I always wondered....

[Jimo]

How long will a new pack of strings last if they just set on the shelf...How long can you keep them untill they start to degrade, rust, etc....on the average...just a ballpark estimate...........thanks!---JIMO

[Jack Wells]

In a dry climate my guess would be 1378 years........... but not a day more.

[blackshoe1]

But only if they are in a vacuum sealed package...otherwise the humidity could cut that by a few hundred years.

[Jimo]

Well that's a pretty long time......I just found a case of strings (12 pack)--that I bought at least a year ago.....hope they work.......ha............JIMO

[Togman]

I should hang on to them. You never know what a set of 'vintage' 2007 strings could be worth in a few years time!

[pengipete]

It's inflation you should worry about. At 5% per annum you'll be down to 11 strings by about August.

[cwood3]

...........but with global warming, what used to be a .010 mat really be a .011........................

[newtwanger]

Most people don't know what goes into making a set of strings, I mean it's not just straight wire and wrapped wire, there's alot of technology behind them.
I have researched and tested these for most of my life (by applying them to a testing device I call "my telecaster").
Jimo if you have 12 sets and are unsure of their "stability" I have a subterranean string testing facility (I call it "the basement") where I can hook up, say 6 sets of those strings and tell you if they do indeed meet minimum stability requirements.
Send them and any extra pickups, pickguards and amp tubes you have lying around and I'll test those too.
Anything I can do to help.

[guitarzan13]

Originally Posted by Jimo

How long will a new pack of strings last if they just set on the shelf...How long can you keep them untill they start to degrade, rust, etc....on the average...just a ballpark estimate...........thanks!---JIMO

I store mine in a Tupperware container with a bunch of silica gel packs and the keep for more than a year with NO ill effects....

[boris bubbanov]

I got one of those 25 set bulk packs from MF on the D'Addario 11-49 EXL 115s or whatever they're called. They were 'blems' because they had been in stock a while. $ 50.99 for the box, that's 2 dollars a set for the exact ones I use anyway. Perform perfectly.
Stupid stupid stupid for not getting 3-4 boxes, not a goldurned thing wrong with them except I've just about blown thru this box.
However, at the same time I also got some 10-46 D'Ad Half rounds; wow did those things ever stink for the first 2 weeks after I put them on. I wonder why?

[blackshoe1]

I haven't met Newtwanger, but he sounds like a heck of a guy. Not everyone would offer what he is offering....how selfless!!!

[newtwanger]

Originally Posted by blackshoe1

I haven't met Newtwanger, but he sounds like a heck of a guy. Not everyone would offer what he is offering....how selfless!!!

All part of being Canadian. We just give and give.

[Jimo]

Originally Posted by newtwanger

All part of being Canadian. We just give and give.

Hey I appreciate the help---those strings and pickups are on their way up there---be sure and check the mail every day---and thanks again!---JIMO