I've played J42's for about a year. Like the tone and feel. Don't like the fact I've never been able to get more than a week's use from a set. Based on some recommendations here on RN I bought a few sets of GHS PL 1650's from Janet Davis to try. JD was also promoting the Stringlife product so I went ahead and paid $10 to give it a try. I applied the Stringlife as recommended after putting the new set on, and I also reapply after playing. Been a week and the PL 1650's sound just fine and look new, no tarnish. The 1650's play and sound fine and the Stringlife does seem to prolong the life of the strings.
Greg Booth :
from
Alaska with
posts since12.03.2005...
I've had the Just Strings set on for a while now and they sound good, but I'm disappointed in the longevity of the .028. It doesn't seem to last nearly as long as the GHS 1650 that I am used to. I may have to go back, or order the GHS .028s separately.
kmangelos :
from
Washington with
posts since06.02.2007...
If you order the phosphor bronze strings in bulk and substitute a plain G for the 3rd string, with shipping you can get the sets from JS for $3.82/set. That's a great deal. I just got a shipment and they sound great.
KMA
Erik Waynesmith :
from
Grand Rapids, Michigan with
posts since12.07.2004...
If you order the phosphor bronze strings in bulk and substitute a plain G for the 3rd string, with shipping you can get the sets from JS for $3.82/set. That's a great deal. I just got a shipment and they sound great.
Unfortunately, most reso players don't like how a plain G 3rd string sounds or feels (including me).
MitchC :
from
Ventura County, CA with
posts since06.08.2008...
I received my order minus the .028's - Still waiting for them to show up. Been using some spare .026 D'Addario in the meantime. So the .028's ...sounds like double up on the quantity and change often ? Will be interesting to get the .028s to compare the lasting time.
kmangelos :
from
Washington with
posts since06.02.2007...
I've played J42's for about a year. Like the tone and feel. Don't like the fact I've never been able to get more than a week's use from a set. Based on some recommendations here on RN I bought a few sets of GHS PL 1650's from Janet Davis to try. JD was also promoting the Stringlife product so I went ahead and paid $10 to give it a try. I applied the Stringlife as recommended after putting the new set on, and I also reapply after playing. Been a week and the PL 1650's sound just fine and look new, no tarnish. The 1650's play and sound fine and the Stringlife does seem to prolong the life of the strings.
I use Stringlife on a regular basis as well and it does seem to increase the life of strings in general.
KMA
Greg Booth :
from
Alaska with
posts since12.03.2005...
I'm going through the JS .028s like crazy. I put one on yesterday and it played horribly out of tune up the neck. Everything tuned up perfectly open but at the 12th fret and above the 3rd string was ridiculously flat! I took it right off and the 2nd one intonates normally. I wonder what would cause this.....? Add that to the poor longevity and JS has lost me for good. Back to my good old GHS 1650s!
lonewolf :
from
somewhere with
posts since08.11.2008...
As a guitar tech of nearly 40 years experience, I find that two things are happening to strings as they wear out. Our sweat causes corrosion of the metal. Wiping the srings down after playing helps, but on the wound strings, the sweat can "percolate" between the wraps, and winds up not getting wiped off, even if you try to put them away dry. The other string killer is metal on metal wear. It slowly wears out engine parts in your car, and it does the same to your strings. On fretted instruments, it can be easy to see on an old set of strings after removal. Turn a high traffic string over, and the missing metal will appear as a dark (or light) band, at every spot where the string is pressed against the frets very often. If you were to magnify this area, and I have, it appears that a big half-round circle of the strings metal has been removed, like a beaver took a bite out of it! I know that you are thinking that we don't fret our reso's, but sure enough we do...the fret has just become the bar in your left hand. The wear pattern will be much different on a reso string, as it becomes a flattening of the top surface where your bar slides, meaning that your round string wire, now has a flat side to it!
I also find that brand new strings out of a sealed packages, are not always good! Some have "kinks" or bends in them. I can feel these by pinching them between my thumb and forefinger lightly, and pulling the string through gently for it's entire length. It is also easy to put a "kink" in a string yourself, if you don't unwrap it slowly, and carefully. It occasionally also happens, that a sring has a fault in it's manufacture. Machines make mistakes too, and especially wound or wrapped strings can have issues that will cause intonation problems, that can drive you crazy. IF IN DOUBT...CHANGE IT OUT! I also expect that reso players like myself that still find the capo a useful crutch, are shortening their string life, by causing string damage prematurely.
