Coated strings & "lifetime" guarantees

[onemanband]

Hi, just a couple of issues I'd be interested in opinions on.

1. Coated strings are sometimes described as lasting up to four times as long as normal strings. I use D'Addario EXP's on my Avalon 12string but as I have no frame of reference I have no idea what a "normal" lifetime is.
I re-string when my strings show signs of tarnishing and have lost their "sparkle" or i have troubles with tuning. However, I still don't know if this is "four times" the life span of a normal string!!

2. "Lifetime" guarantees really don't mean a lot. I recently returned a balanced microphone cable that I have had for about three years, due to an intermittent fault. I was informed "well, it has come to the end of it's expected life", and a replacement was refused. I was perplexed to say the least!!

Brian

[JB]

Normal lifespan of a string is the same as the length of a piece of string depending on who's playing

I've got dry hands so strings last for ages with me, honestly, I can get a month easy from EXP's but on the other end of the scale I've witnessed players who can totally kill a new set of strings in 1 hour and I need to clean the guitar neck afterwards, this is usually caused by 'hyperhidrosis' (unusually acidic sweaty hands) ... so that means in extreme conditions a coated set of strings can last 4 hours instead of 1 .... lol ... go figure !!

[onemanband]

If you are a guitar-thrashing, blues bending, sweaty palmed, all-weather busker with a liking for different tunings and a tendency to forget your handkerchief

John

That's me!!!

Brian.