Don't underestimate the power of new strings

[ahjteam]

Just like last time I changed my strings, I was yet again blown away by the difference in sound. The guitar has SO much more mids than with old strings <3

Same here, it was even more massive difference with bass strings:

 

[Loki Laufeyiarson]

Uhm...
"Try changing the strings before you go out and buy new strings"

Like... whut?

But I get the idea. Four years of not changing strings is ridiculously long though.

 

[ahjteam]

Uhm...
"Try changing the strings before you go out and buy new strings"

Like... whut?

"before you go out and buy new BASS" was what I was meant to write, but you can't win all the time

 

[ParsonsMatt]

A pack of elixirs lasts me about a year.

 

[joelplagues]

I love the sound of new strings.

Whilst recording my bands e.p we changed strings every song for guitars. bass we did not. but bass strings last ALOT longer than guitar strings.

 

[mburton21]

Used to be using a light gauge D'Addario baritone set for drop A# (C standard). We moved up to Drop B (C# standard) and I'm now using the Everly Rockers 12-60 set, and I'm pretty surprised with how good they sound.

For the record, Not Even Slinkies piss me off to no end. The 24plain string ruins what could have been a decent set.

New strings + recording = Profit?

 

[Aaron Smith]

My dad's got a decent nylon string acoustic that he uses on a fairly regular basis for church related stuff... Nothing elaborate playing-wise, just basic chords and strumming. He's been playing for like 40 years and is great at what he does...but he had the same set of strings on there for over 10 years

 

[Harry Hughes]

Hell I just like new strings because they don't feel like complete fuckign ass.

 

[Erkan]

Been using the same set of Elixirs since January, and still hear comments regarding the djent-ness of my tone... I hate changing strings, and can't afford it either, so 15€ each 6 months is what I spend on strings

Holy crap! Damn, this sooo makes me want to order a bunch of elixir strings but they don't come in the gauge I'm playing in. At least not from what I could find. I ordered from some place in the states where they let you pick custom gauges and assemble into a set. The closest they had to 64 was 68 and 68 feels a biiiiiit too heavy I'm currently on 58 as heaviest but I'm "supposed" to be on 64. Hmm oh well... I'll just have to do with what I've got.

My dad's got a decent nylon string acoustic that he uses on a fairly regular basis for church related stuff... Nothing elaborate playing-wise, just basic chords and strumming. He's been playing for like 40 years and is great at what he does...but he had the same set of strings on there for over 10 years

Haha 10 years, damn! Come to think of it, on my acoustic guitar (steel) I've had the same strings for probably 7 years but I pretty much never play it.

 

[Salamander1973]

Hi there:

I've been reading this forum for a long time but this is my first post because this topic really interest me. I can't afford to change strings as frequently as I wanted so I have to take extra care of them as often as I can. One thing that I do is to wipe the strings as often as every five or ten minutes while I'm playing and this simple thing seems to keep them is good shape longer. Another thing that I do is whenever I see a dark zone appearing in the lower strings I use the edge of my pick to try to get out the dirt between little wires that cover of the string (I don't know how are they called...). This thing always amazes me... I can't believe the amount of dirt that comes out after doing this and the only thing that I can think is "all this dirt is what keeps the string from vibrating better"). Also every week or so I use some string cleaning product to try to clean every early signs of rust. I use D'Addario strings but I have been thinking in trying Elixirs... I have read really good things about them. My hands are really sweaty so my strings rust very quick and Elixirs seems to be a good answer to this. So, I wanted to ask, what are the guys like me who can't change strings every week do to keep their strings in good shape?.

Regards.

 

[muckypup1]

Holy crap! Damn, this sooo makes me want to order a bunch of elixir strings but they don't come in the gauge I'm playing in. At least not from what I could find. I ordered from some place in the states where they let you pick custom gauges and assemble into a set. The closest they had to 64 was 68 and 68 feels a biiiiiit too heavy I'm currently on 58 as heaviest but I'm "supposed" to be on 64. Hmm oh well... I'll just have to do with what I've got.



Haha 10 years, damn! Come to think of it, on my acoustic guitar (steel) I've had the same strings for probably 7 years but I pretty much never play it.

I'm using a 52 Daddario that came with my 7 string and it feels tight enough tuned to B and A, even tuned down to G

It doesn't feel heavy though, I like the weight you feel when you pick a nice 72, it doesn't just sound heavy, it feels heavy You get more "booowwww" tone out of heavy ones as well.

 

[Winston Wolf]

EB die quickly?
I've been using Beefy slinky for a year.
i cooked them twice still alive.

 

[Harry Hughes]

Hi there:

I've been reading this forum for a long time but this is my first post because this topic really interest me. I can't afford to change strings as frequently as I wanted so I have to take extra care of them as often as I can. One thing that I do is to wipe the strings as often as every five or ten minutes while I'm playing and this simple thing seems to keep them is good shape longer. Another thing that I do is whenever I see a dark zone appearing in the lower strings I use the edge of my pick to try to get out the dirt between little wires that cover of the string (I don't know how are they called...). This thing always amazes me... I can't believe the amount of dirt that comes out after doing this and the only thing that I can think is "all this dirt is what keeps the string from vibrating better"). Also every week or so I use some string cleaning product to try to clean every early signs of rust. I use D'Addario strings but I have been thinking in trying Elixirs... I have read really good things about them. My hands are really sweaty so my strings rust very quick and Elixirs seems to be a good answer to this. So, I wanted to ask, what are the guys like me who can't change strings every week do to keep their strings in good shape?.

Regards.

Man, I gotta ask how much you're paying for strings if you can't afford to change them weekly I don't even have a job and I can afford to replace mine regularly
Dude, just buy strings in bulk, save you heaps of money in the long term and that way you can change them frequently

 

[ThatGuitarGuy]

I absolutely hate ernie ball strings. I try to like them, but I can see them rusting the first day I play them.

