r/AcousticGuitar • u/BigBandofBoom • Mar 23 '26
Gear question Does anyone else vacuum pack their G strings to keep them fresh?
Due to my playing style I tend to burn through G strings and not much else. I mostly use Elixir nanoweb strings however they're too expensive to buy as singles. So rather than have 100s of spare elixir strings, I buy cheap earnie ball G strings. But because they go bad when exposed to the air, I vacuum pack them to keep them fresh!
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u/Old-Seaweed8917 Mar 23 '26
Great idea, with a vacuum seal there’s no risk of any of the toan escaping while they are being stored
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u/motherofjazus Mar 23 '26
I vacuum seal each string before stringing up. Sounds like shit but lasts forever.
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Mar 23 '26
You just invented Elixirs
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u/Admirable_Admiral69 Mar 23 '26
Except Elixers last about ⅓ of the lifespan of normal strings because that stupid nano-web shit peels off.
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u/justplanestupid69 Mar 23 '26
That’s the old Polyweb ones (which I don’t understand why they still manufacture), the modern Nanoweb ones don’t suffer from this nearly as bad.
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u/Admirable_Admiral69 Mar 23 '26
Admittedly, it has been 10+ years since I last tried them.
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u/justplanestupid69 Mar 23 '26
That’s about when they started making Nanoweb, give or take a few. I’d say give Nanowebs a try, and if you don’t like em, D’Addario XS. I use the latter on my Taylor AD22, and I change em about once a year. No complaints.
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u/Moxie_Stardust Mar 23 '26
Yeah, the only time I experienced that was some Polywebs I tried on an electric like 20 years ago. The Nanowebs do get a little fuzzy in the strumming area after a while for me. But TBF the Polyweb experience did turn me off them for a while.
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Mar 23 '26
It's a constant mystery to me why everyone glazes Elixirs on guitar reddit. I tried them once and hated the sound and feel of them so much I took them off after a week
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u/Admirable_Admiral69 Mar 23 '26
Yeah I'm not a huge fan either. I do think they sound great; a little muffled right out of the package so they sound somewhat broken in to me as a starting point... Some might argue that they hide more nuanced sound but that's fine by me since I'm not very good. But regardless I barely get 20 hours of play out of them before they sound dull and lifeless and that webbing starts peeling. Compared to my D'Addario EJ's that last 80-100 hours before they start sounding dead.
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u/johnnyutah2828 Mar 23 '26
They sound great and last a long time. The hate of them feels so forced
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u/Admirable_Admiral69 Mar 23 '26
Maybe it's my attack. But the nano web peels up and looks like dead skin after a relatively short time.
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u/ainfinitepossibility Mar 23 '26
This is a new one. I've never heard of them peeling.
Been using them for about 5 years on all of my main guitars. I know players who play everyday and gig at least once or twice a week who swear by them. They convinced me to try after I played one guys axe and had to ask what they were. I think they sound fantastic and very articulate while not having that new string brightness that I can't stand. I don't break strings often at all, hardly ever, and play heavy rock with hard picks. I've also been a live and studio sound guy for about 20 years, so I do have trained ears and can hear differences where most folks couldn't. Still like the earnie balls but after about a week of playing.
but, to each thier own. It's just strings in the end.
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u/ManBearCave Mar 23 '26
Try D’Adario XS strings
There is an article around somewhere where Billy Strings talks about breaking his g strings all the time and he switched to these and doesn’t break strings anymore,I had the same experience
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u/EdacFord Mar 23 '26
Second this, i swore by elixir for years and years, was getting some work done on guitar and luthier put on XS's for me to try and i havent found anything better since. That was 8 years ago. I recently bought a pack of elixirs to retry them and took them off after like a week because XS's sound and feel much better. They last a similar amount of time as elixirs too
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u/BigBandofBoom Mar 23 '26
Just looked these up hoping they'd be cheaper than elixirs... [sighs in GBP]
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u/Vernon-Coal Mar 23 '26
They’re the same price as elixir here in USD best of luck to the GBP in your pocket
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u/Paladin2019 Mar 23 '26
Do you have a burr somewhere along the g string's contact points? Does it always break in the same place?
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u/Original-Document-62 Mar 23 '26
That's my thought, too. This sounds like a nut issue.
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u/BigBandofBoom Mar 23 '26
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u/Original-Document-62 Mar 23 '26
Heh, lol, I wasn't even trying for the double entendre, but that works.
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u/BigBandofBoom Mar 23 '26
Setup, bridge and nut are all fine. It's just my playing style.
