String packaging rant

Tannin · September 2023

Mike58 said:

I still use Black Diamond strings light guage 13-56 with a wound 3rd.. fantastic value at 7/6d a set. Available from all good guitar emporiums.

Only Black Diamond could possibly be insane enough to call 13-56 "light"!

I tried a set of them in what, by convention, is called "light" gauge these days, though it's really at least medium by modern standards, 12-53. Contrary to expectations, they were remarkably pleasant. Certainly old school strings, quite hard on the fingers fresh on and a bit harsh and shouty sounding, but they settle down very nicely and produce a lovely clear tone without shredding the fingers. Long-lasting too, and not expensive. I'd buy them again for the right instrument.

bermudianbrit · September 2023

Hi

I appreciate that this is an unusual use case, but I will literally not use string manufacturers that don't package their strings individually. I know about the environmental implications, but the fact is that as a blind person, I can restring guitars independently if I know which string is which. When all 6 strings come out of a package in one clump, try telling the difference between a high B and high E without sight. Maybe some folks can do it by feel but I have never found a way to do so.
When they're individually packaged, they come out in order, I put them down in order and trust that they are going to go sequentially. I had one string set where the G and B were mixed up and I broke one, but that's only happened once in the years I've been restringing.
So if I must choose accessibility and independence over environmental concerns, I'm choosing accessibility every time.

Matt

Tannin · September 2023

Hi @bermudianbrit ;;

You spark an idea. One of the string manufacturers - er ... it might be Adamas - attaches a small label maybe 6mm square to each string (the string passes through a tiny hole in the label). Each label visually identifies the string. (I think it just has something like "E 6th" written on it but I don't pay much attention. Maybe there is a colour code.)

Now that isn't all that useful because if you are sighted you can see the different string sizes (so why do you need a label? (OK, I have to wear my reading glasses, but I'm old.)

Why not do that buy use different shaped labels? 1st string, square. 2nd string, triangular. 3rd string circular. Then repeat for the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings (as no-one is going to mistake a 12 for a 25 or a 16 for a 44).

Cost: hardly anything. Environmental impact? Tiny. Use - well, anyone could drop all 6 strings and muddle them up and still easily tell which one is which.

EDIT: PS: I am now recording the type of packaging every time I open a packet of strings. It will take a while before I have a meaningful number listed though.

crunchman · September 2023

Surely the bigger environmental impact is based on how long the strings last.

The energy and materials that go into making the actual strings will be have a much higher environmental impact than the minor differences in packaging. Also, if you have to replace them twice as often, you will need twice the amount of whatever packaging you use.

In theory, coated strings would have some advantages there, but then you are shedding microplastic particles as they wear.

Tannin · September 2023

^ Good points @crunchman. However, strings (ordinary uncoated ones) are fully recyclable. The energy that goes into recycling metals is, for the most part, electricity only (blast furnaces making new steel from ore are mostly coal fired; recycling furnaces are mostly electric) and electricity is rapidly becoming renewable. In my state it is already 100% renewable, in the UK it is well on the way.

So I'm going to stick with the packaging as the main factor, but recognising that this will vary from one place to another.

Rob1742 · September 2023

A good solution with regards the packaging issue is to buy the cheap fake strings that are about.

That way you get to moan about buying fake strings rather than the packaging they come in.

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