guitar strings, and recording, how about YOU?

[joeymusicguy]

just curious

how many of you are changing strings during a record, and how often?

i say good intonation and tuning > new string sound

so i usually dont change strings on the "tracking" guitars throughout the record, in fear that changing them might knock the intonation off

but i i realize that the sound of new strings is important in some cases...

what a trade off :Smug:

 

[Skinny Viking]

I'll put new strings on a couple days before starting tracking and play on them for an hour a day. Breaks them in a little but doesn't kill any of the "new string smell"

I'll basically track 5 songs of rhythms (dual or quad) before swapping out the strings again. Rinse & repeat. After that I'll swap out the strings again before doing melodies/leads and all

and yes, intonation and tuning is VERY important. I'll pretty much tune after every take ... usually have any guitars I plan on using professionally set up before I do anything

 

[Oliver Lukacs]

Depends on how long the tracking takes.

 

[joeymusicguy]

wow, how do you not have massive intonation problems between tracks / takes??

i know im not working with the best instruments because even the big bands i record are bringing tour guitars into the studio, but i've only seen like 3 - 5 guitars in my entire life time that this method would work on, others would fail hard (especially on a daily rate) at holding tune for longer than a couple of bars / takes

I'll put new strings on a couple days before starting tracking and play on them for an hour a day. Breaks them in a little but doesn't kill any of the "new string smell"

I'll basically track 5 songs of rhythms (dual or quad) before swapping out the strings again. Rinse & repeat. After that I'll swap out the strings again before doing melodies/leads and all

and yes, intonation and tuning is VERY important. I'll pretty much tune after every take ... usually have any guitars I plan on using professionally set up before I do anything

 

[Ashgarth]

New strings couple of days befor recording, and tuning before every take.

That's what I did when we recorded an album with my old band, recorded all rythm guitars in 4 hours, so didn't needed to change strings during recording

 

[joeymusicguy]

New strings couple of days befor recording, and tuning before every take.

That's what I did when we recorded an album with my old band, recorded all rythm guitars in 4 hours, so didn't needed to change strings during recording

if i could get guitars done in 4 hours, or even 4 days! i'd have a week vacation every month

shit

 

[Skinny Viking]

wow, how do you not have massive intonation problems between tracks / takes??

i know im not working with the best instruments because even the big bands i record are bringing tour guitars into the studio, but i've only seen like 3 - 5 guitars in my entire life time that this method would work on, others would fail hard (especially on a daily rate) at holding tune for longer than a couple of bars / takes

the guy I take my guitars too is brilliant with his setups. Also, even though I have Floyds on my 2 main guitars, they're locked down so they won't float back, only forward. I change my strings out 1 at a time and tune up each string as its replaced. Never gave me any problems. I don't have any crazy high-end guitars either but they hold tunings like motherfuckers

 

[JonWormwood]

How are you knocking the intonation off by changing strings?

 

[Ashgarth]

if i could get guitars done in 4 hours, or even 4 days! i'd have a week vacation every month

shit

hahaha

we made the whole album in 2 weeks, and when we started tracking guitars the producer told me "we are late, so try to be fast".

4 hours later I was going home

There were only two tracks for the rythm guitars, if we had time I'd prefer to do quadtracking...

As I said, we tuned before eeeevery take, without exception, I was sick of the tuner and the metronome

 

[Apsu]

I'll put new strings on a couple days before starting tracking and play on them for an hour a day. Breaks them in a little but doesn't kill any of the "new string smell"

wow, how do you not have massive intonation problems between tracks / takes??

I've found that how you wrap/wind the strings (counter-locking wraps, locking tuners, etc) and how you 'play' to break them in has a lot more to do with how soon they achieve tuning stability than factors such as X amount of time passing or acid/oil/debris buildup. Specifically, if the time you spend playing the new strings before tracking is spent explicitly trying to distress the strings and tighten up any irregularities in the post winding, you can achieve enough stability to start tracking within a few hours without losing any more tuning than an old set of strings does. The secret is to do all the things that happens to strings over time and constant retunings, but accelerate the process. Tune 1/4 step above your target tuning, play hard a bit, pulling 1 1/2 step bends on every string, tugging the strings directly off the guitar body, tuning 1 step flat of your target, repeat, tune up to target, continue and adjust periodically. If the axe has a floating trem, the process is even easier. Just unlock the nut and go nuts on the divebombs from the various spots above/below the target, readjusting continuously as you go.

Of course, every stringbat is different, so YMMV.

