Oh my God my fingers are green!!

[Stuntcheeks]

Am i the only one that uses phospher bronze? i use martins. my friend tells me he hates them, but i use a lot of stretch chords...obviously cause i play Dave, and they almost help grip my fingers and keep them from sliding too easily. He uses elixers and i can't keep my finger where i want to w/ those. anyway, not a lot of people like the phospher bronze, but maybe you would if you tried them...and they're still cheap.

I really like the sound of the D'Addario phosphor bronze, but find they lose that new sound quicker than I'd like. Like I said above, I don't find the coated D'Addarios slippery at all. Could just be me.

[acidrain]

How often do you guys change strings? When they don't sound great anymore? When they break? Every few months? I've only been playing for 4 or 5 months and I don't know if I should be changing strings at some stage..

[Appfro]

don't know, never tried the D'Addario's (or however the hell you spell it) but ill be sure to give them a shot.

As far as changing the strings, depends on how much money i have. in a perfect world, id probably change them every 2 or 3 weeks. but becasue im a broke ass, i usually change them every 5 or 6 weeks.

ps, how do you do the thing where you said what i said then replied to it, im kinda computer stupid...sorry[/quote]

[littlefriend]

Am i the only one that uses phospher bronze? i use martins. my friend tells me he hates them, but i use a lot of stretch chords...obviously cause i play Dave, and they almost help grip my fingers and keep them from sliding too easily. He uses elixers and i can't keep my finger where i want to w/ those. anyway, not a lot of people like the phospher bronze, but maybe you would if you tried them...and they're still cheap.

I use those Martin phosphor/bronze ones. Medium gauge. I like 'em quite a bit.

[acidrain]

ps, how do you do the thing where you said what i said then replied to it, im kinda computer stupid...sorry

Completely confused with what you're asking... Are you talking about quoting what someone else said?

[Appfro]

haha, i got it now. i was talking about exactly what you did to me. where my quote was at the top and you answered it in the same box...i found the wonderful quote button...i just hadn't looked yet. thanks

[mattm]

i recently put on a set of Elixir Nanoweb lights ...my first time using coated strings. at first it felt like someone ate a bunch of fried chicken and played my guitar. but they're not too slick, and they really cut down on finger noise. as to whether they last 3-5 times longer, as Elixir claims, i have yet to find out. i've had them on for about a month, and the tone is still quite good, though i can see the wear on the strings around the second fret and where i pick/strum over the sound hole.

on a side note, i've always been real sensitive to grime on my guitar and strings. i wash my hands always before playing. my hands don't sweat much, but my left thumb, and the web of my hand, tends to get a bit sticking from holding the neck. so i use baby powder frequently to eliminate that sticky feeling. problem is, i have to use it about every 15 minutes or so, and that sux. might there be some more effective product?

does anyone have a great solution to the sticky thumb/hand problem?

[Appfro]

i recently put on a set of Elixir Nanoweb lights ...my first time using coated strings. at first it felt like someone ate a bunch of fried chicken and played my guitar. but they're not too slick, and they really cut down on finger noise. as to whether they last 3-5 times longer, as Elixir claims, i have yet to find out. i've had them on for about a month, and the tone is still quite good, though i can see the wear on the strings around the second fret and where i pick/strum over the sound hole.

on a side note, i've always been real sensitive to grime on my guitar and strings. i wash my hands always before playing. my hands don't sweat much, but my left thumb, and the web of my hand, tends to get a bit sticking from holding the neck. so i use baby powder frequently to eliminate that sticky feeling. problem is, i have to use it about every 15 minutes or so, and that sux. might there be some more effective product?

does anyone have a great solution to the sticky thumb/hand problem?

i don't have that problem w/ my thumb...i have it with my right hand. as a matter of fact i was standing over my guitar and looked down and saw a dark spot where my right hand lays across my guitar while im strumming. man i was pissed. i took it a guitar shop and he told me to use polish before i play. i have always polished my guitar while changing the strings and stuff, but never before i play, but it seems to help. maybe you could try that on the neck, it may help.

[mattm]

i don't rest my lower arm on the soundboard much, unless i'm doing a lot of picking (like satellite, with my palm on the bridge). when i'm strummin my lower arm is off the guitar. but on hot days my bicep area will start to stick to where it touches the soundboard and side. sweat is definitely not healthy on a low finish guitar, like my Seagull S6 Spruce.

so i wash the soundboard, sides, neck, and strings most every time i play for more than 15 min. i just use hot water with a drop of liquid soap, and a small soft rag (damp).

playing with a clean, slick neck and clean strings makes all the difference for me.

[two steps too many]

It seems like whenever i use non coated strings my fingers turn green and so do the strings..no matter what i do the tone dies in like 5 min and the strings are green and i always wash my hands and wipe down the strings any suggestions?



Thanks
Dave

When I was in Fiji for a few months, I noticed that my finger tips would turn green, and green junk would get stuck in the strings, but when I came back home (Vancouver) it never happened again. It could have been the heat and high humidity, the cheap strings, the fact that I was just beggining to play, or all of the above. But it's never happened since.

Do you live somewhere hot and humid?

[AdamCU81]

I play EJ16s most of the time, and get the green fingers and the green strings. Its the copper oxidizing from the sweat as mentioned before, and it really sucks. Strings only stay fresh on my guitar for the first day I have them on. After an hour of playing, I can already see dark spots on the strings where my fingers have been. Then, after a few days of playing, I look at the strings from different angles and can acctually see the corrosion and green crap built up on the strings. So I take a pick and slide it along the bottom of the strings and all the green powder comes off. Coated strings last a bit longer, but I find the coating starts to shred away after a few days. It just sucks to have to restring every week.

[tjmac66pc]

I also suffer from 'green finger' at times...i have since started 'casing' my guitar after each use and at the end of each week will clean my strings with string cleaning solution... definitely is important to maintain the solid sound that you want from guitar... it's also good to clean and polish at least once a month..also, a rep at a guitar center here in MA once told me that every now and then your guitar needs to be re-aligned because the neck can sometimes 'bow' due to variances/temp changes...just a little added info...