Unused Syn Gut Tension Stability

Most pros like fresh stringbeds that are usually less than a day old.

Amateurs have varied preferences. Some like them straight off the machine, while others like to leave their new stringjobs at least overnight before playing.

But how long would an unused stringbed stay fresh?

I have tested the daily frequency changes of several freshly strung syn guts over a week. Unused, the greatest drop always occur in the first 24 hours. 

Depending on the initial tension, string pattern (ie 16x19 or 18x20), gauge, etc, about 6-8% (by frequency) was lost in the first 24 hours.

Then over the next 72 hours, another 3-5% would be lost, but at a much more gradual pace. On average, total loss would add up to about 10-12% before play.

After this "rest", when play commenced, tension loss was very gradual. Each session saw a drop of only about 1-2%.

When a fresh stringbed was allowed to "rest" overnight, the tension loss after the first session of play was reduced by about half. The other half was lost when unused. This total loss amounted to about 8-10% by frequency.

When "rest" was not given, and it was played as soon as possible after it was strung, it lost about 8-12%.

From these, it appears the initial tension of about 10% (+/- 2%) could not be avoided. It's just a matter of letting it drop before or during play, whichever one prefers.

Out of curiousity (or boredom, or madness), I replaced my guitar's "G" string with a length of new syn gut. It's the black string third from the right in the pic below. The original "G" string lays on top.

It was tuned to 196.00 Hz. (link)

Over the next 24 hours, I re-tuned it multiple times back to 196.00 Hz. By the third day, it almost stabilized.

Then I replaced the syn gut with another fresh piece, tuned to 196.00 Hz and left it untouched. After 24 hours, the frequency dropped almost 9%. After 48 hours, about 10%. Then I re-tuned it. The loss over the next few days was insignificant, but it required re-tuning nevertheless.

So?

I think it is acceptable to re-string with full syn gut and leave it for a while before playing. The tension loss is definitely not a straight line down. It will plateau.

And, the syn gut sounded horrible on the guitar!!! On the other hand, natural gut was extremely and addictively melodious!