I love elixer for their long lasting consistency, but for uncoated I like D'addario and Dean markley Blue Steels.

I'm experimenting with DR and and GHS Nickle rockers after I remove the ernie balls.

 

[Erkan]

Hi there:

I've been reading this forum for a long time but this is my first post because this topic really interest me. I can't afford to change strings as frequently as I wanted so I have to take extra care of them as often as I can. One thing that I do is to wipe the strings as often as every five or ten minutes while I'm playing and this simple thing seems to keep them is good shape longer. Another thing that I do is whenever I see a dark zone appearing in the lower strings I use the edge of my pick to try to get out the dirt between little wires that cover of the string (I don't know how are they called...). This thing always amazes me... I can't believe the amount of dirt that comes out after doing this and the only thing that I can think is "all this dirt is what keeps the string from vibrating better"). Also every week or so I use some string cleaning product to try to clean every early signs of rust. I use D'Addario strings but I have been thinking in trying Elixirs... I have read really good things about them. My hands are really sweaty so my strings rust very quick and Elixirs seems to be a good answer to this. So, I wanted to ask, what are the guys like me who can't change strings every week do to keep their strings in good shape?.

Regards.

Well, the question is how often do you NEED to change them? Are you regularly recording guitars? I never change my strings between projects. After I have recorded all the guitars I let the strings sit on the guitar while I write new songs, then practise them, THEN change and record next project So I guess I use the same strings for about 6-9 months and then I'm blown away by the difference in sound because I've gotten used to dirty shitty strings.

Oh btw, sweaty hands... let's form a club! I sometimes get very sweaty hands and it just feels as if my hands are a ticking bomb against the guitar. I know the longer it takes me to track something with sweaty hands, the more the strings are degraded. But sometimes I have no hand sweat at all, it's weird. I guess it depends on how stressed you feel while playing. Maybe a glass of wine would help I tried that once though but I didn't stop at one glass, I downed the whole bottle and ended up listening to Strapping Young Lad and typing here on the forum instead.

I'm using a 52 Daddario that came with my 7 string and it feels tight enough tuned to B and A, even tuned down to G

It doesn't feel heavy though, I like the weight you feel when you pick a nice 72, it doesn't just sound heavy, it feels heavy You get more "booowwww" tone out of heavy ones as well.

Wow, 52 in that low of a tuning, that would never work for me. It would be pure spaghetti!

 

[muckypup1]

Well, the question is how often do you NEED to change them? Are you regularly recording guitars? I never change my strings between projects. After I have recorded all the guitars I let the strings sit on the guitar while I write new songs, then practise them, THEN change and record next project So I guess I use the same strings for about 6-9 months and then I'm blown away by the difference in sound because I've gotten used to dirty shitty strings.

Oh btw, sweaty hands... let's form a club! I sometimes get very sweaty hands and it just feels as if my hands are a ticking bomb against the guitar. I know the longer it takes me to track something with sweaty hands, the more the strings are degraded. But sometimes I have no hand sweat at all, it's weird. I guess it depends on how stressed you feel while playing. Maybe a glass of wine would help I tried that once though but I didn't stop at one glass, I downed the whole bottle and ended up listening to Strapping Young Lad and typing here on the forum instead.



Wow, 52 in that low of a tuning, that would never work for me. It would be pure spaghetti!

Hehe, it feels ok in this tuning, and Meshuggah and Dino Cazares use 52's on their 7 strings

I also get sweaty hands My strings get destroyed pretty quickly because of it, and I can't afford to change them much.

 

[Salamander1973]

Man, I gotta ask how much you're paying for strings if you can't afford to change them weekly I don't even have a job and I can afford to replace mine regularly
Dude, just buy strings in bulk, save you heaps of money in the long term and that way you can change them frequently

Hi. I'm paying like 10 bucks for a set of DAddario strings and I use 3 guitars. I guess my main problem is how fast my strings get rusted because of my hands. Sometimes, a new set lasts for about 2 hours until they start to show some rusty color on the higher strings (and after that is about 2 or 3 days to pass from that rusty color to black! ). Also, I have to admit that changing strings is a huge pain in the ass process and that's another reason to not change them more often and thinking of ways to make them last longer. About buying in bulk, actually I haven't though of that and maybe I could find some place to buy them in this way. Also I have to try those Elixir strings. They cost like 20 bucks over here but if they last as much as I have read then maybe that's the answer.

Regards

 

[TheDriller]

Hi. I'm paying like 10 bucks for a set of DAddario strings and I use 3 guitars. I guess my main problem is how fast my strings get rusted because of my hands. Sometimes, a new set lasts for about 2 hours until they start to show some rusty color on the higher strings (and after that is about 2 or 3 days to pass from that rusty color to black! ). Also, I have to admit that changing strings is a huge pain in the ass process and that's another reason to not change them more often and thinking of ways to make them last longer. About buying in bulk, actually I haven't though of that and maybe I could find some place to buy them in this way. Also I have to try those Elixir strings. They cost like 20 bucks over here but if they last as much as I have read then maybe that's the answer.

Regards

You should try wiping down the strings with some Surgical Spirit on a cloth/ cotton ball after playing.

I find it helps a lot with keeping the strings fresher for longer, and i've got very sweaty hands.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Hmm, surgical spirit you say...I too have annoyingly sweaty mitts, I'll check that out, thanks dude!

 

[John_C]

Hmm, surgical spirit you say...I too have annoyingly sweaty mitts, I'll check that out, thanks dude!

I did this once, it sounded VERY strange afterwards. It's a common trick with flatwound strings for violins etc. but it did weird things for me when i tried it on guitar