Originally Posted by: gmixstudiosIts KY but for guitars :p

Ha, good one!

As to the strings off ebay, is it possible that they sat in some degree of dampness and tarnished on their own? ...but then they should have been in sealed plastic, right?

Well, strings are pretty cheap. Easy to find out by getting a nice fresh set.

For myself I use D'Addario bright round wound .009-.042's on my 25 1/2" scales and .0095-.044 sets on my 24 3/4" scales.