how often do you change strings on your electric

i-watermelon john · Post by **i-watermelon john** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 4:27 am

got to thinking

for Christmas I buy guitar strings either or for both acoustic and electric

for my birthday (June) I buy myself a birthday present "strings" again

so I guess for me twice a year

Post by **olly** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:00 pm

When I was playing for several hours a day I would change my stings at least once a week. My fingers tend to get sweaty a lot and destroyed the strigns quickly. No I am not playing so much maybe they last a couple of months but I really have not been playing much at all over teh last year.

Having said that I have been advised by Aussie that Elixers are a good make of string that last well and I am going to give them a go next time.

What brand of strings do you use?

i-watermelon john · Post by **i-watermelon john** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:41 am

Olly wrote:When I was playing for several hours a day I would change my stings at least once a week. My fingers tend to get sweaty a lot and destroyed the strigns quickly. No I am not playing so much maybe they last a couple of months but I really have not been playing much at all over teh last year.

Having said that I have been advised by Aussie that Elixers are a good make of string that last well and I am going to give them a go next time.

What brand of strings do you use?

I buy Ernie Ball because they are like 6 bucks, but really I buy strings according to how much money I have in my pocket. If I have like 8 bucks , then I look for strings in that price range, which here would be Fender strings (materials made in US, but assembled in Mexico), can't really figure that one out

aussieteacherPMMD · Post by **aussieteacherPMMD** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 2:52 am

Lower labour costs, and no unions, maybe? D'Addario ( $AUD 15 to 20 ) have a Darco range which is assembled in Mexico as well, sell for around nine bucks a set here. I didn't use anything special or change strings more than every five or six months until one day I backed a friend on his CD and heard the first run we did from months back- wow, the lack of resonance and attack after the strings were older changed my mind fast, and so did the DR's and Dr Tomastic Plectrum strings he was using on his gear...they left the Fender's I had on for dead.
Really, if you can improve your sound so much- and the increased speed and lack of finger-scrape if you use coated strings- for the sake of 5 or 10 bucks every three months or so I think it's well worth it.
I suggest people change their strings every four months if they are a basic student, and three or less months when they are more advanced or are playing more.
Elixers, John, are not a cheap string..they are 35 bucks a set here when a good set is $20 and a cheap but OK set like the Darco's is half that, but I'm convinced that if you were to try DR's, or Plectrum, or best of all Elixers, you wil notice a remarkable lift in brightness and tonal response, and speed as well.

i-watermelon john · Post by **i-watermelon john** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:25 am

aussieteacherPMMD wrote:Lower labour costs, and no unions, maybe? D'Addario ( $AUD 15 to 20 ) have a Darco range which is assembled in Mexico as well, sell for around nine bucks a set here. I didn't use anything special or change strings more than every five or six months until one day I backed a friend on his CD and heard the first run we did from months back- wow, the lack of resonance and attack after the strings were older changed my mind fast, and so did the DR's and Dr Tomastic Plectrum strings he was using on his gear...they left the Fender's I had on for dead.
Really, if you can improve your sound so much- and the increased speed and lack of finger-scrape if you use coated strings- for the sake of 5 or 10 bucks every three months or so I think it's well worth it.
I suggest people change their strings every four months if they are a basic student, and three or less months when they are more advanced or are playing more.
Elixers, John, are not a cheap string..they are 35 bucks a set here when a good set is $20 and a cheap but OK set like the Darco's is half that, but I'm convinced that if you were to try DR's, or Plectrum, or best of all Elixers, you wil notice a remarkable lift in brightness and tonal response, and speed as well.

I'm going to check on the price of Elixers and let you know how much they sell here for. That is if the store carries them.

wafer · Post by **wafer** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:48 pm

Is anybody else enthusiastic for flat wound (sometimes called ribbon wound), or flat ground strings? A bit biased towards jazz sounds, but intersting tones.

Instructor · Post by **Instructor** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:11 pm

When they need them. Depending on how often Im playing.

I use SIT's for the record.

Instructor

Razx · Post by **Razx** » Wed Apr 04, 2012 2:24 pm

Probly once a month, I aks my Music store owner frind, to give what evers kinda budget and good for picking fast. whitch is usally Ernie balls or somthing like them. I wanted some new neon colored strings he carries. He said though the coloing chips off . I usally wear out the low E stirng cause of the picking strokes and speed building. Plus the sweat. Really I need to change them once a week. I'll have to change them befor I start recording on my new software next week.

RickyB · Post by **RickyB** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:47 am

I use Optima Gold strings, and i change them about once every 12 weeks, on my working guitars, and once a year on my rarely used guitars. I have 18 guitars, so string changing can be quite an expensive chore. However i clean my strings every day on my regular guitars, and once a week on my rarely used guitars. You can double the longevity of your strings just by regular cleaning, but if you treasure your guitars, as i do, they all get a regular clean and dust. An everyday flick over with a paint brush stops dust and crud building up in those hard to clean areas, like round the pickups, and tuners.

OneShot · Post by **OneShot** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:56 am

I got the guitar before 3 years ago, still I didn’t change the strings and they have a good condition. How often should I change them?

happytime · Post by **happytime** » Tue Mar 05, 2013 7:33 am

This depends on how often I play. Most probably I change them once a month.

Delboy · Post by **Delboy** » Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:20 pm

I tend to change my workhorse guitars about every other month or so, or when I break a string, which seems to be quite often lately for some reason. I usually try to make the change about a week before any gigs so that the strings are settled in as well.
I usually change the others when they start to feel old and not so new.

jamesd74 · Post by **jamesd74** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:52 am

Hows the SG going mate??

Delboy · Post by **Delboy** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 2:17 pm

Which one? Lol

polyal · Post by **polyal** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 3:18 pm

strings should be changed never... or at breakage ( whichever is the sooner )

or is there some reason why they should be changed every 5 min ?

replacing strings for this reason or that reason is usually manifested
by string manufacturers

replacing string wont sound any better...it will just sound like you've got
new strings on ...and that will last for 24hrs max..so if you like the new string sound
take out a bank loan and wash your hands everytime you play ( in bleach )

always have spare strings though cause you might need one one day