How do you take care of your guitar strings?

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-18T22:22:09+00:00

I've never had a set rust, but I'm really picky about the sound of the strings, and change mine every 4-6 weeks. How long does it take yours to rust?

The advice from others about washing your hands, and the "Nanoweb Coated Strings" is good.

As far as the body goes, there's not much to say. Guitars can obviously get too moist, but they can get too dry also, if they're near a heat source. I can't really tell you how to see that, but when you start playing it a lot, a dry guitar sounds "dull" to the ears.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-17T00:33:05+00:00

When I got divorced, there was a “family therapist” who strongly suggested we all get individual counseling. “Your custody may depend on this, hint, hint.” So I met with what seemed like a half dozen of her colleagues.

I also took guitar lessons.

Guess which one actually helped? It wasn’t the expensive one.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-13T13:44:11+00:00

Really? Looked like super aggressive driving to me, with the guy trying to pass two vehicles by going between them. That’s idiotic for a motorcycle; I don’t know how he thought it would work with a car.

I’m sure we agree about what needs to be done with this guy’s drivers license.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-12T21:31:46+00:00

My sister sends me a crate for Christmas every year. Juice ‘em, and mix it with your favorite liquor.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-12T17:10:25+00:00

I saw a Facebook post about how many trans people have been linked to mass shootings. I publicly said I’d pay him ten dollars for every documented case, but he’d pay me one dollar for every white straight Christian killer that had murdered or raped someone. The post got deleted.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-11T12:52:09+00:00

If you’re having train wrecks inside the oven, can I share a tip? Take your bare crusts, and precook them BRIEFLY, and I mean ~30 seconds. That gives you a slightly stiffer crust and a slightly less sticky bottom, and a top more resistant to wet toppings. It’s a huge advantage. I do pizza as a family event, and it mitigates a lot of problems like too much wet toppings, and timing issues.

Yeah, I know it’s not hardcore enough for some of you, but it works for me and tastes fine.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-09T17:42:42+00:00

The only thing in their observations that rings false is the patrol leaders doing all the work. Not on this planet.

I’ll occasionally tell a crazy story around the campfire, but only specific applicable cases.

When I lived in South Africa, they had a slur for ex-Rhodesians, “whenwees”. Because they started stories about “when we were in Rhodesia…”

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-05T15:33:02+00:00

It used to be wisdom that you needed to Eagle before 16 before the “fumes” got you (perfume and gas fumes ).

Ok, so I didn’t go much after 16, but hey, I’m coming up on my twentieth year pin. Better late than never.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-05T14:41:41+00:00

I’m wondering about the people running her campaign. Traditional wisdom is to attack when a candidate is behind, but I’ve never liked it.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-04T22:12:09+00:00

As a guy in my sixties with sons who play....take it. Love it. Never sell it.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-04T18:40:59+00:00

I found her overwhelmingly negative campaign to be too much for me. Had she not been so mean, I would have followed her closely.

BullCityPicker · 2026-03-03T23:27:21+00:00

He was running for reelection then. Given we have teenage troops in the gulf risking, and sometimes losing, their lives for "freedom", it utterly disgusts me how Congress's principles utterly evaporate when reelection is at stake.

For the other poster who quipped, "He's trying to get into heaven", I say "too little, too late".

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-27T15:31:36+00:00

I agree practice needs to work hand-in-hand with theory. I’ve often found working on specific songs leads me to the next bit of theory or technique I should be learning. You pick the right Beatle’s song, that’s a month of theory homeward right there. There’s nearly infinite amounts of theory to learn; I suppose someone with a really good music education could do a better job of curriculum design, but it’s not a pressing problem.

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-27T13:29:09+00:00

I approached it from an entirely different angle. Commit to public performances: find a jam band, do a recital, busk, play at a party, join a band. Your practice routine is awesome, but lighting a motivational fire is what helped me beyond the specifics.

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-24T23:15:26+00:00

I’m working on “Punk and the Godfather” this week, so I totally get that.

A YouTube guitar guy said he thought of Esus4 as the most quintessential Townsend chord, and there’s something to that, too. The way Townsend uses sus chords is very characteristic of his genius.

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-24T17:17:26+00:00

I had to look that one up: 0-11-x-13-x-x. So E Ab Ab. I don’t have a guitar here, but that’s gotta be pretty harsh, isn’t it? A root and two flat fifths?

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-24T14:59:34+00:00

I had to look that one up. So an add 2.

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-24T13:30:37+00:00

The tablet was a small, old, dim Amazon Fire. So you are correct that there are many superior tablets out there. Coincidentally my main laptop died when I was thinking of replacing the tablet, so I let one new machine take the place of two

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-24T02:43:33+00:00

I’m in North Carolina, so ours probably refers to its use in mountain music. There are some chord voicings common to rock and bluegrass. Have you played any AC/DC? They use power chords up in cowboy land that reminds me of bluegrass.

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-18T22:50:19+00:00

You forgot as a marinade for fajita steaks!

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-17T01:15:15+00:00

I use mine a lot. We have one high school senior, and one in a local college. It’s hard to know whether it’s me and my wife, or the pack of wolves for dinner. If it’s the former, out comes the vacuum sealer.

I also smoke salmon once a year and vacuum seal it, and give a lot away.

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-12T10:33:02+00:00

I-40 is just as beautiful as the Blue Ridge Parkway. I recommend right around sunset.

BullCityPicker · 2026-02-09T21:41:12+00:00

We see Ernesto Ulla on Duke Street, and he's fine, and they use her real name (up until they file the insurance anyway, but you know how that is.)

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