How do you know when your strings are shot?

[satriani_is_great]

?

[Raskolnikov]

They're dirty, they sound "dead," they break...
You'll figure it out what you consider to be "shot" after you've put a few packs of strings through your guitar.

[friskynibbles]

i am (not so) proud to say -
I HAVE NEVER CHANGED STRINGS
hehehehe
and they are so nasty, they sound dead, i have to tune them every 10 minutes and they are BLACK
when your strings are BLACK, that definately means time to change them.
i guess i should do that soon lol.
*shrug*

[trebledamage]

Your Guitar's intonation will go out of sync when your strings go real bad. Usually they just break. When I break a string, I know its probably time to change the rest of them as well.

[Lordathestrings]

Fresh strings have such gorgeous, rich tone thats its hard to settle for less! I consider that to be an importantoart of my sound, because I don't use much in the way of effects. I'm just jamming with friends these days, but I rarely use a set of strings for more than two months.

[lalimacefolle]

Van Halen boils his dead strings and then puts'em back on... He just hates the sound of fresh strings...

[Lordathestrings]

Originally posted by lalimacefolle
Van Halen boils his dead strings and then puts'em back on... He just hates the sound of fresh strings...

I would have thought someone as sharp as Van Halen would know about flat-wound strings?

[lalimacefolle]

those are for jazz, aren't they?

[Lordathestrings]

Flat-wound strings are used by a lot of jazz players because of their 'pure' tone. There are very few additional harmonics produced, so the sound is almost flute-like. Usually the guitar's tone controls are turned down as well, so you're left with a a soft, blurred kind of sound.

What would make flat-wound strings appeal to EVH is that they sound 'dead' even when they're new. He wouldn't have to boil an old set in an attempt to avoid the break-in period involved in conditioning a new set. He'd lose the sound obtained by scraping the edge of the pick along the string, though.

Flat-wound strings are ideal for midi guitars, and for players who base their sound on effects, heavy distortion, and signal processing, rather than the sound intrinsic to the guitar itself.

Me, I've spent years seeking out guitars that sound good before I plug them in. A fresh set of medium gauge (D'Addario EXL 115W) strings brings out the tones that are hiding in those crafted pieces of wood.

[Raskolnikov]

I use flatwounds on my fretless simply because I like the combonation of no frets and totally smooth strings. They also give the bass a lot more "thump" over attack.

[lalimacefolle]

I used to have flatwounds ones, but I didn't enjoy their feel. I have to see those new strings (Elixirs) that have some coating around them, maybe they get the best of both world.