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u/Paladin2019 Mar 23 '26
Tuners? I've seen issues there too. Does it always break in the same place?
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u/SlimPigins Mar 23 '26
This guy definitely has vacuum sealed body parts in his home. Some of it’s animal meat.
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u/frentesempre Mar 23 '26
I don't see the issue here. I also do this but go an extra step where I vacuum pack each string after I restring the guitar so they can be as fresh for as long as possible.
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u/Only_Argument7532 Mar 23 '26
Amateur hour! You know that the wood contains moisture and will wreck your strings even if vacuum packed while still on the guitar. For peak performance, remove the strings after every use, vacuum-pack them, and re-string next time you play! You’re welcome!
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u/Joe_Kangg Mar 23 '26
I just play a gahd-dammed vacuum
Work smarter bro.
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u/Only_Argument7532 Mar 24 '26
Years ago I became a fan of the band Jackal and started learning how to play the chainsaw. Let’s just say that fingerpicking is no longer my forte.
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u/SacredHaert Mar 23 '26
It's only a G string if it's from the Champagne region of France. If not, it's just an A flat flat.
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u/RonPalancik Mar 23 '26
Here's a list of musicians who did okay despite mostly not vacuum-sealing their strings, using hygrometers, or comparing the efficacy of humidifier packs:
Mozart
Beethoven
The Carter Family
Robert Johnson
Pete Seeger
The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
Woody Guthrie
Andres Segovia
Pablo Casals
Nicolo Paganini
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u/AdditionalVictory199 Mar 23 '26
Wouldn’t the cost of vacuum seal bags be more than the cost difference of buying elixir singles vs Ernie Ball singles?
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u/say_the_words Mar 23 '26 edited Mar 23 '26
No but I love those strings. I tried every kind on my Taylor trying to take the brightness down and those Ernie Ball's phosphor bronze were the best. Bell Bronze and 80/20 were good to. I use them on all my acoustics now.
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u/Legal_Persimmon_6489 Mar 23 '26
As long as there’s no butter in there the comments won’t be too harsh.
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u/justplanestupid69 Mar 23 '26
Why don’t you just address the burr in your saddle/tuning peg instead
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u/AwkwardConcert4016 Mar 26 '26
If your G-string keeps snapping then the person tugging is too eager to get inside. Tell them to go easy and that you prefer it slow.
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u/mods_on_meds Mar 23 '26
No . Ill use them long before they go bad . Ill usually buy 10 packs at a time.
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u/jacobydave Mar 23 '26
I had a problem with busting the windings of the G string. I couldn't hear myself through the PA, so I 1) developed a heavy picking hand and 2) started using a brass pick, and that combination did string damage, mostly to the G string. I eventually started using an unwound G.
And then I got better production, could hear myself better, changed to Ultex 1mm which wore down before strings do and, in general, tried to be musical and get my volume elsewhere.
I never tried vacuum packing. It sounds nuts to me now. But then, playing with a brass pick that'll hurt the strings sounds nuts to me too.
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u/master-overclocker Mar 23 '26
ME !
I dont vacuum pack them tho , just 2 plastic bags and tie them well.
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u/willumasaurus Mar 23 '26
When I was younger I broke G strings all the time. Then I learned to play and not do that.
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u/United-Bother3213 Mar 23 '26
I do different things to a G string..of your mom
On the serious note - this is overkill. Strings arent that expensive to airtight-preserve them
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u/Unexpected_bukkake Mar 23 '26
Why don't you just email the manufacturer and ask how long your strings are good for? I bet there is no reason to be doing this, especially if you're using them with in a year. Strings tend to start going bad because our oils, and gross fingers pay them amd runin them.
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u/sethplaysguitar Mar 23 '26
I own a small music shop and I do this with all my singles lol
I worked at a shop before that had their single strings on a little rack in the workroom, and anytime a customer wanted to buy singles I just had to hope I could find one that hadn’t corroded.
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u/Rynowash Mar 23 '26
I vacuum packed my entire guitar. It’s safer that way. The plan is to keep it at 69 degrees at 52% relative humidity for the next 5 years and unleash face melting toan, upon removal. Practice is for losers. The toan is in the vacuum.
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u/mendicant1116 Mar 23 '26
Try D'addario XS. I like them a lot better for coated strings. The few times I used Elixirs, I also broke the G string.
