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Well, it's the start of a new year and this seems like a good time to put a nice new set of strings on the guitar. I have a couple of sets. Will I put them on? Nope. I can't bear to throw away strings that aren't broken. So I tend to leave them on till one breaks. I used to put a new set on about once a year and keep the old ones as spares in case I break a string and don't have any new ones around. The trouble with that is that the old ones tend to accumulate and now I've got a stack of old, dead strings. So, for the past few years, I've been replacing broken strings with old ones from my stack of spares.

Anyway, I was wondering what everyone else does, so I thought I'd create this poll. It might be interesting to see how the majority answer.

Replace individual strings when they break....

Have to as this suits me and paying live.

I really don't know how to answer this as a multiple guitar owner, my needs and desires change. On my every day players, I change strings religiously. Prior to a gig, I've been putting on a fresh set of strings. On the guitars that I don't play often, I won't change strings unless I see a bit of rust building up. I've never put bass strings on, and had a bass for 2 years.

I'm not fond of strings that sound dead or have build up rust.
So I change them fairly regularly, especially on the current favorite.
All the guitars got a cleaning, polish and new set of strings just before Christmas.

Except my bass, I've never changed strings on it yet. Bought a new set maybe a year ago but never put them on.

I used to change every 3-4 months when the strings started to sound dull (sometimes more frequently), now I change every 2-3 years when the strings start to sound dull :D .... yep ... I love those Elixir strings ;D

When I was playing every night I used to change once a month, Now if they sound a bit dull I use another guitar..lol.....Alex

Should change more frequently but a) don't have much time and would rather be recording, and b) can't be arsed. Where's my guitar tech when you need him?

what Nigel said ;D

I use EXP110 Coated Nickel Wound, Light 10s and the acoustic equivalent. They last
 quite well. However I am partial to rotosound yellows too, which seem to sound much brighter
 but don't last. The Dano has the yellows , the Gibo, the EXP10s which sees more live action.
  As for frequency, changing strings on the Gibo is a great chore as it takes considerable time for the guitar to settle down after a change, in fact any change of temp, strings, movement causes the guitar to play up, it's just one of those Gibson things, I dread to think what a new ones like, this ones 21 years old so you would have thought it would have settled down by now. Still when it's good it's great.

So about every 2 months electric, 3 to 4 acoustic

I change mine all the time! I have a real high acid rate in my sweat and it just destroys strings. After trying out all the coated brands I settled on the exp 113 custom lights (11's for acoustic). If I have a 4 hour cover gig I'll kill them by the end and one will pop on the next night if I don't change them.

Quote from: Hook on January 02, 2012, 12:03:42 PMI change mine all the time! I have a real high acid rate in my sweat and it just destroys strings. After trying out all the coated brands I settled on the exp 113 custom lights (11's for acoustic). If I have a 4 hour cover gig I'll kill them by the end and one will pop on the next night if I don't change them.

I haven't tried them myself, but I wonder if these would help?

http://www.bigbends.com/nutsauce/agora.cgi?product=String%20Cleaning%20Wipes&xm=on (http://www.bigbends.com/nutsauce/agora.cgi?product=String%20Cleaning%20Wipes&xm=on)

Might be worth a try. If they allowed you to change your strings every other gig instead of every gig, they could save you a lot of money and hassle.

BigBends also have other products that help reduce string breakage. I use their Nut Sauce which solved the tuning problems I was having from strings sticking in the nut slots. But Nut Sauce can also be used on the bridge saddles and string trees to reduce breakage. And they have string sleeves which help to prevent breakage behind the bridge on certain bridge and guitar types.

Quote from: Hook on January 02, 2012, 12:03:42 PMI change mine all the time! I have a real high acid rate in my sweat and it just destroys strings. After trying out all the coated brands I settled on the exp 113 custom lights (11's for acoustic). If I have a 4 hour cover gig I'll kill them by the end and one will pop on the next night if I don't change them.

Bloomin heck Hook " 4 hour covers gig" we do 1 & 1/2 max and thats split in two.

