How often are you guys restringing during tracking?

[tempe]

I'm tracking an album at the moment, and 5 songs in I came to the realization that the guitar sounded a hell of a lot duller at the start of the song than it did it the end, it was probably around 25 hours into tracking.

Is that normal? Should I be changing earlier?

 

[barricade]

I normaly change strings each 2 songs! And im always using non-coated strings...for a moar metulz sound...but they quickly dull out as you said!

 

[Trevoire520]

Most guys on here seem to be changing every 6-8 hours, sometimes even every 4 hours. Depends on the strings, player, temperature, humidity etc. I would always change them each day you're recording at an absolute minimum.

Record a test riff at the start of the session and then every couple of hours re-record it and compare the tone. If you're starting to lose the high end then change strings. You CANT get this back with eq later on.

 

[tempe]

Oh I know about why you should change strings, I've just never done a project long enough to encounter a mid session string change. I don't know about 6-8 hours though, bass strings for sure but maybe its because I'm not a guitarist, as I said I got 25 hours in before noticing a tone change (coated strings mind you). I guess this is a very much on a per player basis however.

 

[Tommy Gun]

I have them change strings for each day of tracking. A lot of times, I'll just have them leave the guitar with me, so I can do it the night before and let the strings acclimate to the room overnight. I'm also very picky about what kind of strings are used to track, and what gauge they will play based on tuning. But, I'll keep the specifics to myself on those points. Regardless, I've found that fresh strings for each days of guitars reveals no discrepancies and isn't too much hassle in the long run.

 

[joelplagues]

When the band is serious and wants a good sounding cd. EVERY song.

as soon as rhythms for a song are finished, strings are changed and we move onto the next song. simple as that.

Just finished a 5 song cd and that's what we did.

 

[Trevoire520]

Oh I know about why you should change strings, I've just never done a project long enough to encounter a mid session string change. I don't know about 6-8 hours though, bass strings for sure but maybe its because I'm not a guitarist, as I said I got 25 hours in before noticing a tone change (coated strings mind you). I guess this is a very much on a per player basis however.

I suppose if you're using coated strings then it might take a bit longer for you to notice a difference, though possibly at the expense of not having that top end there to begin with? I don't know really as I've never really used coated strings much.

 

[tempe]

Yeah I've never dealt with coated strings before not a huge fan tbh, we've changed strings 2 out of 3 days and noticed a tonal difference at the end of the second day and retracked what we noticed a difference with, sounds much more cohesive now, thanks for your help guys!

 

[Aaron Smith]

If it's quad tracking, I'd say every song for sure. Double tracking, maybe every two songs, if it doesn't take a lot of retakes for the guitarist to nail a whole song.

 

[Ad Sluijter]

Hi,

It's hard to say how often you have to change your strings, because (like mentioned earlier already) it depends on a number of factors.

Just trust your ears. For me there are two things I pay attention to:
If it's getting more and more difficult to tune or if they loose their brightness. But this last one is of course also a matter of taste, I know some people don't like this brightness at all and play their guitar for a couple of hours first before they start the recordings.

I have to change my strings pretty often because I have sweaty hands
These pics are from a 12 song quad tracking session. So I basically changed strings for every song on every track.

Best regards, Ad

 

[cobhc]

Don't have any experience with this myself really, but every song or two doesn't seem excessive to me.

 

[Ermz]

Once a day, at the very minimum.

 

[tempe]

Once a day, at the very minimum.

Seems like a good rule, I'm going to mass order some D'darios from the states since its just insanely cheaper and have a whole bunch on hand. As it seems no matter how often I yell at people to get their guitars professionally set up and restrung, and to buy some extra sets of the same gauge it never happens...

Can't wait to get mixing on this project, its a Southern Rock band which is right up my alley

 

[Steven Otto]

What about bass guitar strings? Those are a lot pricier.

 

[The Unavoidable]

For my own stuff I'll switch after 5-6 songs of double tracking. But my band rehearse alot, so I don't need many takes to nail a song. I'll probably be quad-tracking my bands next release, and I guess I'll at least change before laying tracks 3 and 4.

But you can really feel/hear it as soon as strings start to lose their magic, so yeah change whenever that happens

 

[The Front Studio]

When the band is serious and wants a good sounding cd. EVERY song.

as soon as rhythms for a song are finished, strings are changed and we move onto the next song. simple as that.

Just finished a 5 song cd and that's what we did.

Same here

 

[Trevoire520]

Seems like a good rule, I'm going to mass order some D'darios from the states since its just insanely cheaper and have a whole bunch on hand. As it seems no matter how often I yell at people to get their guitars professionally set up and restrung, and to buy some extra sets of the same gauge it never happens...

Can't wait to get mixing on this project, its a Southern Rock band which is right up my alley

You know that's something I've never thought of doing. I'd bet even with shipping and tax it would still work out pretty cheap if you bought alot.

 

[tempe]

My friend just bought 40 packets and it worked out at something like $6AUD a set, shipped!

 

[tempe]

What about bass guitar strings? Those are a lot pricier.

Being a bass player, I've tended to be a lot more anal with bass strings. I change them literally every 2-3 hours, if the tone needs to be really bright and jangly. Needless to say that's expensive but there is nothing worse than dead bass strings.