Worn Out Martin Strings

dasuol

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I recently tried out some Martin M600 fluorocarbon strings on a new ukulele. I noticed that they are getting terribly worn down, particularly at the 2nd and 3rd fret of the A string.

Photo 1
Photo 2

I'm not surprised about the location of the wear, given how frequently those positions are fretted in standard chords, but I am a little surprised at how fast it has happened. It's barely been a month since I finished this uke and while yes, it is my current favorite and I have been playing on it a bit more often, I still don't feel like the strings have enough mileage on them to cause this much wear.

This is the first time I have tried these Martin strings, so I'm mostly curious if others have noticed anything like this. I've played with all sorts of other strings before and haven't ever seen anything like this, especially this quickly.

Fortunately, it still plays and sounds good. So at this point really I'm curious to see how much longer the string lasts. I might just wait to replace them until the A string inevitably snaps.
 
Sorry, I don't have experience with these strings - but I never seen photos this close up of string wear and find it very interesting. I'm surprised it hasn't snapped yet. Are the frets well rounded or do they have a bit of unfinished bar fret-like character to them? Hard to be sure from the photo, but they might have a bit of a shoulder on them - not too bad though to cause premature string wear...
 
I have tried these strings on two ukuleles and didn't notice any problems. The ukes were given away so I can't peek at the strings.
 
Interesting after reading the first post I checked my OXK, strung with M600s for over a year, and found no visible wear but I could feel a worn spot first three frets under the A string with my fingernail. Time to change strings?
 
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I just looked at my ukuleles, and you can feel something under each of the A strings in particular on the 2nd and 3rd frets. I run M600 strings on pretty much everything that is a Soprano or a Concert.

I checked my KoAloha Concert, which I think has their strings or Worth (bought it used and have not replaced the strings) and I could feel something in the same place.

As for the original post, that level of wear is unusual...I cannot visually see anything on the strings, even though I can feel something. I’d be interested to know how long the strings have been on and how much you have played them (“recently” could mean a lot of things). That level of wear in a short time would cause me to examine the frets first...perhaps there is a sharp edge which is “trimming” the string more than usual. If the edge is not sharp, then I would try another pack of M600 or change strings to something else if I didn’t trust the brand.

I’ve had my M600s on my Makala MK-CE for well over a year, and have hundreds of hours on the strings. I could change them any time...generally I am just waiting for a break.

As for wear on the 3rd string...it makes sense doesn’t it? Ukulele Hunt did a study of the chords needed to play his arrangements, and C was the most frequently used chord, by far. I keep track of all of the ukulele play along videos that we are creating, and again, C is the chord that appears in the most songs. All this makes sense, as most beginner songs start with C, and in C tuning the instrument is easiest to play when in C major or A minor (relative keys which both require one fretted string for the root chord).

If you are playing C so many more times than any other chord—it makes sense that the A string could wear that way. Additionally, it is a thinner string and perhaps cannot take as much “abuse” as other strings.
 
I've been using the Martin strings for a while, and I did have similar problems like yours once.

The first couple of frets worn the strings very quickly within weeks, but after I changed to another set of Martin, the problem went away and the new set has been lasting for over nine months.

I'm not sure if it is a quality control thing, or an improvement in my fretting. I did press so much harder than I am now.
 
Hi
I had exactly the same experience with the A string on the second fret of my Wendell Hall banjo uke, but not with Martin Strings. Turned out it was a rough area on the fret itself. I masked up the fret board around the fret and polished up the fret with some slightly abrasive polishing cotton (it´s called Duraglit in the UK) and it seems to have solved the problem.
Hope that helps
Cheers
Gary
 
It's hard to tell from the photos but you may need to polish the frets. They seem to look little rough.
 
It's hard to tell from the photos but you may need to polish the frets. They seem to look little rough.

Yes, I was going to suggest exactly this. You can get a 3-pc. set of fret polishing 'guards' from online vendors for like $5, and then gently use some 000 steel wool to get them as smooth as glass without effecting the fret shape or height very much.

I've been using Martin strings on various ukes and in 10 yrs of playing, never saw any wear such as this on my own ukes. Maybe Martin was having some QC issues on a few batches of strings?
 
Thanks for the responses everyone. I wondered if it might be something rough on the fret wearing on the string. The frets feel smooth, but I guess there might be something there smaller that can easily be felt. I'll go ahead and give them a good polishing and see if that helps things out.

Choirguy, I just finished building this uke right before Christmas, so I've only had the strings on for a little over a month. I've been playing it here and there most days. Probably an average of 2-3 hours a week.
 
The photos show a flat spot on the fret. Even though the fret may be polished (they should be a mirror finish), there should be no flat spots, just a gentle curve. The intonation will also be slightly off with a flat top fret. As for string wear, they are going to wear sooner or later depending how hard you fret and the amount of playing time they get.


Thanks for the responses everyone. I wondered if it might be something rough on the fret wearing on the string. The frets feel smooth, but I guess there might be something there smaller that can easily be felt. I'll go ahead and give them a good polishing and see if that helps things out.

Choirguy, I just finished building this uke right before Christmas, so I've only had the strings on for a little over a month. I've been playing it here and there most days. Probably an average of 2-3 hours a week.
 
I am surprised this happened to the OP.

I've used Martin's strings now over 4 yrs on many of my ukes, and even the ones with the most play time have not had these issues.

If your frets are smooth as glass, then maybe it is your playing technique and you are just pressing way too hard, and maybe also doing too many string bends?

Maybe contact either Martin or the vendor where you got the strings, and see if they can help you.
 
Well, surprisingly enough, the string never snapped. I held out as long as I could to see if it would eventually break, but it never did. I ended up changing the strings out last week because I was going to be playing in a concert at the Utah Uke Fest this past weekend. I polished up the frets a little just because and put a new pair of M600s on it. I'm curious to see if it happens again or if it was just an anomaly.
 
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