Thanks 64 I'll check those out! I started sanding my bridge with a real fine paper every 3rd or 4th change and that seems to help out alot with unnecessary breaking. I also bang on  the guitar like it was a drum so I can pass only so much of the blame. But in the summertime (outdoor patio type gigs here) morning after the gig my strings have turned black, and since I play so hard I'll lose the G or D within the next 1st set if I don't put on new ones.
I like to order from www.stringsbymail.com (http://www.stringsbymail.com), $9 a pack once I got a by one get one free (no limit) deal from them a few years ago and you can order single coated strings, which is great. I have so many E's & A's in a box, but I need a gross of G's & D"s. I'm usually nickle and diming it so it's $12 a pack at Guitar center here in town, %15 off if you buy ten packs so when I can drop a $100 there it goes, maybe a month and a half's worth of strings if I'm lucky.
I'm sure wiping my strings down more regularly would help tons but I always forget!!Perhaps some "treated wipes" might help jog my memory! Thanks

QuoteBloomin heck Hook " 4 hour covers gig" we do 1 & 1/2 max and thats split in two.

A standard solo gig here in Tampa is, say, a 10:00pm-2:00am I usually do 3-1 hour sets with 2- 1/2 breaks some clubs want 4- 45 min set's but they don't want you to stop 15 min early so you always end up giving more. If the tips are flowin that's cool but if not, well...I'm tired! I'm not a big talker and I prefer to play rather than sit at the bar so I'll often find myself doing 1:20+ min sets it all depends on the place and crowd and pay. It used to be the standard was $150 solo, $250 duo but with the economy that's not always the case anymore there's always some joker willing to play for $75, (no offense if your that joker!) It used to be this was my bread and butter but now with the daytime music thing I make almost the same with an acoustic guitar and a small duffel bag! I know for some it's not about the $ but this is how I support my family! I just fell into a duo situation with a drummer I played with once about a year ago so I might be getting back into the night time scene again.

I used to use around 20/30 sets of earnie balls a year , every month is know the norm , not playimg live as much these days ! the tone is better on new strings without a doubt .

Dunny

3-4 new sets of Elixers a year for the main acoustic (Seagul S6 CW) ...
2 sets of GHS Boomers a year for the main electric (Epi Dot 335)
The other axes only get what's necessary  ;)
If my bass strings are worn out.. I don't know it  :D

Quote from: Hook on January 02, 2012, 01:20:10 PM

QuoteBloomin heck Hook " 4 hour covers gig" we do 1 & 1/2 max and thats split in two.

A standard solo gig here in Tampa is, say, a 10:00pm-2:00am I usually do 3-1 hour sets with 2- 1/2 breaks some clubs want 4- 45 min set's but they don't want you to stop 15 min early so you always end up giving more. If the tips are flowin that's cool but if not, well...I'm tired! I'm not a big talker and I prefer to play rather than sit at the bar so I'll often find myself doing 1:20+ min sets it all depends on the place and crowd and pay. It used to be the standard was $150 solo, $250 duo but with the economy that's not always the case anymore there's always some joker willing to play for $75, (no offense if your that joker!) It used to be this was my bread and butter but now with the daytime music thing I make almost the same with an acoustic guitar and a small duffel bag! I know for some it's not about the $ but this is how I support my family! I just fell into a duo situation with a drummer I played with once about a year ago so I might be getting back into the night time scene again.

Hi Hook. No I am not the $75 joker :) but your'e right about some others doing it for less than they should.
£200 is about the mark here ( pub type gigs), no matter how many are in the band..

Have you seen the price of a set of bass strings?  THey turn dead faster than I can afford to buy a new set. I have tried boiling them up with washing up liquid - makes no difference really, they brighten up for a short while and start sounding dead again very quickly. Not worth the effort of removing them all and then restringing after the big cook up session.

