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How often do you change your strings?


Telecruiser

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I use Elixers and I was still changing them every 5 gigs or so. That got expensive...about $60 a month or more. Then Sven lectured me on how I should let them go a little while longer and I'm up to about 10 gigs with a set. It's still a little expensive but whatever...

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I change them whenever I notice the tone loss or they start to feel beat. I don't break strings hardly never so If I had to put a time on it , probably every few months. Sometimes Strings sound their best after a short break in period. They get that sweet sound and keep it for a good while. Brand new strings sometimes sound a bit shrill.

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For me it depends on the season, how often I am playing, and what strings I am using. I like D'Addario EJ16 and EJ17 for my acoustic and resonator respectfully, but sometimes use the EXP (coated) versions during the summer months when the humidity and my sweat seems to kill the EJ16/17 quickly. The EXPs last much longer but I think I just slightly prefer the not coated strings in terms of tone. Changing strings is a hassle to me, so I am thinking of going to the EXPs on both guitars all year.

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I change them about every two weeks. That's about how long it takes for the tone to go with daily playing. It's nice when the timing is such that I have new strings for a each gig. It doesn't always work out that way, but it's close given that I usually gig about twice a month (sometimes more, sometimes less).

 

Louis

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I'm bad. They stay on until I hate my guitar, and then I replace them. Usually a couple months. I use Elixer polywebs and will occasionally buy extra uncoated strings which usually go long before the coated wound strings. I got a set of DR Dragon Skin strings that came off much earlier because I hated how bright they were.

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I, like the guy that posted right before me, use them 'til I don't like the sound of them. Usually about 3 - 4 months. I use Elixirs on everything. My J200 acoustic has had a set on for about a year. I play it pretty regular. They still sound good.

I'm not rich and think that changing strings at $10 a set is a little wasteful when they don't need it. I defy anyone to pick up a guitar and tell me how old the strings are by the sound. I know if they're new or dead, but that place in between is hard to judge. It's a personal preference, but I think a lot of 'tone freaks' that change them daily are just looking for something else to throw money at. That's my opinion

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For gigging guitars, every 2-3 gigs. Usually, that's about once a week. I sweat a lot, and my strings get dead and discolored very quickly.

 

For my non-gigging guitars, far less. Usually just when I get irritated that they sound bad or won't hold tuning very well.

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I change strings about 2-3X a year, as a gneral rule and agree w/ Loner and SLScott86...I, too, favor Elixer Polywebs, which last me a very long time, doing 3-5 "institutional gigs" a week, plus restaurants/wineries/private parties/whatever on the weekends and the occasional weeknight and teaching 7 lessons a week.

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And new strings don't protect the guitar itself.

 

 

I don't know...This will sound odd but I change them so much out of respect for the instrument. There's gunk, oil and all kinds of dead skin and stuff on them. I think that many of the people that complain about changing strings don't know the 5 minute string change. Maybe I should post a video?

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I don't know...This will sound odd but I change them so much out of respect for the instrument. There's gunk, oil and all kinds of dead skin and stuff on them. I think that many of the people that complain about changing strings don't know the 5 minute string change. Maybe I should post a video?

 

 

5 minute? Takes me about 20, I guess. Not a big deal, though.

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I don't know...This will sound odd but I change them so much out of respect for the instrument. There's gunk, oil and all kinds of dead skin and stuff on them. I think that many of the people that complain about changing strings don't know the 5 minute string change. Maybe I should post a video?

 

 

I get what you mean. I just meant you can't undo a year of driving on the same oil change. My guitar is crap anyway. I've actually been changing them more frequently because I "intolerable" comes much faster these days. I'm also still not gigging with it so it's a slower wear.

 

I'm curious as to this five minute change. That seems to be all it takes people who do it more often.

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I get what you mean. I just meant you can't undo a year of driving on the same oil change. My guitar is crap anyway. I've actually been changing them more frequently because I "intolerable" comes much faster these days. I'm also still not gigging with it so it's a slower wear.


I'm curious as to this five minute change. That seems to be all it takes people who do it more often.

 

 

I got ya! I learned it from an old guitar player mag years ago. It really is all the difference because I agree the task pretty much sucks.

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