Weird new strings incident.

[Jim Pitman]

I'm not going to mention the brand of strings so as not to bash a company based on one incident but I had the strangest thing happen as follows.
I replaced my strings before a gig anticipating breaking a string since it had been quite a while on the current set.
I played the gig. It was outdoors, afterward I left my gear in the car, and played a second outdoor gig two days later.
The day after the second gig I set up my steel at home and was really disappointed how dead the wound strings were. They sounded muffled with no attack nor high end overtone that I'm used to. I thought maybe it was a cord or pickup problem. I have the gear to evaluate that. I can measure capacitance/resistance/inductance. All measurements were fine.
I changed my strings and voila problem gone.
Anyone else have that experience?
Hmmmmmm...I got to wonder if they rusted internally from moisture ingress. Perhaps temperature changes caused this. I generally don't have oily/acidic hands and don't wreck the stings like some people I know do.

[Dan Beller-McKenna]

I'm guessing you correctly diagnosed the issue. I know my gear can get pretty damp at outdoor evening gigs. If it was in the evening, here in New England, I would guess that was the cause.

[Bobby D. Jones]

If it is hot outdoors or under strong stage lights, Sweat from our hands can get rubbed into the coils of the wrapped strings. Also if near the ocean, Ocean mist is even worse. The salt will attack components of the winding and the core wire. The heat inside a vehicle and evening/morning atmosphere changes can make it worse too.

[William Seeders Mosheim]

I've had strings go dead after one outdoor gig, especially this time of year here in VT or the Northeast if it was an evening or night time show. The wound strings definitely suffer the worst the fastest. Anytime I'm playing lots of outdoor shows I end up changing strings a whole lot more often than I do if I have all indoor shows. Might be the brand contributing as well but most likely any brand string would have suffered the same fate I bet.

I've had the best luck with D'Addario NYXL's holding up to outdoor abuse the longest.

[Jim Pitman]

William Seeders Moshiem, where are you located?
I'm in Waterbury Center.