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For some reason, I am convinced that strings keep sounding better and better. I expect them to die, but they just keep getting warmer and mellower (a good thing by my judgment). I know supposedly you start getting intonation issues, which I have experienced with nylon strings. But I've has some strings on for a year on one my acoustics and it still continues to sound good. Am I nuts? How long do you wait to change strings (especially on an acoustic).
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03-09-2018 09:28 PM
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a set of TI swings last me about 6th months. I don't spend hours playing every day though. I like the sound when they get old, but then again when new string day comes I enjoy that too. So what I'm saying is I don't have anything useful to say lol
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I've had a set of Chromes on my guitar for nearly 2 years now. They stay in tune and play fine. I'm going to see how long they last---I'm going for the record!
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my fingers start going grey and the strings start looking skanky. 6 months or so?
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When my strings get old, after about 2 months, with 4 practice sessions a week, and 1 gig per, they sound great, but the intonation starts to suffer. That is tolerable, but what I don't care for is a deadening of the attack and "ring" response when pick hits string. I feel like I have to pick harder, to little avail. Sustain then suffers as well.
Now I am using a .011 round wound set with a plain G, playing bluesy jazz and blues. Lots of soloing! Hollow bodies, and semi hollow.
Old strings don't "sing" for me.
I suppose it is different with flatwounds, heavier strings and jazz playing, but I think I would hold to the same standards if I switched over.
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I change strings when one breaks (extremely rare), when tuning irregularities start to show up on the old Peterson, or when they've been on so long I forget what they are and when they were last changed, or when I just want to try something new. As a compulsive string buyer, I've got a comfortable buffer supply to choose from. As an advocate of a generally mellower than average tone, the gradual loss of highs just means less treble roll-off at the appropriate points.
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I generally change strings when the intonation gets funky. I have a fairly light touch and rotate through several guitars, so the steel strings last a long time. Nylon strings only last a few weeks, even if rarely played.
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TI JS112 last a good year for me.
I even go as far as to take them off at least once when needed (cleaning/conditioning gorgomyting the fretboard) and put the same strings back.
Intonation is still spot on and they retain their tuning remarkably even after I put them back.
I actually just put on my 3rd set since I got my Tal in summer 2015...
I hate the tone of new strings, Chromes were even worst when I used them, I needed to wait at least month before they lost their metallic zinging and started to sound warm enough for me.
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Wear from the frets on the wound G-string indicate time to change.
I like the tone best when the string are broken in so to say.
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I/ve heard that John Scofield change set of strings after few days.
anyway I like to play on new strings/special on telecaster/.
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I use mainly TI Swings 0.13 - 0-53, replacing the high E and B when they start sounding dull which usually depends on the season. In winter they last longer, in summer i might replace them already after 2 weeks or so if a particular guitar gets played a lot.The rest of the strings might stay on for a year or longer but i always enjoy the sound after changing a whole set. Since i started using Elixir for high E and B i have to change less frequently.
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With my electrics, it depends on the strings, the guitar, how much I'm playing which guitar, and under what circumstances. For my archtop (which I've only had about 6 months), I've been experimenting, plus I had a set-up done, so I haven't had any one set of strings on that long and I'm not quite sure what the maximum life is. I've settled on monels; the current set has been on for about 2 months, and they still feel good; I'd guess that they'll be good for quite a while longer.
Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
I string my Strat and my semi-hollow with 10s. If I'm playing either of those daily and doing a lot of blues or other music involving bending, the strings go pretty fast. They're dead sounding, have tuning problems, and prone to breakage within a month-ish, sooner if I'm gigging under hot stage lights. They're at a sweet spot at about a week old, and if I'm gigging, I try to target string changes for that. If I'm playing mainly jazz, and/or mainly around the house they're good for much longer -- maybe 3 months before the tuning gets funky. The indicator for me is when the plain strings start getting notched. At that point, I know the end is near.
On my flattop, I use phosphor bronze, and those seem to last around 3 months, almost irrespective of how much or little I'm playing. I can put on new strings, not touch the guitar for ages, then open the case and the strings are shot, or I can play it every day and the strings are shot in about the same amount of time. Shot = brightness/zing in the tone is gone + intonation is off.
John
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I've noticed the need to keep winding strings tighter to get them back to pitch, during prolonged periods of dryness.
