Leftover Guitar Strings

Delta-Male

What do you guys do with the excess strings when replacing them? Some just leave them to point wildly everywhere, and others
cut them off nicely to look neat, then Ive also seen some who curl them up nicely at the end etc etc.

What do you prefer and why?

Squonk

I cut them neatly, but it does have it's hazards like severe finger pricking ?

IceCreamMan

i cut em before installing em ,makes it neater an no finger severing

deefstes

There's nothing that annoys me more than wayward strings sprouting at all angles from the headstock. Even if they're rolled up 'nicely', to me they're still an eyesore and an obstacle. I cut mine neatly and as close to the tuner as I can without compromising the grip.

I don't understand why people would want to leave the excess string behind the tuner. It's not like you're ever going to use that stretch of string.

makepeace

Man.. Why would you care what you do with your excess bits of strings? Its not as if you play them or they do anything to how your guitar sounds. The only thing that they concern themselves with is your image. People who care about having a good image will cut them off, people who are lank bored and want to be cool will roll them up, people who care about not caring about their image will leave them there.

Personally to me its a matter of practicality, if i have a pair of side cutters at hand, i'll cut them off. Otherwise there they'll stay until i'm bored enough to trim them.

Manfred-Klose

i prefer to cut them, before they cut me

deefstes

makepeace wrote:Its not as if you play them or they do anything to how your guitar sounds.

In a world where people can hear the tonal difference between a maple fretboard and a rosewood fretboard, a bone nut and a graphtec nut, a fully charged 9V battery and a half depleted 9V battery (yes, I've heard someone claim to be able to tell the difference that makes to the guitar's tone), I wouldn't be surprised if someone claims that the excess string beyond the tuner affects the guitar's tone.

There, can of worms opened.

Bob-Dubery

deefstes wrote:
makepeace wrote:Its not as if you play them or they do anything to how your guitar sounds.
In a world where people can hear the tonal difference between a maple fretboard and a rosewood fretboard, a bone nut and a graphtec nut, a fully charged 9V battery and a half depleted 9V battery (yes, I've heard someone claim to be able to tell the difference that makes to the guitar's tone), I wouldn't be surprised if someone claims that the excess string beyond the tuner affects the guitar's tone.

I don't know about that, but more than a few mm of string sticking out from the post of the machine heads seems to me to be a rattle waiting to happen.

makepeace

deefstes wrote: There, can of worms opened.

Actually, I'll claim that one ?

No, those other things you mentioned will definitely have noticeable effects on the sound that people hear. Not sure what you're referring to re the 9V battery.. Active pickups? Effects pedals? Have you ever heard a Fuzz Face with a half depleted battery? It is the nature of physics of transistors that results in this effect, and believe me, you don't have to be an astronaut to be able to hear it.

But enough, lets get the thread back on its set of tracks :?

I think if I were in a band and played on cramped stages/ran around a lot I would probably cut them. Its quite a health risk to peoples eyes. There is also an uninvestigated theory that states that if you leave the ends of your strings untrimmed, they act as 'tonal antennas', and pick up cosmic rays that infuse themselves with your tone.

deefstes

makepeace wrote:There is also an uninvestigated theory that states that if you leave the ends of your strings untrimmed, they act as 'tonal antennas', and pick up cosmic rays that infuse themselves with your tone.

You just had to open a barrel of worms now didn't you?

FruitarGeek

makepeace wrote: People who care about having a good image will cut them off, people who are lank bored and want to be cool will roll them up, people who care about not caring about their image will leave them there.

I don't quite agree with this. Firstly, many people DON'T cut them for the image, as it looks hipster rock and roll, or whatever you want to call it. But secondly, and most importantly (for me at least) it's respect to the guitar. I have a beaut of a guitar, and I should do all I can to make sure she is properly groomed and cut etc. hence I cut the end of my strings for my guitar!

Another reason why people would not cut the strings is that the literally change their strings twice a week, and couldn't be bothered with extra work.

Squonk

I hate changing strings. ☹

Something I must do tonight, been about 8 weeks now and boy are they dead and uninspirational.

But I will be neat Deefstes ?

aubs1

deefstes wrote: There's nothing that annoys me more than wayward strings sprouting at all angles from the headstock. Even if they're rolled up 'nicely', to me they're still an eyesore and an obstacle. I cut mine neatly and as close to the tuner as I can without compromising the grip.

Fully agree, I do that too ......

deefstes wrote: I don't understand why people would want to leave the excess string behind the tuner. It's not like you're ever going to use that stretch of string.

And it does not make them look "cooler" ..... just untidy.... but then, maybe to them, that's cool......

Adrian Rogowski wrote: I have a beaut of a guitar, and I should do all I can to make sure she is properly groomed and cut etc. hence I cut the end of my strings for my guitar!

+1 Me too .... I'm not gonna let my nice guitars look like crap .....

Nitebob

Why oh why, would I fill my topcoat when thy hae dings etc. polish my guit's at least once a month with furniture oil, I'm talking the whole nine yards...slack the strings and polish the fretboard? And leave strings hanging around to scratch my headstock?

AlanRatcliffe

Nitebob wrote: Why oh why, would I fill my topcoat when thy hae dings etc. polish my guit's at least once a month with furniture oil, I'm talking the whole nine yards...slack the strings and polish the fretboard? And leave strings hanging around to scratch my headstock?

+1. Plus they rattle and look untidy.

Squonk

Aubs1 wrote:
+1 Me too .... I'm not gonna let my nice guitars look like crap .....

@ Aubs restringing all those must take a couple of weeks? ?

Malkav

Adrian Rogowski wrote: But secondly, and most importantly (for me at least) it's respect to the guitar. I have a beaut of a guitar, and I should do all I can to make sure she is properly groomed and cut etc. hence I cut the end of my strings for my guitar!

This is my view point as well, my ladies deserve to look their best! I didn't spend almost an entire year in debt paying one off just to have her look like shit.

deefstes wrote:
makepeace wrote:There is also an uninvestigated theory that states that if you leave the ends of your strings untrimmed, they act as 'tonal antennas', and pick up cosmic rays that infuse themselves with your tone.
You just had to open a barrel of worms now didn't you?

The theory I've heard is that the added mass adds sustain, it's also the marketing blurb behind things like Fender's fat finger, which is a brass block made to clamp to your headstock.

Nitebob wrote: polish my guit's at least once a month with furniture oil,

I honestly would advise against the use of commercial brand furniture oils and cleaners, some of them tend to have some nasty things that may leave a lustre and shine but can also get into the wood and cause cracks via expansion of plasticky stuffs inside of them. I think the thing that causes this is called polypropylene, and it's bad stuff for guitar woods!

PeteM

Do you cut your toe nails?

Nitebob

Point taken Chad, just use it cause it looks so purdy. ? What would you advise? Sorry about the derailment, I just need to know...

ezietsman

Failure to trim your guitar's string ends makes you look just as retarded as those blokes with their pants below their bums. Exhibit A:

You Sir, look like a 'tard.

The only exception is when you break a string mid-set and don't have time to trim the replacement. Even so, you can break it off using your fingers by bending it back and forth until it comes off.