How often do you change your strings?

bingefeller

I read somewhere that Ty Tabor rarely changed his strings in the early Kings X days.  His tone on those early albums came from a guitar with strings that were years old.  

DaevidJ

Bigger question... do some people on this forum hang onto their guitars long enough to require a string change

thegummy

ICBM said:

thegummy said:

I'm shocked at some of the answers here.

If course tone is completely subjective but for some people who change infrequently, your tone must change quite drastically when you eventually do change.

Yes, but it mostly goes away after a couple of hours.

There’s also a trick, which is useful if you have to get them done in a hurry... once the strings are fully stretched and tuned, take them off again and re-fit them . You don’t actually have to undo them from the tuner posts, but they do need to be fully slack. If necessary, repeat this more than once.

It really knocks the ‘newness’ out of the strings. I discovered it when I started working on guitars like vintage Fenders where you have to slacken the strings fully to adjust the truss rod - if you’ve already restrung the guitar before you set it up then they have to come off again. There is a small risk of breakage, but if you’ve fitted them right it’s actually fairly rare.

A thought I've had while reading this thread - while brand new strings sound incredibly different at first, perhaps I'm making a false assumption that they gradually taper off to dullness over weeks, it could well be that they're very bright at first but then after a few hours are a lot closer to the dead sound and then stay relatively similar.

I think I've been hearing the brand new twang and taking that to be how big the difference still is at, say, 2 weeks in.

ICBM

thegummy said:

A thought I've had while reading this thread - while brand new strings sound incredibly different at first, perhaps I'm making a false assumption that they gradually taper off to dullness over weeks, it could well be that they're very bright at first but then after a few hours are a lot closer to the dead sound and then stay relatively similar.

I think I've been hearing the brand new twang and taking that to be how big the difference still is at, say, 2 weeks in.

I find it's an 'exponential curve' - like speaker break-in. Huge difference over the first few hours, less but still some over the next few days, but not very noticeable after that although they do continue to very slowly age.

Bridgehouse

DaevidJ said:

Bigger question... do some people on this forum hang onto their guitars long enough to require a string change

I have one set of Daddario Chromes which have been on 3 basses - two have gone and one remains.......

lukedlb

I believe the slowly dulling Twang is noticeable on the low E and A and D strings. Is this because they are wound strings whereas the others are plain?
Is this influencing our notion of 'dull' or 'dead' strings?
Is this dulling of the lower strings in fact 'normalising' (achieving the intended tone)?
Can we admit that some of us maintain the same strings for a long time from habit (starting out, guitar strings were a luxury; I could afford a pack every year or so, changing only the high strings when they broke)?

lukedlb

First new set on today. I'll see how long it takes to notice a difference.

thegummy

Went through and noted all the answers to make a chart:



I might try leaving strings on for 6 months to a year to see how I get on. Might even try coated strings again in the future (last time I had them I changed them because I was changing pickups or something rather than they ran out).

If I end up with infrequent changes I'll feel a bit of a fool for buying locking tuners the other day :-/ 

lukedlb

thegummy said:

Went through and noted all the answers to make a chart:



I might try leaving strings on for 6 months to a year to see how I get on. Might even try coated strings again in the future (last time I had them I changed them because I was changing pickups or something rather than they ran out).

If I end up with infrequent changes I'll feel a bit of a fool for buying locking tuners the other day :-/ 

Good work! I might try heavier but brighter strings. Looking about I was unable to find a set with heavy high strings and light low strings. I want to try 11-42. 

Phil_aka_Pip

I used to change Dean Markleys once a week. They took a few hours playing in time but I could get a band practice, a week's private practice, and a gig out of them. For emergencies I kept a set of Ernie Balls, as they tuned up almost instantly, but were knackered after one evening's playing.

These days I'm a lazy git. Will play one of n guitars until the strings are knackered, then start playing another guitar ... and so on until I've got n guitars all needing a re-string.

lukedlb

Update: the strings I put on at the beginning of January lost their definition at 2 months. The bright circuit on my amp has given them an extra lease of life even though they feel rubbery and dark. 

robgilmo

Surely it depends on the enviroment in which your string live? My acoustic lives under a plant, its strings sound dull as a pint with a dead cat in a short space of time and I rarely play it. I change my strings as spoon as they begin to lose their twang.

robgilmo

Oh, and what you like to hear, if I want dull I use the tone pot.

Grunfeld

Danny1969 said:

I use Rotosounds and they are good for around 20 gigs or so if you clean then after each gig. Great strings [emphasis added]

I got a job lot of cleaning cloths for my specs and decided to chuck a couple in with my guitars. 
What a difference to string longevity!  Quick wipe after the gig.  Sorted. 
I used to need to change strings about once a week or they would be rusted pieces of shit.  Cleaning them I can easily get a month out of them. 

Blueingreen

I quite like worn in strings and "dead" strings don't bother me. The only thing I really care about whether uneven wear is affecting intonation.

I use Elixirs which means strings last, but I can't be arsed continually wiping strings.

If all I'm doing with a guitar is playing it at home I'll tolerate a small deterioration in intonation rather than change strings.  In which case I'd expect a set to last at least 6 months.

If strings are more than a couple of months old I'll change them for gigs, even if I can't hear intonation issues, for slightly irrational better-safe-than-sorry reasons.