Don't forget to change your strings!

How often do you change your strings?

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    58
BuddytheReow

BuddytheReow

Moderator
I've asked this in the past, but there are a lot of new faces around here.

I had the day off yesterday for the US holiday and decided to clean all my guitars and change their strings. I don't look forward to doing this since it's time consuming and I'd rather be playing (took me an afternoon to do them all). However, once everything looks shiny and new again I'm glad I did it. Then my fingers hurt for a few sessions trying to break em all in again :ROFLMAO: .

How often do you change your strings and what's the reason for doing it? I popped a string yesterday morning and told myself it's time for an overhaul.
 
Flats or rounds, I only change them if they break of don't tune up anymore.
In some instances new rounds do sound better but I can't justify the expense and I dislike the tone change so I stay with old string tone.
 
I almost never change flat wounds. For round wounds I usually replace them when they start getting more difficult to tune or go out of tune frequently. I don’t usually get to the point where the strings are dirty and grey.
 
I’ll leave a pair on for quite a while before I change them. On my main axe, it doesn’t bother me if the strings lose some brightness. If they feel old, I’ll change them. Also, I’ll change them around one week ahead of a recording session for something that will be released.

Some of my guitars go a while without being played. If I pull one out, find that I want to keep using it, and it feels bad or sounds dull, I’ll do a string change.

I also like to experiment with alternate tunings. A lot of times they are different enough from standard to require a custom set of strings.

Yesterday I just bought a set of bass strings for my main bass. The ones that are on there right now are definitely over 15 years old. I still might not change them anytime soon.
 
I change them every couple months. Sooner if they are getting played more and are sounding and feeling dull and lifeless. I have 4 guitars I'm rotating so every couple months is about right. But my SG is getting the bulk of the play right now and needs new strings bad.
 
It depends. I used to use Elixirs, which last a long time, but now I use Ernie Balls, which have a livelier tone but need to be changed more often. It also depends how often each guitar gets played. I go by the sound - if they sound dead that's how I know I need to swap them out. I play my Strats more than the SG so the strings on that guitar tend to last longer. Usually I'll leave one guitar out of its case and play it for a month, then swap to another guitar, but the SG always stays in its case because it's a pretty princess. :rolleyes:

I just put new strings on my Strat and then bought new saddles for it, so that was a win.

So usually every two or three months, sometimes up to 6 months or a year.
 
Depends a lot. My main LP has flats on it, and I change the plain strings regularly, but I’ve had the same E, A, and D on for like 8 years at this point.
My round wound guitars I try to change more often, but I do definitely have a few guitars with strings that are a few years past their prime, but those are the ones I don’t play as much.
 
jcpst said:
I’ll leave a pair on for quite a while before I change them. On my main axe, it doesn’t bother me if the strings lose some brightness. If they feel old, I’ll change them. Also, I’ll change them around one week ahead of a recording session for something that will be released.

Some of my guitars go a while without being played. If I pull one out, find that I want to keep using it, and it feels bad or sounds dull, I’ll do a string change.

I also like to experiment with alternate tunings. A lot of times they are different enough from standard to require a custom set of strings.

Yesterday I just bought a set of bass strings for my main bass. The ones that are on there right now are definitely over 15 years old. I still might not change them anytime soon.
Click to expand...
15 year old bass strings are worth their weight in gold. Keep them
 
In my 20s I was playing guitar and bass for hours every day. I’d change the strings on my main electric about once a week. My acoustic, which I barely touched got changed maybe once a month. One of the perks of working at the studio I was at, I had a full tech station and a pile of free strings lying around. For bass, I swapped them out two or three times a year, I had a sort of quasi endorsement with Black Diamond Strings and once the black coating wore off I swapped.

Now that I’m a working adult who doesn’t gig, I change my guitar strings maybe twice a year. If I played acoustic more, I’d definitely do it more often, nothing beats fresh acoustic strings.

I switched from pink or green ernie ball to 9.5s from Stringjoy on my electrics and love them. It’s less about needing new strings and more about telling myself it’s probably time.

Bass? I’ve had the same sets for five or six years flats and rounds. I just swap them whenever I feel like it.
 
depends on the instrument and use case.

- for live, usually ill let a single set do x2 shows, depending on how far between, although ive managed to get up to 3 shows out of a set (Elixirs, which could probably do more but breaking strings live is unacceptable).
- for rehearsals, however long they'll last before breaking (usually last a month or two)
- for home bs, whatever, as long as they'll last before breaking (usually last a month or two, depending on the weather)

i've had a set of [70-46-36-26-17-13] d'addario XLs on the goldtop since May 2025 (tuned to drop G/G#) and they still haven't broken.
probably because it gets played a lot differently to the others, and top wrapping TOM bridges is an understated technique that i would highly recommend.
i should probably replace them though, they're getting quite dull.
 
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At approximately CA$650 per set, I don't change strings unless I break one.

Per string, that's about €105, £93, or US$125 for each string.


I liked Obligatos, but I kept breaking them, switched to Pirazzi and haven't broken any. Yet. Well, for more than a decade.


However, what I have on my most-used bass right now is Super-Nils, just below CA$250 for a set.
 
When I was playing acoustic out regularly, I'd change strings every four to six weeks. Now that I don't play out often, acoustics and electrics are more like six months to a year. I have flatwound strings that are older than most of my children. Monel strings on acoustics will last almost as long as flatwounds.
 
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