How often should I change my guitar strings?

[Henry Mars]

When I was playing professional, I would play my axe around 12 - 14 hrs a day. Normally my strings would be replaced every other day or 3 times a week. The fret wear on a string screws up the harmonic content and the intonation. Now I replace them when they sound dull or the intonation makes tuning difficult. The average home twanger really only needs to replace them every few months.
Light guage strings need to be replaced more often. Most of the time, when strings break it is because they are played out and brittle. I have never broken a string playing, new strings shouldn't break.

 

[cephus]

To maintain a consistent sound, I change guitar strings every 6 hours of playing time. Any longer than that and the sound changes noticibly.

So that is 2 gigs (4x45). I don't think I could ever get 2 gigs out of a set of strings. I saw off D strings playing rhythm. I use 10-46 and for a while I was buying a bunch of 28s to substitute for the Ds until I found out the core size was the same for both.

I put a new set on for every gig and perform the stretching ritual and still end up horribly out of tune by the end of the first song. After that it settles down.

I think it takes 6 minutes, not 6 hours before the tone changes noticeably. Once you get the first stretch out of them, there is that first plateau on the way to shittiness. They sound about like that for as long as you play *that night*.

After one heat cycle, they go to the second plateau, which is couch pickin', dull n' rusty. The good part is, that strings stay at this plateau for the rest of their lives - or until they break. I pull guitars out of cases that have perfectly petrified strings on them. You can immediately pick it up and play anything but slide (sounds like a cat trying to dig a rubber band out of a paper grocery bag it's so scratchy). Just make sure you wear your safety goggles when bending more than a half step. I wonder if that old Hondo II is still in the crawlspace.

I always record rhythm guitar with the petrified strings because the tone is much better than a brand new set of jangly ernie balls. Less string noise, too. When I record leads, I may break down and restring for the sake of intonation, but ideally, the strings record best within a couple days after the last gig.

So, how often to change them? Only when they really start to bug you, or where your fingers look like they have nicotene stains on them from your rustocaster practice.

Unless you're talking about acoustic strings, which puts you (unless you play in a cleanroom wearing gloves) back to "every hour on the hour".

 

[tylerxxx]

i'm still waiting for the day when my strings tell me i need to change them.

 

[acidrock]

I buy them in bulk. 10 packs of D' Addario for 30 bucks. I hate the sound of old strings personally.

Same here!

I've got a dozen guitars and damned if I'm going to run to the music store every time I need a set.I'll usually buy a ten pack of both acoustic and electric,plus some twelve strings sets all at one time from Musicians friend.Between gas and taxes it's cheaper to have them delivered to your door in bulk.
I've gotten the D'Addarios on sale for $25,at $2.50 a set you can't go wrong.I was paying twice as much twenty years ago.

When I was playing out I changed my strings once a week(acoustic).

 

[rayc]

I was going to reply with

"as often as you change your underpants"
but realised that that could be misconstrued as culturally insensitive.

Being a no longer gigging person & on a fixed income I change em when they sound like they need it or when the gunk gets too thick - which ever comes 1st (still seems kind like underpants though eh?).

But taht's for guitar strings my basses - well that's an entirely more costly proposition - more like whenever I come across a set of good string for a bargain on eBay ( & being that 1 bass has flat wound strings that's rather rare).
Cheers
rayC

 

[sajs]

It depends on a bunch of things. Moisture can kill a set of strings so it's important to wipe them down after each time you play.

I've been using Pyramid flat-wounds since I play in a Classic Rock Band.
I can get 3x as more out of them compared to most manufactures. My Rickenbacker 12 string has Pyramids on them for about a year now. They still jangle like the first day I put them on.

I also buy my strings in bulk and vacuum seal each set.

 

[Zed10R]

So that is 2 gigs (4x45). I don't think I could ever get 2 gigs out of a set of strings. I saw off D strings playing rhythm. I use 10-46 and for a while I was buying a bunch of 28s to substitute for the Ds until I found out the core size was the same for both.

I put a new set on for every gig and perform the stretching ritual and still end up horribly out of tune by the end of the first song. After that it settles down.

I think it takes 6 minutes, not 6 hours before the tone changes noticeably. Once you get the first stretch out of them, there is that first plateau on the way to shittiness. They sound about like that for as long as you play *that night*.

After one heat cycle, they go to the second plateau, which is couch pickin', dull n' rusty. The good part is, that strings stay at this plateau for the rest of their lives - or until they break. I pull guitars out of cases that have perfectly petrified strings on them. You can immediately pick it up and play anything but slide (sounds like a cat trying to dig a rubber band out of a paper grocery bag it's so scratchy). Just make sure you wear your safety goggles when bending more than a half step. I wonder if that old Hondo II is still in the crawlspace.

I always record rhythm guitar with the petrified strings because the tone is much better than a brand new set of jangly ernie balls. Less string noise, too. When I record leads, I may break down and restring for the sake of intonation, but ideally, the strings record best within a couple days after the last gig.

So, how often to change them? Only when they really start to bug you, or where your fingers look like they have nicotene stains on them from your rustocaster practice.

Unless you're talking about acoustic strings, which puts you (unless you play in a cleanroom wearing gloves) back to "every hour on the hour".

Well, Sir, I was speaking in regards to recording. Live, it doesn't matter so much how often you change strings as long as they stay in tune. When recording, I agree that stings need to break in before they settle into thier best tone, but I've found that the tone begins to degrade after about 6 hours of playing time. I also prefer to not change any amp settings to compensate for tone fade because I want that to remain stable throughout the entire recording process. BTW I use GHS 13-60's, and have never had to play with much physical force to get great sonic puch and definition. In fact, the more aggressively I play the guitar, the LESS defined and deep the sound is....for me....for my purposes. I get the best sound out my gear if I play with a mild attack, that way I have room to lighten up and/or bring it on harder depending on the part.

In my experience, recording with petrified strings just doesn't work. They sound dull, their harmonic content is deminished, they don't have the depth of sound or the tight punchiness that I need in my rythms. Of course your likes will vary from mine. Even so, I strongly disagree with "ideally, the strings record best within a couple days after the last gig."

Just my opinion of course.

 

[metalj]

.....smartass.

every 4000 miles or when the blood from your fingers has dried up so much that they look like those colored elixers.