I change my strings often. I play music for a living.

I do not pre-stretch them at all. I do change them on a day off.

I put them on, wiggle the whammy, tune the guitar up and let it sit overnight. The next day it takes a little touch up and then I'm ready to gig. And it stays in tune all night.

I always wiggle the whammy before tuning - it said to do so in the Parker manual.

I really think the fact that the string does not make more than one wind around the tuner makes all the difference in the world. Perhaps it's not stretching at all that breaks in the string, but seating and settling around the multiple winds on the tuner's post (non-scientific guess).

I use D'Addario XLs exclusively. They come in a little recyclable plastic pouch. That keeps them from rusting in the South Florida humidity before putting them on the guitar.

While playing I bend strings a lot, so that should pull them out of tune more than heavy handedness. But both my Parkers just stay in tune all night, and often from night to night. It blows me away. And the whammy is in the floating position.

I've never had this kind of luck with my Gibson, Epiphones or LTD. It's like magic to me.

Is it the tuners? The Graph Tech bridge and nut? The almost straight path from tuner to ball end? Perhaps all of the above.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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