Interesting stuff tlw.... interesting stuff. I can tell you are a mechanic of sorts from the way you approach the mechanics of a guitar.

 One thing I never considered was that bad strings can prematurely wear frets. From the time a guitar is built and strung there are opposing forces at work. The strings work against the neck and the neck works against the strings. I knew a neck would try to fight back if the strings were loosened but I wasn't sure if it was a serious enough thing to actually damage the neck long term. I like your idea to loosen the strings only a small amount. From what I can tell the strings always loose the battle in the end, unless a person winds  heavy strings on a guitar and overwinds them on a guitar with a tight truss rod..then maybe the neck will fail.

 So this battle of opposing forces eventually ruins the strings no matter if played or not...guess I'd better get to playing and get my moneys worth then;)

Seems GHS Boomers also have what they call custom light (9-46), so I'm looking forward to giving them a try.

Off topic, but anyone here ever used or uses those things? Noticed any difference/improvement? I thought it might be something I'd give a try, particularly to try and strengthen my pinky. 

A mechanic of sorts? I suppose so - thinking about it I know quite a few musicians who are happy handling a spanner or soldering iron.

As far as setting up guitars is concerned, there's no mystery or black arts to it really. Just a process of measuring and adjusting, then playing, then repeating as necessary until happy enough. Do it often enough and it becomes second nature.

Banjo setups, on the other hand, where everything moves relative to everything else and adjusting the rods or skin alters the action and vice- versa are entirely a matter of luck. Though I'm told sacrificing a goat sometimes helps :-).

Rain


Seems GHS Boomers also have what they call custom light (9-46), so I'm looking forward to giving them a try.

Off topic, but anyone here ever used or uses those things? Noticed any difference/improvement? I thought it might be something I'd give a try, particularly to try and strengthen my pinky. 

Yeah the 9-46's are pretty cool too if you need them a little thicker. As for the grip-master thing, I used one for years and noticed 0 difference. I used it for years because it became a habit. When I was a delivery driver, I kept it on my truck and would drive with one hand and exercise my fingers.
 
In my opinion, you'll never get strength in your pinky. You can only work on stretching and mechanics. You figure, you will probably NEVER bend with your pinky no matter how strong it may be. When you bend, you usually end up using all your other fingers to reinforce so I wouldn't waste too much time strengthening your pinky. Work on the mechanics and dexterity of actually using it while stretching....use the other fingers to bend as a team if you're on a note with your pinky. That's what I do and it works well. :)
 
-Danny

Darn, there goes my plan to beat the finger push ups world record. ;)

Thanks Danny.

It very well may work for you Rain....it's cheap enough to where it would be worth the try. I just never saw any difference using it at all. As a matter of fact, I stopped using it because I was starting to notice a few performance issues. I remember feeling some pain in my fingers that I never had and when I stopped using it, the pain stopped too. Give it a try...it just make make a difference for the better for you. Everyone is different with stuff like this. :)

-Danny

One of the things I'm trying to address - hopefully before it actually hits me: I've had joint issues as far as I can remember - literally as a kid already, starting w/ my knees. Doctors used to say I grew up too fast. Anyway, the one solution I've found to work, besides supplements like glucosamine, is to strengthen the muscles. 

My hands have pretty much been spared so far - especially the left one, and I always assumed that the constant stretching and "exercising" inherent to playing guitar was to thank for that. But I'm not getting younger, and anything I can do to keep those hands in shape...

The other fun part is that I've also suffered from a mild condition called "essential tremors" (I think) since I was a kid. While it's pretty mild - never prevented me from threading a needle or whatever - it bugs me if I have to stretch out of the comfort zone - for example, playing w/ the thumb in the back of the neck, and stretching my wrist and hand. 

I have BIG hands, which I think make certain positions - like the "classical" position - even less comfortable. That's what I used to tell my classical guitar teacher when she'd do barre chord and have her entire finger resting against the strings while I only used 2/3 of my index and had to push that wrist way out there and my palm all curved out just to keep the thumb in its place. 

Anyway, working out w/ dumbells to strengthen my wrist always seemed to help, and I wish I could do the same for my pinky and the whole outer side of my hand.

So I'm not really counting on that thing to turn me into a fretboard whiz - that's what the studying and practicing is for, addressing the mechanics - but more to strengthen my hands and keep them healthy for as long as I possibly can. 

Excellent post TLW. 
When I had my music shop I changed a lot of strings. I had a flat rate  that included the pack of strings of $20 for 6 and $30 for 12 and , well,  bass players never change strings....I would also include a basic intonation and saddle adjustment. 

Best brands were GHS and D'addario. According to a sales rep, the majority of brands are all made with the same machine using the same base materials. 

New strings don't really stretch, The slack comes from improper seating at the saddle/bridge and the tuning machines. If installed properly they will stay in tune after a quick pre tensioning. 

If your breaking the same string all the time pay attention to exactly where it is breaking and look for an issue there. 

Cactus Music


Excellent post TLW. 
When I had my music shop I changed a lot of strings. I had a flat rate  that included the pack of strings of $20 for 6 and $30 for 12 and , well,  bass players never change strings....I would also include a basic intonation and saddle adjustment. 

Best brands were GHS and D'addario. According to a sales rep, the majority of brands are all made with the same machine using the same base materials. 

New strings don't really stretch, The slack comes from improper seating at the saddle/bridge and the tuning machines. If installed properly they will stay in tune after a quick pre tensioning. 

If your breaking the same string all the time pay attention to exactly where it is breaking and look for an issue there. 

Where I grew up, a new set of strings was prohibitively "expensive" (for me anyway), like $11 or $12. I'm talking plain old regular strings, back in the mid-eighties. There weren't much choices, besides D'Addario or Gibson. 


An old woman had that weird little shop where they had a couple of guitars for sale, among all the lamps and antiques and weird decoration stuff, and she used to sell individual strings, which was a blessing for me, because I just couldn't afford to replace the whole set at once every time I broke a string. Don't know how many times I went there to buy e strings. Gibsons, that's what she had.


Eventually, we got access to better guitars and more strings choices, and I had the money to afford both. But I could never play D'Addario again. In my mind they're associated w/ my first crappy electric guitar, on which I had to keep strings for months, replacing the broken one when I could, other times playing w/ only 5 strings for a while. Man, I ruined my fingers and developed tons of bad habits on that thing! If my kids ever want to play and instrument, I'll make sure they cut their teeth on something decent.


I guess that's also one of the reasons why I now change strings so often. Plus, they're just so much more affordable here and now. :)

Some guitar necks are not bolted on. Like and old silvertone guitar I have where it was stored with the strings on and the tension from the strings slowly pulled the neck away from the body. Martin guitars may be a similar case. If the guitar is genuinely not in use, and if you have a tuner so you can tune it up pretty quickly when you want to play it, slackening the strings can be a safer bet. It depends on other factors too, like are you storing it in an attic that gets hot in the summer?

I have one guitar I slacken the strings on because I play it rarely. My strat I never slacken. My Martin I play every day, so I would only loosen those if I was travelling on a plane or something.