My guitar tech, Egor, changes my guitar strings after every nightly show. ;D

Naaah ,not really

I change mine  @ twice a year on each of my 3 geetars,when I make a CD or if I get a gig.I use Ernie ball slinkys 10-48s that I just buy off the local music shop.
Its amazing how much my tone improves when I do !!! :)

Now Egor,have you wrapped my axes in silk and thrown my diamond picks to my fans ? :-*
Thankyou.

Quote from: Flash Harry on January 03, 2012, 04:20:54 AMHave you seen the price of a set of bass strings?  THey turn dead faster than I can afford to buy a new set. I have tried boiling them up with washing up liquid - makes no difference really, they brighten up for a short while and start sounding dead again very quickly. Not worth the effort of removing them all and then restringing after the big cook up session.

Kyser's Dr. Stringfellow (http://www.kysermusical.com/home.php?cat=253) can help with that - If you can stand looking at the creepy dude on the bottle...

I just changed my bass strings after three years and am horrified. Everything sounds clunky, springy and squeaky. I had to turn all my settings down, my pedals sound different and it's taking time to get used to it all. All that and more for $25US. I'll get over it and deal, but it was such a shocker - Something I was really looking forward to because I don't get to buy strings that often.

I've only changed my bass strings once in about 42 years! I don't like bright-sounding bass strings anyway, so leaving them on forever suits me fine, especially considering the price of bass strings. When I bought the bass circa 1970, it had flat-wound strings on it which was fine (easier on the fingers). When I changed them about 20 years ago, I put on halfwounds, though I'm not sure why. I doubt that I'll ever change them again.

Older bass strings have a nice, mellow sound that I (apparently) prefer as well. I just didn't realize the difference - It's huge!

I hope it doesn't take that long to break them in. I've learned my lesson...

I must be the odd one out here. I like new bass strings, mind you I was a full time bassmith before I swapped out to guitar. I liked them when playing live but they do cost. I did use the rotosound yellow bass strings, not to bad on the price front. The bass at home has the originals still on from 6 months ago and the strings sound as good ( almost ) as new. On recording though I go for the more mellow bottom end approach.

I can't remember anymore ... I used to change them on a couple
bass's every month or two when I used to play out a long time ago.
Didn't need to of course.  In recent years I figured I'd change a
a needed guitar or bass when I changed the clocks and the batteries in the
smoke detectors ... but now I can't remember if I changed the smoke
detector batteries anymore ...  ;D

An older pal of mine who was a pro guitar player in a big band years ago used to boil his strings
tried it a couple of times when money was really tight and it did brighten up the strings --
but that was back in the days when you could'nt get cheapish light gauge strings -
the bass strings then could have been used to tie up a ship ;D ;D ;D

These have good reviews and they really are cheap, they do bass as well
http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/707-legacy_nickel_wound_pro_tone_electric_strings

I haven't tried them but I reckon I should.

I`ve used Ernie Ball, Dean Markley, GHS, D`Addario. Every string you can imagine but nothing comes close
to Elixirs in my opinion. In the 3 years i`ve been using them, i have never broken one ever and i play my acoustic
hard sometimes. I`m just changing my acoustic today after 6 months i think which others would be sounding crap after 2. I use them on my electrics as well.

They are more pricey but never will rust and their tone is sweet. What more do you want from strings!
I don`t ask people to use Elixirs, i tell them too! Damn i should be their spokesperson!  8)

Your story is pretty much the same as your's Eric. And actually I've found I save money using elixirs, they may cost twice as much as other good strings, but lasts at least 3-4 times longer.

I rarely change mine - only for breakages. I'll change the whole lot when that happens though.

I do clean the strings from time to time though.

I think I've gone 5 or 6 years with the same strings on certain guitars. I don't notice the difference to be honest.

