Newbie Question- Strings

[drnihili]

(Btw - I even had sharp frets on a metal resonator - you would think humidity wouldn't affect them at all).

 

 

I'm guessing the fretboard was wood.

[Freeman Keller]

I'm guessing the fretboard was wood.

 

 

Of course, duh. Pretty amazing tho, the git is 27 years old, relief has never been touched and was right at 8 thou and the neck angle was right on even with phat strings. It does sit out on a stand and the frets were just a hair sharp, but a couple of swipes with a file fixed that right up.

[mc5nrg]

Your strings will tell you when they need to be changed. They will change color with corrosion(darken), become dull sounding, develop wear spots from the frets and in general feel funky. How often you need to change them depends on factors like your body chemistry, how often and hard you play, and climactic conditions where you live -like salt air, among other factors. When strings get old and worn they won't intonate properly so that's a good reason to change them besides general funkiness.

If you are a beginner maybe every couple of months loosely estimated or more often if conditions warrant.

As far as tuning is concerned, get an old fashioned pitch pipe and learn how to tune using the E or A as a reference tone, tuning the guitar to itself. This will help develop your ear and give you an idea after a while just what intonation is all about. Tuning an acoustic to an electronic tuner, if it doesn't have a pickup can be a real pain unless the tuner generates a reference tone.

When I change strings on a guitar I try to let it sit overnite if possible before doing any significant playing on the new strings. A perhaps odd notion I picked up from a Richard Thompson interview.

[ESL94]

In my opinion, it depends on your body chemistry and cleanliness. Sweat breaks down strings quick. People that sweat a great deal may need to change regular, non coated strings every week or two. Another factor that kills strings is playing with dirty hands. Grease, oil and dirt get's trapped between the outer winding on the strings, ultimately affecting the strings ability to vibrate freely. Personally, I am very lucky because my hands never sweat while playing guitar. I always wash my hands before playing guitar. I can get 4 -6 weeks out of a set of uncoated strings playing and hour a day (apprx. 40 - 60 hours playing time). I can go apprx. 3 times as long with coated strings.

 

 

I too try & keep my hands as clean & dry as possible.

I change my strings more during the summer than the winter.