"flipping" a bad string

hoosierhiver

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On a recent thread Chuck mentioned something I've noticed, but have never seen talked about here. Which is, sometimes when you have a bad string if you take it off and "flip" it, putting the opposite end at the nut/saddle it sometimes solves the problem.
I'm not going to pretend I know the exact science behind this, but it is certainly a curious and useful phenomena.
 
Does it really work? (I've been lucky so far and never had a bad string.)
 
Sorry for the newby question but how does one determine they have a "bad string" in the first place?

Thanks
Jim B

Strings can be bad for a few reasons, but most often it's when they don't stretch out evenly and you can have dead or dull spots or buzzing. Kind of like when you over stretch a rubber band and part of it loses it's integrity.

Sometimes, not always you can flip the string and the offensive part not be apparent. That's the best way I can describe it. Handy if you are somewhere where replacements are not readily available.
 
It also redistributes any "flat spots" due to contact with frets. It's not a real "fix" but if you don't have any other options, it's worth a try.
 
Has worked for me on several occasions.
Always the C string (worth browns)
Intonation goes way off. Head scratching starts. Finally remember the string flip trick ;)
Maybe I tune up to pitch too quickly and the string stretches unevenly at the bridge??
A good reason for not clipping off excess string at the pegs for a few days.
 
Had to try it recently on a newly purchased tenor: the one string that consistently came up flat at the 12th fret suddenly was spot on pitch, matching the others. Whenever just one string has a problem with pitch, I recommend you try reversing that string first before you go looking for tuner/nut/saddle problems.
 
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