All guitar players have had some experience with corrosion - whether they realize it or not. Sometimes, the corrosion byproducts are recognizable as black, green, or orange oxide residues that transfer to fingers during use. In other situations, corrosion by-products can be easily seen on strings that have been left untouched for long periods (i.e. after long periods of guitar storage in a guitar case). Both of these scenarios are accompanied by a deterioration in sound quality.

The reason is simple.

The vibrational characteristics (particularly the higher harmonics) of strings are physically influenced by the growing presence of oxide particles that spall from the metallic interfaces. This physical deterioration of the conventional string begins as soon as playing starts (and sometimes earlier if the string was improperly packaged). Even before the gross symptoms of corrosion are visible, the corrosion process is underway, and sound quality begins to deteriorate.

The corrosion process is affected by many variables including humidity, temperature, salts and acids from the fingers, atmospheric oxygen, and by the types of materials that are used to make the strings.

To put it more technically, conventional strings corrode as a result of a galvanic couple that is created between the windings and the core. In order for this couple to occur, water and salt from the fingers provide the conductive "bridge" between the metals, which leads to the flow of electrons from the more anodic metal to the more cathodic metal. Oxide residues are left on the surface of the anode. In conventional strings, the steel core is more anodic, and the resulting iron oxide residue is mechanically weak and easily spalls, leaving microscopic pits, voids, and particles which alter the string's vibrational and sound characteristics. To make matters worse, once the iron oxide layer is thick enough, the core becomes "passivated" and corrosion of the winding metal begins. Players of strings with copper alloy windings (i.e. all bronze alloys) recognize this as the "green stuff" that seems to get everywhere after playing for extended periods of time.

We have attacked this problem at its core: we've developed a patent pending construction and process which serves to minimize the galvanic couple between the winding and the core.

We've also recognized that to further maximize performance, the core should be the more cathodic metal of the construction. Thus, we've solved the age-old problem of string corrosion without the use of coatings or other "band-aids". We've attacked the problem with the fundamentals of science. We've developed a new, titanium alloy core string.

In order to illustrate how good our corrosion-proof string is, we've developed an accelerated test which mimics the process that occurs over time from play and finger contact. The test involves submerging the string in a vial which contains brine (super-saturated salt water solution). Within hours, steel core strings corrode, whereas our strings remain pristine.
As an illustration, the photo to the left shows how our corrosion proof nickel wound string compares to a conventional steel core string. From left to right, the vials contain our nickel wound titanium core, a conventional steel core wound string, our non-wound titanium core string, and a conventional non-wound steel core. Even after six months of exposure to concentrated brine, our strings are pristine and unaltered!

We noted earlier that our phosphor bronze wound titanium strings are "merely corrosion-resistant," but even these strings will outlast conventional steel core phosphor bronze strings as the photo to the right shows. After 24 hours in brine, the steel core string shows evidence of extreme corrosion, while corrosion of the phosphor bronze wound titanium string is minimal.

For those who live on a short-term limited budget (trust me, I understand), I want to help you too. I've developed a product which will help you to get a little more life out of your steel core set - hopefully long enough for you to save-up until you're ready to make the better investment in our patent pending titanium core strings. "Dr. Buzz's String Dressing" has been specially formulated to simultaneously clean strings while providing corrosion resistance, and lubricity during play.

The photo at the left shows a conventional steel core string after only four hours of exposure; with the untreated "control" on the left, and with "Dr. Buzz's" treated string on the right. The untreated steel core string has already started to corrode (notice the dark discoloration above the water line where the oxygen concentration is higher), while the treated string remains unaltered.

Although this demonstrates the improvement, the photo at the right shows a conventional steel core string and our phosphor bronze titanium string after 24 hours in brine. Both were treated with my special formula. Needless to say, I think it works.

Although our titanium core strings aren't plagued with the corrosion problems of conventional steel core strings, it's still a good idea to use "Dr. Buzz's String Dressing" on all strings, if for nothing else, to simply clean away contamination and to reestablish the lubricity required for good sound quality and ease of play. Enjoy your strings!

Yours Truly,