How often do you change your strings?

Lestratcaster

Apparently Dave Grohl will have a tech change strings between songs when he swaps guitars. Uses a .60 on the low E and a 48 on the A string as well!!

richardhomer

Main Strat - every 3-6 months. I clean them with a dry cloth after playing for a reasonable length of time. I use ordinary  D’Addario 9-42s on that guitar and bend a lot....

On my ‘slide’ Strat - set up with 10-46 - I changed strings this year for the first time in 16 years.

My 335’s strings (also 10s) were changed this year after 7 years.

I think the lessons here are that I’m not very sweaty, cleaning strings prolongs their lives and D’Addario make very good strings - oh and I don’t play much....

axisus

I change strings individually when they break. I hate the zing of new strings and I hate stretching strings.

jamesoliver1234

On my strat i gig with every 3/4 gigs...all my others not that often..

bingefeller

Every 6 months.  I use Ernie Ball Cobalts.  

tony99

same as pick ups for me,
  if you're happy with the ones that the guitar comes with, why change them???

thegummy

tony99 said:

same as pick ups for me,
  if you're happy with the ones that the guitar comes with, why change them???

Strings sound different after a few weeks to months though whereas pickups don't.

ToneControl

markjohnson said:

I read somewhere that Richie Sambora used to have a tech change his strings for each take in the studio but that sounds pretty exaggerated, maybe it was each day.

I quite like new strings on an electric (ie changed about 1-2 months) but on acoustics I just find it so abrasive, much prefer bedded in, and I always keep one acoustic (an old Martin MIA DX1R) with really dead strings because it's a really useful tone to have  from time to time. Though old streets do get manky - I'd love to know if anyone knows of a brand of strings (not flatwounds) that have the dead tone without the mank.

the older Elixirs - polyweb
https://www.elixirstrings.com/guitar-strings/electric-nickel-plated-steel-polyweb-coating have little brightness at all

tony99

thegummy said:

tony99 said:

same as pick ups for me,
  if you're happy with the ones that the guitar comes with, why change them???

Strings sound different after a few weeks to months though whereas pickups don't.

fair enough, maybe it's something I should look into, can you recommend a string for funk?

thegummy

tony99 said:

thegummy said:

tony99 said:

same as pick ups for me,
  if you're happy with the ones that the guitar comes with, why change them???

Strings sound different after a few weeks to months though whereas pickups don't.

fair enough, maybe it's something I should look into, can you recommend a string for funk?

If you mean "funk" the music genre, change them every 6 days and 2 hours.

If you mean "funk" the substance, leave them on for at least a year.

tony99

thegummy said:

tony99 said:

thegummy said:

tony99 said:

same as pick ups for me,
  if you're happy with the ones that the guitar comes with, why change them???

Strings sound different after a few weeks to months though whereas pickups don't.

fair enough, maybe it's something I should look into, can you recommend a string for funk?

If you mean "funk" the music genre, change them every 6 days and 2 hours.

If you mean "funk" the substance, leave them on for at least a year.

I usually change my plectrum when I feel my sound's getting a bit "muddy" to be honest

and I think the strings on my guitar have a got a good few years in them yet 

thegummy

tony99 said:

thegummy said:

tony99 said:

thegummy said:

tony99 said:

same as pick ups for me,
  if you're happy with the ones that the guitar comes with, why change them???

Strings sound different after a few weeks to months though whereas pickups don't.

fair enough, maybe it's something I should look into, can you recommend a string for funk?

If you mean "funk" the music genre, change them every 6 days and 2 hours.

If you mean "funk" the substance, leave them on for at least a year.

I usually change my plectrum when I feel my sound's getting a bit "muddy" to be honest

and I think the strings on my guitar have a got a good few years in them yet 

Cool... 

thegummy

tony99 said:

thegummy said:

tony99 said:

thegummy said:

tony99 said:

same as pick ups for me,
  if you're happy with the ones that the guitar comes with, why change them???

Strings sound different after a few weeks to months though whereas pickups don't.

fair enough, maybe it's something I should look into, can you recommend a string for funk?

If you mean "funk" the music genre, change them every 6 days and 2 hours.

If you mean "funk" the substance, leave them on for at least a year.

I usually change my plectrum when I feel my sound's getting a bit "muddy" to be honest

and I think the strings on my guitar have a got a good few years in them yet 

Cool... 

cbakay

2/3 times a month on main strat, .11-56s.

corrosive sweat...a quick polish of the frets helps the bends a fair bit I find.

thumpingrug

When they sound a bit dead.  Length of time varies depending on the guitar / how often they are played / what they are going to be used for etc.  I have a couple that I play a lot and therefore will change after about 6-8 months,  a couple of others that are picked up very infrequently might have had strings on them for the last 5 years.   If its sounds ok, leave it alone. 

p90fool

For gigging guitars, conventional strings every gig, Elixirs, every four gigs. 

I have very corrosive sweat, on my 'at home' guitars conventional strings can last a few weeks and I have a Tele with some two year old Elixirs on it. 

TTBZ

Usually when they start feeling horrible but the last set was on for almost a year I think. When i was gigging regularly it was probably once a month for fear of strings breaking mid song. My acoustic is in dire need of new strings, the current ones must be well over 2 years old and feel well manky. I hardly play it though. 

rico

Roughly once every two to four weeks depending on gig and rehearsal frequency. I seem to have pretty corrosive sweat and it’s not uncommon for the plain strings to start turning after a hard three hour rehearsal. 

I always wipe down the plain strings with a cloth and use fastfret. I run my fingers under the strings and if they are excessively bumpy then it’s time for a change - I actually really like changing strings. It’s a nice meditative process and I always sit on the floor to do it. 

midlifecrisis

acoustic guitar  i change approx every 6 mnths.  electrics, gig every 1-2 weeks rehearse the same and play everyday i cheange about 12-18months.

VimFuego

once every second coming. Or so.