This is an old topic but I missed it the first time around so here goes. When I was in a gigging band with two scheduled practices a week and at least 4 gigs a month I would change the strings on my acoustic and electric about 4 times a year. When I broke a string I would just replace the string unless I felt the other strings were getting too dead sounding. I always wipe my strings and guitar body down after every playing session using just a dry cloth. I slip the cloth under each individual string, pulling up and run it up and down the neck a couple of times. It's amazing the amount of black gunk that the cloth removes. I've never changed the strings on my bass guitars and it's been years that I've owned them. Now that I'm not gigging anymore I still wipe them down after each play but rarely change my guitar strings....I find it easier to just buy a new one with new strings if it starts to bug me, lol!

Farrell

Has anyone tried the NYXL strings? New this year. Brian Henneman of The Bottle Rockets raves about them. He went from changing strings nearly every show to changing every month or maybe a little less. That's a huge difference. Tried three sets, two were like magic and one was kind of a dud.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipMiJCAtB3k

Interesting T.C., I would love to see them do something with acoustics.
I've been buying my strings online in bulk
(http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/juststrings_2268_203919853)
It's 25 set's for $150 so that pretty much gets them down to half price (local $12 a set). My last box lasted me a while. Work keeps me playing about 6 hours a day, 4 days a week, then whatever else I book. The regular work doesn't kill my strings, it's inside & I don't sweat much because of the pace and nature of the gig. My other gigs involve a bit more energy/adrenaline & are often outside so I sweat considerable more. I can turn a set black in just a few hours of play.

Here are some examples of my destructive power.

(https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=13436.0;attach=24459)

(https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=13436.0;attach=24461)

Wow brother, that's a lot of strings! I doubt I could change strings that frequently, it takes me friggin ages - I'd spend half my life changing strings :-)
B

Here are a couple of string brands you might want to try, Hook. I have no experience with them myself - I just found them in a web search.

Cleartone treated guitar strings:
http://www.cleartonestrings.com/ (http://www.cleartonestrings.com/)

Rohrbacher Titanium Acoustic Guitar Strings - "The Corrosion Proof Solution for Acidic Hands"
http://rohrtech.com/ (http://rohrtech.com/)

And here's a scientific paper on the chemistry of guitar strings which explains why titanium core strings resist corrosion.
http://tonyparkermusic.com/chemistry_of_guitar_strings.pdf (http://tonyparkermusic.com/chemistry_of_guitar_strings.pdf)

Nothing new to see here  ;)

(http://www.rainbowguitars.com/imagesproduct/ka/ka12052-xl.jpg)

It depends. I have many guitars and during the last year haven't played much (I'm in a band and all three of us have had / are having / will have soon new babies!), but, when I used to play on a regular basis...

On my favourite "regular" (that is, EADGBe) guitar, maybe monthly or bi-montly.
On my "bassy buddies (one electric, one acoustic AEDGCa) twice a year.
On my bass: never. But this has to change, the low E is in very bad shape.
On my acoustics: when they start being hard to tune. I'm not a fan of "new strings on an acoustic" sounds. Too metallic.

On my first guitar, a really cheap, shitty, worn out, beaten, played guitar... Well, I change them if they break or they can't be tuned anymore. i love having a "rusty sounding" guitar. It sounds great for some songs :) I always keep the discarded strings of my other guitars so I have spares for my "rusty" guitar :)

I never replace a whole set at once unless I'm so bored that poking your eyes out with a blunt stick is the only alternative. The tone is in your fingers and if you play live, in the way you set up. When I started playing to buy a new set of strings was a weeks money, I used to take mine off and boil them to get rid off the dirt in the windings, it works so if you're a bit short in the wallet try that, it may save you a bit of hard earned cash.  Willie

I just stumbled across this product and thought it was a neat idea.

http://thestringcleaner.com/ (http://thestringcleaner.com/)

$12.95 U.S. Also available for bass at $19.95.

I like that string cleaner 64....I'm going to get one. I see Musician's Friend carries them. I clean my strings after each practice or recording session but it's one string at a time. This devise does them all at once with one or two swipes. Thanks for posting this up!

Farrell

After looking at the video I've ordered it on Amazon, just 8.50€...it should arrive in a couple of days...I'll let you know. Thanks for the advice, 64gtrs...

Alfredo