Keep winding tighter....the strings stretch and eventually break....at some point before this, they'll start sounding dead.
I think with proper humidification, you can get a year out of flat wounds. (Metheny joked about never changing strings, and called them "deadwounds".)
Players changing strings every time out, or every few days?!....can't believe this is done, or needed. (I think 14 yr. olds reading guitar magazines might believe this. Bet these players got a dozen free sets for mentioning stuff like this...but maybe I'm just a cynic.)
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Same.....I almost don't want to change then and I keep putting it off. I have a set of Chromes on my Emperor Regent and they've been on there for at least a year and they sound gorgeous. All the bite is gone and they just sound warm and thick with just the right amount of attack. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
To answer the OP's question though...... with acoustic my policy has always been..... if I'm recording or gigging with it I'll throw a new set on. If I'm just playing for fun I don't bother.
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One of the things I like about Elixer Nanowebs is that when they go dead, they go dead fast and pretty completely. So there's a definite, noticible change in feel and sound. Thats when it's time for a new set. Usually a couple of months of fairly frequent playing will do it. I like my strings a little brighter and snappier than some folks seem to, so I probably change more often than the average.
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Carol Kaye said she never changed strings on her bass guitars when doing studio work. As in, never ever. She said when they finally needed to be changed, she got a new bass instead. (Every other year, say.) I kid you not! Bass is a different animal, of course, but still, she was doing studio work, and a lot of it.
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The last time I changed strings (T-I Benson .012" rounds) on my gigging guitars, the old ones had been on them nine years. They still sounded good to me.
Danny W.
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Even at 45$ the set, it still only 5$ a year Originally Posted by Danny W.
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There has to be exceptions (even by chance) about strings lasting and shelf life. A few years back I unearthed a set of Dean Markley Blue Steels that had to be 10 years old and unused. I put them on my Strat and they felt and sounded like the best strings I had ever used on that guitar. I was sold on those strings, but when I tried a new set later on I didn't think that I got the same results.
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A set of TIJS112 has been on the 175 since October. A string change has been on my mind. This thread just set my Saturday.
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When they no longer will hold pitch...
Last edited by guido5; 03-11-2018 at 05:26 AM.
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The one concrete time for me to change strings is when I break one of them. I figure the others aren't far behind. That can be a year. Otherwise I change them when I want to try something new. I find it interesting that I don't like the same strings on every guitar.
I've got a custom gauged set of Vincis on my archtop and Tele (Vinci no longer makes their own strings, so when I run through my stock I'll have to be on the hunt for different ones
). They are pretty bright- nickel plated steel- but the wound strings and the plain strings balance well tonally with my CC pickups, without the big jump in volume from the G to the B that can plague the CC style pickup. That makes EQ'ing pretty easy.
But my Strat and my GB10 prefer Pyramid nickels with a round core. The Strat has a 24 3/4 conversion neck and the GB10 has a 24 3/4 scale neck, so I wonder if that is the commonality there. They are also both pretty bright guitars, so maybe the mellower nickel sound suits them.
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I hate changing strings unless it's a completely different set. Then it's fun. I keep records of my review of the strings for each instrument.
Changing strings is cheaper than changing guitars.
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i keep an old business card in my cases and keep a running cumulative hour total for each instrument, which is many btwn the guitars and mandolins. its the only way i can keep track as i rotate through the instruments to keep them happy and alive. i do mostly acoustic archies, PB strings on most of them. i also wipe off the strings, top and bottom, after i play. i've found my string life has increased as i got older. when i was younger, it seemed the PB strings seemed to go dead on me after 16-20 hrs of play time. i always attributed that to acidic perspiration, seems my perspiration isn't as corrosive now and they last maybe 2x longer now. i like the sound best after about 1/2 hr of play time, that new string metallic zing seems to lose an annoying edge. now with the extended wear strings (e.g. EXP's) available, i can go farther out in time.
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Originally Posted by Danny W.
My TIs are coming up to 8 or 9 nine years on a couple of different guitars ... I'm just beginning to think maybe they need changing
But they still sound quite good ... so I'm in no hurry
I have some Gibson Sonomatic roundwounds that have been on my 175 and L4CES for maybe 15 years or more ...
They still sound good to me ... and Gibson doesn't make strings anymore IIRC
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