No rust. My gigging guitars get a string change 1 week before a gig. Thats it. Elixers are overpriced but I give them props for marketing.

[quakana]

I use them....I like em....My hands sweat a bit when I play and I rarely wipe the strings down and they last alot longer than other strings I have used.

[StukaJU87]

I have been playing for 30 years. I have a ton of guitars. Some in cases, some just thrown around the house. NONE of my guitars have ever had rusted strings. I just run a cloth over the strings once (sometimes I don't even do that). Many of my guitars have had the same strings on them for 6-12 months. No rust. My gigging guitars get a string change 1 week before a gig. Thats it. Elixers are overpriced but I give them props for marketing.

Thank you John. These guys were beginning to make me think I was losing my mind.:ROTF: I hate to admit it, but I have strings on some of my guitars that are probably 3 or 4 years old and they are not rusty.

[jgcable]

Thank you John. These guys were beginning to make me think I was losing my mind.:ROTF: I hate to admit it, but I have strings on some of my guitars that are probably 3 or 4 years old and they are not rusty.

Well since you mention 3 or 4 years old I will agree. I do too!!!

[toejam]

Thank you John. These guys were beginning to make me think I was losing my mind.:ROTF: I hate to admit it, but I have strings on some of my guitars that are probably 3 or 4 years old and they are not rusty.

Everybody has a different level of acid in their bodies. Some people will indeed make strings dirty/rust up much quicker than others. I try to wipe my strings down after every time I play, and sometimes I'll use a string cleaner, but after a week or so they do tend to get a little dirty and I need to clean them more.

[jgcable]

Everybody has a different level of acid in their bodies. Some people will indeed make strings dirty/rust up much quicker than others. I try to wipe my strings down after every time I play, and sometimes I'll use a string cleaner, but after a week or so they do tend to get a little dirty and I need to clean them more.

Hey Joe, here is another observation which will probably flame some people...
In the past I gave a ton of guitar lessons. I noticed that the guys that sweat the most when they played were bearing down way too hard with their fret hand. It seemed that when they played it was a physical workout. I always preached that the agressive hand should be the one with the pick in it. Your fret hand should be relaxed and loose with the ability to glide around the neck. Of course blues players with giant strings and high action need much more fret hand force and that is obvious when you look at the condition of their fretboards. They really have to dig in.
Us metal heads usually have super low slinky action and our guitars practically play themselves. So.... IMHO if you play metal on a guitar with super low action and you aren't playing in a room that is a balmy humid 90 degrees, I can't see the reason for all this acid spewing from your pores!!!!
Hey... I sweat alot too but its not when I am playing guitar at home.

[toejam]

That's also a possibility. I have a tendency to be a little heavy-handed, but definitely more with my right hand than with my left hand.

[bratfink]

Agreed. I do press too hard with my fret hand, this is a result of me doing much of my practice on a nylon string acoustic (which incedentally I had the same strings on for 4 years!). The idea being if you can play it on that you can play it on anything.

I don't think this is the main reason for string rusting in my case though. I wipe and apply string cleaner after every session and normal strings still go rusty, not dirty, rusty. I guess it's just a physiological thing that affects me more than others, and in my experience Elixirs do the trick.

Not saying anyone else is wrong, just offering my experience.