By the way I am from San Antonio, Texas, and new to reso-nation. I'm not sure how you get your locale into the message header.
Gene Warner
Michael Barton :
from
HMM- Let me think about it. with
posts since12.07.2004...
Man Greg - I'm sad to hear that. I just went back to JS for a dozen. Haven't even put the first set on yet. Oh well. Sucks that the GHS price at FQMS jumped so much.
Comments
That's very good news Greg. Thanks. I go thru alot of strings. Really need to buy bulk also. Probably put in my first order next week.
I've played J42's for about a year. Like the tone and feel. Don't like the fact I've never been able to get more than a week's use from a set. Based on some recommendations here on RN I bought a few sets of GHS PL 1650's from Janet Davis to try. JD was also promoting the Stringlife product so I went ahead and paid $10 to give it a try. I applied the Stringlife as recommended after putting the new set on, and I also reapply after playing. Been a week and the PL 1650's sound just fine and look new, no tarnish. The 1650's play and sound fine and the Stringlife does seem to prolong the life of the strings.
I've had the Just Strings set on for a while now and they sound good, but I'm disappointed in the longevity of the .028. It doesn't seem to last nearly as long as the GHS 1650 that I am used to. I may have to go back, or order the GHS .028s separately.
If you order the phosphor bronze strings in bulk and substitute a plain G for the 3rd string, with shipping you can get the sets from JS for $3.82/set. That's a great deal. I just got a shipment and they sound great.
KMA
Unfortunately, most reso players don't like how a plain G 3rd string sounds or feels (including me).
I received my order minus the .028's - Still waiting for them to show up. Been using some spare .026 D'Addario in the meantime. So the .028's ...sounds like double up on the quantity and change often ? Will be interesting to get the .028s to compare the lasting time.
I use Stringlife on a regular basis as well and it does seem to increase the life of strings in general.
KMA
I'm going through the JS .028s like crazy. I put one on yesterday and it played horribly out of tune up the neck. Everything tuned up perfectly open but at the 12th fret and above the 3rd string was ridiculously flat! I took it right off and the 2nd one intonates normally. I wonder what would cause this.....? Add that to the poor longevity and JS has lost me for good. Back to my good old GHS 1650s!
As a guitar tech of nearly 40 years experience, I find that two things are happening to strings as they wear out. Our sweat causes corrosion of the metal. Wiping the srings down after playing helps, but on the wound strings, the sweat can "percolate" between the wraps, and winds up not getting wiped off, even if you try to put them away dry. The other string killer is metal on metal wear. It slowly wears out engine parts in your car, and it does the same to your strings. On fretted instruments, it can be easy to see on an old set of strings after removal. Turn a high traffic string over, and the missing metal will appear as a dark (or light) band, at every spot where the string is pressed against the frets very often. If you were to magnify this area, and I have, it appears that a big half-round circle of the strings metal has been removed, like a beaver took a bite out of it! I know that you are thinking that we don't fret our reso's, but sure enough we do...the fret has just become the bar in your left hand. The wear pattern will be much different on a reso string, as it becomes a flattening of the top surface where your bar slides, meaning that your round string wire, now has a flat side to it!
I also find that brand new strings out of a sealed packages, are not always good! Some have "kinks" or bends in them. I can feel these by pinching them between my thumb and forefinger lightly, and pulling the string through gently for it's entire length. It is also easy to put a "kink" in a string yourself, if you don't unwrap it slowly, and carefully. It occasionally also happens, that a sring has a fault in it's manufacture. Machines make mistakes too, and especially wound or wrapped strings can have issues that will cause intonation problems, that can drive you crazy. IF IN DOUBT...CHANGE IT OUT! I also expect that reso players like myself that still find the capo a useful crutch, are shortening their string life, by causing string damage prematurely.
By the way I am from San Antonio, Texas, and new to reso-nation. I'm not sure how you get your locale into the message header.
Gene Warner
Man Greg - I'm sad to hear that. I just went back to JS for a dozen. Haven't even put the first set on yet. Oh well. Sucks that the GHS price at FQMS jumped so much.