Bad guitar dad.....

I must be one of those weirdos that actually enjoys changing strings.

It’s a therapeutic process for me, strings off, top, headstock and fretboard cleansed, fretboard oiled if needed, new strings applied, stretched, excess string clipped and new string tonal nirvana achieved.

Ah bliss!

Same here....I love changing guitar strings and cleaning guitars. I routinely clean my guitars after playing just because I like taking care of stuff. I even enjoy doing it for other people, especially if they have a PRS. Well, really, only if they have a PRS...I've cleaned my brother's SE several times. He doesn't take care of his guitars at all, really - which is fine, of course, it just looks super nice when I get done with it, which is rewarding to me. Our bass player bought my old SE Singlecut, so I help out with that one too when I have the chance.

I just love guitars and enjoy taking any extra time with them, even if I'm not playing them.
 
Im a bad dad too, and I’m addicted to that GHS Fast Fret crap, it totally extends the life of dead and dry strings.

Y’all are making me feel bad so I’m totally gonna replace the strings on my LV “studio” since I haven’t replaced them in..... years.:oops:
 
Im a bad dad too, and I’m addicted to that GHS Fast Fret crap, it totally extends the life of dead and dry strings.

Y’all are making me feel bad so I’m totally gonna replace the strings on my LV “studio” since I haven’t replaced them in..... years.:oops:

Sounds like the perfect time for Paco training!
 
So I made a mistake and told my wife about this sorry state of string affairs. That led down a path that I wasn't quite expecting.....

Her - "It's been how long?"
Me - "Hahaha....yeah.....two and a half years or more."
Her - "Look at that wall! Do you realize how much money is hanging there?! Strings are cheap. You need to maintain your guitars!!"
Me - "Oh....uhm.....bu...."
Her - "Look in this bin. Do you see how many packs of strings are in there? Why did you even bother to buy them?!"
Me - "But....."
Her - "No. If you can't take care of the guitars that you already have then don't even think of talking to me about getting another one!"
Me - "Buuuuu......."
Her - "Zip it mister."

It's been a long time since I was treated like an 8 year old who left his bike out in the rain day after day.....but there it was. Note to self.....don't talk about anything guitar related with the wife for at least three months (it will probably take that long for her to calm down!) .

So after that I ended up playing for about three hours......still need to change strings.....maybe I will here in a bit while on lunch break......or maybe after work. Maybe tomorrow.....
 
Hi, my name is Brandon and I'm a bad guitar dad. Most of us become bad guitar parents because we neglect the others as we reach for our favorite. All are treated equally in my home as I rotate through them all as evenly as possible. But something dawned upon me.....and I was horrified.

I was playing the other night (had the rare opportunity to play for about 4 hour straight....empty house....no interruptions) and rotated through all of my guitars. Purposefully used different guitars on different songs just to see what I could make them do (McCarty for Megadeth and CU24 for Weezer type thing). Nothing wanted to stay in tune. At first I blamed the weather. It is spring/summer here in Iowa and humidity levels are a changing. It's not bad enough here to kick in the AC yet so the windows are open 24/7. But after a bit of playing, I was out of tune again. Little to no trem use (my McCarty doesn't even have a trem!) Everything.....going to crap.

And then I looked at my strings. They look fine and fresh......all smiles and shine. No corrosion nor wear. They look like I replaced them yesterday.

Wait. When was the last time that I replaced a broken string? When was the last time that I replaced a set? Other than the extra packs that I keep in every guitar case, where are my bulk packs? Where are my nippers? How the hell do the winged tuners on my CU24 or CE24 work?

And then it dawned upon me......

I haven't changed the strings on my guitars for well over 2 years. Longer than that in some cases. My go to PRS is the 96 CE24. It sees 7-10 hours a week of play time at home plus a weekly band rehearsal (I play in a cover band and it's the most versatile and inexpensive guitar in my herd for that application). Two and a half years on the same strings.

When I owned other brands, I'd replace strings every two weeks.....or at least before any gig. Around that interval, I knew that one was ready to break. And break they did on those import guitars (even with a good setup). But I've never broken a string a PRS. EVER. Don't know why.....maybe the way it hangs changed my pick attack. Maybe because of how the bridge is constructed and filed. Maybe some magic dust in the glue PRS uses. But I don't break strings anymore.

None the less, I admit to being a bad guitar dad and not changing strings as I should. They look good....they feel good.....hell, they even sound good. But they just can't take the beating like they used to.

And in case you're interested, these are all D'Addario XL110s (except for the 11's on the DGT and the 9's on the SE Tremonti Custom). I don't have acidic sweat or gunky hands. I don't wipe down my guitars after playing. I don't oil my fretboards. I really don't do much to take care of my guitars......and they all look clean and minty even though they all get played every day.

Signed -

Bad Guitar Dad......


I am starting a therapy group as I too have been guilty of these offenses. GPS (Guitar Protective Services) have been called and I am in hot water
 
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