Bass String Shelf Life

[BobDavis88@aol.com]

> >What is the "shelf-life" of bass strings... any ideas?
>
>     I've always heard "not too long" to be at their best.
>
>  >John Musselwhite, RPT

I've heard from two string makers that hanging is better than coiled, and
that they ought to be put under tension within about a month. I don't know
why this might be true, but I put a set on after about four months (hanging),
and had lots of dead ones. Incidentally, in another (good) set, one string
which was dead when I installed it sounded almost as good as the rest a week
later! I replaced it anyway, but I thought its improvement with time was
interesting.

Bob Davis