ShortScale.org

i usually rotate the guitars i'm going to use, but i stick with a duet (a main axe w/ a similar sounding backup) for months on end. when i'm rehearsing/gigging regularly, i like to change my strings every 2 - 3 weeks. i can usually get 4 good uses (which includes any combination of 4 hour rehearsals and 1 hour gigs). since i prefer the crisp sound of new strings, i try to stay closer to the 2 week range.

i wait a bit longer than once a month.

This month marks the one year mark for my strings. I'm thinking of buying some for christmas......so it'll be like having a new guitar!

matte30is wrote:This month marks the one year mark for my strings. I'm thinking of buying some for christmas......so it'll be like having a new guitar!

i can relate!

I do about once a month, but I go more by tone than schedule. Once they start sounding dead, they're out.

I go as long as I can stand playing them....usually well over one month.

i heard Kirk Hammett gets his strings changed before every show

I added an option. I change them whenever I notice that they are going flat.

That'd be my vote as well.

Well...it's so hard to say, really. Some guitars I'll only touch 2-3 times a year...others get played more...and at least two get played daily. I assume you are talking about the daily players, and even that depends...especially since I'm not a "sweater", so I dunno...

Have you guys ever used String Ease?

The singer guy in my classic rock band uses it and it seems to work amazingly well. I'm gonna pick up a can for myself...

Sloan wrote:Have you guys ever used String Ease?

The singer guy in my classic rock band uses it and it seems to work amazingly well. I'm gonna pick up a can for myself...

yea...but, I can't be arsed to buy another...so...yeah...whatevaz

I used to change them every week, on wednesday night, but now i can't afford it. Too many tee-tars and not enough doll-arrs.

Blazin420ChronicSkunk wrote:I do about once a month, but I go more by tone than schedule. Once they start sounding dead, they're out.

+1

i usually only change a string when it breaks, and i'll change the set when i have 4 or more different/random strings on there.

hahaha, that's how i discovered my 4 strign tuning, true story.

I usually just change them whenever they start to go flat, or on the rare occasion that I break one.

A friend of mine has had his MIM strat since about the same time I got mine... so about 8 years now, and he has NEVER changed his strings... and somehow it still plays like they're brand new! They're still shiny, and they still sound good!

theshadowofseattle wrote:

Blazin420ChronicSkunk wrote:I do about once a month, but I go more by tone than schedule. Once they start sounding dead, they're out.

+1

+2

Where're the options for "when they break" or "when one of them breaks"? If one of my strings snaps, I'll normally go out and buy a whole new set, unless I have spares lying around from the last change (which generally I don't, the gnomes get them). I like my strings to have a bit of natural residue on them, nice tone.

a.aaron wrote:i usually only change a string when it breaks, and i'll change the set when i have 4 or more different/random strings on there.

You are exactly like the other guitar player in my band. He always complains because he'll break one during practice, change it, then next practice break another one, I don't understand why he doesn't just go ahead and change the whole set to keep from getting frustrated.


I change my strings before shows only, or if its been a while since a show and its starting to sound flat or getting nasty feeling...or if I decide to change the guitars color.