 

[Skinny Viking]

I've found that how you wrap/wind the strings (counter-locking wraps, locking tuners, etc) and how you 'play' to break them in has a lot more to do with how soon they achieve tuning stability than factors such as X amount of time passing or acid/oil/debris buildup. Specifically, if the time you spend playing the new strings before tracking is spent explicitly trying to distress the strings and tighten up any irregularities in the post winding, you can achieve enough stability to start tracking within a few hours without losing any more tuning than an old set of strings does. The secret is to do all the things that happens to strings over time and constant retunings, but accelerate the process. Tune 1/4 step above your target tuning, play hard a bit, pulling 1 1/2 step bends on every string, tugging the strings directly off the guitar body, tuning 1 step flat of your target, repeat, tune up to target, continue and adjust periodically. If the axe has a floating trem, the process is even easier. Just unlock the nut and go nuts on the divebombs from the various spots above/below the target, readjusting continuously as you go.

Of course, every stringbat is different, so YMMV.

Dude, I also always wear my Helloween "Keepers 1" concert shirt from 1987 for the ENTIRE TIME I am tracking my guitars.

Last cd was the 1st where I tried quad-tracking

I smelled horrible by the time I was done

point being that some of what I do is based in reality, some of it is hoodoo

by the way, I wrap the strings on my post almost all the way and very tightly before I lock 'em into my trem. Strings aren't twisted up to begin with this way ... all worked so far for me

 

[Apsu]

Dude, I also always wear my Helloween "Keepers 1" concert shirt from 1987 for the ENTIRE TIME I am tracking my guitars.

Haha, awesome

I'm all for the hoodoo if it's really working for you. I personally like the challenge of finding the common elements in a lot of different people's hoodoo and boiling them down to find out what makes their methods tick, but ultimately the goal is results. If you get 'em, more fucking power to you!

 

[Sacha]

I change them every couple of songs, but I have acidic finger mung that deadens strings very quickly. If you change strings one at a time, stretch them adequately and properly set up your guitar then it shouldn't affect tuning stability or intonation.

 

[Ermz]

Whenever is practical. Most times this implies after every day of guitar tracking. Gives the guitarist some time to bash the strings in at home and come in with something that will hold relatively steady tune.

 

[daveotero]

I try and change after about 10 to 12 hours of playing, or about 2 days in the studio.

Stringing up the guitar correctly is key here. The strings only needs to wrap around the peg 1.5 to 2 times and always down to keep pressure against the nut. Never let the string wind over it self. After its strung up and the strings have a little tension, stretch the fuck out of them! Seriously really, really stretch them and pull the string hard against both nuts. If a string breaks I figure it was fucked anyways and would have broken eventually. Replace it and keep going. Let the guitars settle a little after that and tune up. Always check intonation after each string change.

I've never had a guitar that wouldn't keep really good tune after doing this. It might take another hour or two to really settle in, but after that there's almost no need to tune up at all. Of course I'll still keep checking often, but its rarely out.

 

[doclegion]

Im about due on my bass and guitar

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Perfect intonation is like bigfoot or loch ness or selfless Republicans...I make sure guys are tuning every 5 minutes

 

[joeymusicguy]

I try and change after about 10 to 12 hours of playing, or about 2 days in the studio.

Stringing up the guitar correctly is key here. The strings only needs to wrap around the peg 1.5 to 2 times and always down to keep pressure against the nut. Never let the string wind over it self. After its strung up and the strings have a little tension, stretch the fuck out of them! Seriously really, really stretch them and pull the string hard against both nuts. If a string breaks I figure it was fucked anyways and would have broken eventually. Replace it and keep going. Let the guitars settle a little after that and tune up. Always check intonation after each string change.

I've never had a guitar that wouldn't keep really good tune after doing this. It might take another hour or two to really settle in, but after that there's almost no need to tune up at all. Of course I'll still keep checking often, but its rarely out.

wow im really shocked with everyone's answers, this has not been my experience at all, i've tried changing strings in the middle of a record before and basically made the guitar useless as far as tracking a part that was in tune

and someone mentioned how does changing strings change intonation? it just does. the strings get settled in a certain way each time. intonation is to be adjusted each time you change strings O_O

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Meh I don't change them that often. Then again I have not had anything in over 7 songs so 1 set usually does the job.

I always wind the strings at least 3 times around the peg (more if it's a higher string).

 

[Notuern]

To you guys who want to keep your strings clean and still have that "new" sound, just buy a bottle of stringcleaner and use after each time you play on the guitar(And wash your hands before playing!).. sure, you wont fix the strings stretching out, but you'll double the time they sound good.

Edit: Oh, and if you get some really good tuning pegs, you wont have to re-tune your guitar as often, also making the strings live longer.