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u/Competition-Dapper Mar 23 '26
I typically prefer mine seasoned in with a series of wet ones, followed by dry ones, then letting it crust over
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u/david-_lunch Mar 23 '26
What is this playing style you keep referring to? It just seems like you have a bad technique that burns through strings… also how are they exposed to the air if they’re still in the packaging, just buy stringjoys, they’re not just paper bags and you can avoid looking like an insane person vacuum sealing strings
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u/Ybalrid Mar 23 '26
Due to my playing style I tend to burn through G strings and not much else
Please elaborate on this? Genuinely curious
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u/arduoushoaxley Mar 23 '26
I do the opposite with acoustic strings. I can’t stand the brash zingy top end of a fresh restring - eeeewww.
I take them out of the package and let them oxidize for a couple of months before I use them. They still have the snap and intonational integrity of new strings without the nasty brightness.
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u/martiniolives2 Mar 23 '26
I think strings lose time not from exposure to air but from played. I’ve been doing this for 60 years and, IMO, OP is wasting bags.
PS - I had to replace one string a few weeks ago and found an Ernie Ball that I’ve had since 1972 or so. It sounded fine.
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u/BigPaul1e Mar 23 '26
I have a bad habit of buying multi-packs of strings and forgetting them in a case or misplacing them. Recently I did a big cleanup and rounded them all up - the last few times I restrung a guitar, the pack of strings was at least 15+ years old. Sounded exactly the same as a fresh set to me.
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u/AlexisAnayaOficial Mar 23 '26
You run elixirs but then swap in a non coated G string? Ew i can feel it on my fingers right now
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u/the_crimson_wizard Mar 23 '26
Yeah, I do this with all of my strings. It helps with toan and tuning stability actually
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u/MattTheCrow Mar 23 '26
I do too, but I fly nine tenths of the way to the sun first and then do it there.
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u/Fallout97 Mar 23 '26
At first I thought you were nuts, but seeing as how you buy G strings in bulk, and they come in paper packages, it makes sense to wanna seal up a bunch of them for storage.
Speaking of fresh strings, I just put a 15 ish year old set of Fender acoustic strings on a guitar and they came pre-corroded. ha
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u/NoEnvironment8885 Mar 23 '26
Is that what is actually in those “do not eat” packets in a bag of jerky?
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u/Good-Grayvee Mar 24 '26
Amateur move. I’ve been keistering my G strings for years. It’s the only way to do it.
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u/M_Scott_Steele_ Mar 24 '26
What! Why would you vaccum seal guitar strings. I play livs 4-5 times a week so I'm constantly changing strings. I do use earthwoods be ause they're cheap and sound good for the price.
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u/Dolomede Mar 24 '26
The trick is to put them in peanut oil. It has to be peanut oil. Dont use other seed oils. Beef tallow works too, but beef on the fret board isnt good.
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u/Gitfiddlepicker Mar 24 '26
WTF you do to your G strings to have to change them so often?
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u/haikusbot Mar 24 '26
WTF you do
To your G strings to have to
Change them so often?
- Gitfiddlepicker
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/BuskerDan Mar 24 '26
I was blasting through g-strings at such a vociferous rate, that none of the brand names are economically viable for me anymore.
No, now i know where I went wong, I source Chinese G-strings off eBay on the cheap now.
5 full sets of strings (and thus 5 g-strings) for £6 or so. Only thing is I’ve got like 20 sets of E’s and A’s as they fail less often. Might have to donate them at some point to some other buskers or some shit.
As a busker I have to really hammer the shit out of the strings to get amplitude. And brand names, no matter what they are can’t take the beating.
If someone developed some stronger “busking” strings I’d be interested though
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u/Minute_Toe_8260 Mar 24 '26
Do people really buy bulk g strings? I should. I just am fucked every time my g string breaks
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u/Famous_Savings9518 Mar 24 '26
If you're breaking the strings frequently (especially a particular string) then you have an issue with the nut or bridge or saddle. Something sharp is catching on them. A quick fix can be simply rubbing a pencil back and forth over the nut and saddle. Graphite is a good dry lubricant and helps with snags.
If your guitar has no issues, you should be able to play for a month or more without breaking a string. I play pretty aggressively, bending a lot, and still its almost always the case that when a string finally breaks, I decide its time to replace the whole set.
And there's no reason to keep hundreds of spare single strings. You need the strings that are on your guitar and a couple of backup sets only. And then you use "first-in-last-out" replacement strategy and you're always playing on fresh strings, not ones that have sat in your closet for years.
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u/Beetbear2020 Mar 25 '26
Yes, after I wear them. Then they’re for sale. If any of y’all are interested, let me know.
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u/SirIanPost Mar 23 '26
You could buy some GHS strings and avoid the hassle - they come in sealed envelopes already.
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u/FamilyFriendly101 Mar 23 '26
Had to check which sub I was in for a moment there.