How long until you change strings?

Generally 2-3 months on regular played guitars; 011-052. May break one to two strings a year, mostly in winter as I stock my guitars in an attic where it can go down to 5-10 °C when freezing outside.
 
lauke-lux said:
Generally 2-3 months on regular played guitars; 011-052. May break one to two strings a year, mostly in winter as I stock my guitars in an attic where it can go down to 5-10 °C when freezing outside.
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Wow 5-10 C is pretty extreme temperture for a guitar to rest ... Better put it under your bed
 
D'Addario 10's. I change them when they start to sound dull. I also change them before a performance. It's been a very long time since I broke a string.
 
In my experience, and I'm not saying it's limited to these things, string breakage is almost always one of two things.

1 - Incorrect, inferior, damaged, or improperly setup parts. (bridge, nut, tuners, anything that can touch the string) This is almost always what it is, and you should always check this first, but it can also be...

2 - Wrong/bad strings. Be it, brand, material, or size for your playing style, or body chemistry. This happens, I can't use Ernie Ball, or Dunlop strings at all. They rust in less than a day. Plus the the coating on most coated strings turns to goo from the acids in my skin.

With parts, it all depends on where it breaks. If it obviously broke at the bridge, start checking for burs, or improper seating, or anything obviously not right. I've replace many bridges because I was loosing strings all the time. I replace it, and BOOM, no more broken strings.

Now, if you are rusting out your strings, like I used to do, you may just need to look for another brand, or material. I stick with nickel plated, but even some brands of nickel plated strings will rust on me too. These days, I pretty much only use DRs, and DAddarios to stay on the safe side, but I prefer the DR tone, and feel.
 
I use 10-52s, and change them very second gig, which will be about 4 hours of playing. It's not that they break, but that they lose tone, and don't stay in tune.
 
BrainalLeakage said:
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR STRINGS!??!!?

I actually heard a kid at a local guitar store have this revelation. I really hope he hadn't been playing for very long.
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Heh, I had a guy turn up for a guitar lesson once and when he took his guitar out of the gigbag I noticed the strings were black. First I thought 'hey that's some cool new coating I've not seen', then he handed it to me to tune and I realized no, no it wasn't.
 
Chris@KatsuKuriMedia said:
elixir nanoweb 10-46

lasts months of gigging even in saltwater air environments. never sounds dead, always smooth and glides.
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That is an impressive endorsement! I'll have to check them out. I love the tone of my nickel strings, but they go to funkytown* far too soon.

* And not the good kind of funkytown.
 
For the record, the Van Halen brown sound was partially due to very old dirty strings.

James Jamerson never changed his strings.
 
Months and almost never break a string, also use a trem a lot - DAddario 9's. Ernie Ball sounds the best for a short time but they go dead faster and break faster than any other string.
 
Most of my gigs are outdoor at the seaside, sometimes within 30 feet of the waterline. The salty-humid air eats strings for breakfast. I change them roughly once a week, or according to the way they feel as I slide thumb/finger up and down 1-3. Due to the cost of strings here, I have to import a box of 100 sets at a time.
 
Using Blacksmith strings . The coated strings use carbon instead of Teflon like elixir and others. They don't flake and carbon has acoustic properties which creates more sustain and improves tone. All six strings are coated whereas all other companies only coat The wound strings. They actually put a set in salt water for two weeks and put them on a guitar. Sounded and felt brand new.
I use to change weekly. I've had my blacksmiths on for 5 weeks and they sound like I just put them on.
 
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if i'm on a regular gigging schedule, 2 weeks is the longest I can go. If it's summer and I'm sweating a lot, a week. Not because of acidity or corrosion, they just dull fast. I love the sound of new strings.
 
How long until I change strings? Well... I don't gig, playing just for pure fun at home and with ocassional cleaning ('bout once a week) my Elixirs last for several months without any tone degradation.

On other hand... my girlfriend doesn't play guitar at all and she changes her strings at least once a day ;) :lol
 
jlynnb1 said:
I love the sound of new strings.
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And I'm a weird one on this, I hate the first few day of new strings. No matter what strings I've tried, I always hate the tone of new strings. Once they break in, I'm great. If I had to have new strings at every gig though, I have to say that I hate the tone of new DR's the least. :lol:
 
Every 2-3 months or every gig. Whatever comes first.

Using elixirs because I like the playability... I haven't noticed any difference in their durability, though.
 
Interesting thread.....I change every 2 months or so...playing 2 hrs average per day.

I'm not gigging out right now, and my basement keeps things at a constant. I go by "feel" (dirty) and tuning (not staying in, and, have I tightened the fine tuners most of the way?).

I always wipe my strings & fret board....and have never broken a strg playing. I wonder if "breakers" use the vibrato bar a lot, as well as pick hard??

I really like using the Ernie Ball PowerPeg Battery Powered String Winder .... gets it done fast.
 
BrainalLeakage said:
And I'm a weird one on this, I hate the first few day of new strings. No matter what strings I've tried, I always hate the tone of new strings. Once they break in, I'm great. If I had to have new strings at every gig though, I have to say that I hate the tone of new DR's the least. :lol:
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Not weird at all. You described my experience exactly.
 
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