New strings are new strings, right?

See the rust? This is a brand new set of DR strings in their corrosion protection envelope. The reality is that in Florida I have only seen two brands that offer true corrosion proof packaging (though there may be others I’m not aware of). I’ve been using D’Addario strings for years and always have fresh clean strings even if they’ve been on the shelf for two years. Ernie Ball has recently introduced a similar technology that seems to work as well as D’Addario’s. If you use any other brand be sure that you buy fresh strings and not sets that have been on the shelf for a while.

Sometimes even new strings have corrosion. Packaging matters.