Sitting around yesterday playing the strat, and just not happy with the sound. So after about a hour I thought "geeze, when did I last change the strings" Changed them out with a new set, and WOW.
How many out there find themselves doing the same thing ? I try to keep up on them, but sometimes I just get caught up in something and forget all about them. What a bonehead!!!!

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Yeah, that happens tome more often than not... I can hear when the stings are going "flat" on my acoustics, but not so much with my electrics... I think the best thing is to get into a routine to put on fresh strings. I should listen to my own advise

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

i couldnt agree more, ive had issues where my strat keeps going out of tune, on a guitar with locking tuners i might add.
changed the strings, tuned it and stable after stretching them a little.

also, ive noticed diadarrios have been having a little oxidization on brand new strings.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

Yeh, a routine would be nice, but alot has to do with my work schedule. A own my own construction co. and sometimes I will play for hours, for 2-3 days in a row, and other times I wont pick it up for more then 30 min. for a week or two.

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When the strings get the sweat and all the stuff that can stick to our hands, overtime they can oxydize and kind of turn into a file and they eat out the frets very fast. Better change them more often.
Claude.

Strings are not that expensive,I've never understood why people keep nasty strings on their guitars.....it's laziness.

Even on my daily players, I only change strings about every month or so.....on the guitars I just collect, well, some of them have had the same strings on now for........15 years OMG!!! I change them before a gig when I have one, though!

You'd be shocked by the number of people who have no idea how to change their strings. As a result, they get nasty. I do simple guitar repairs at the shop I work at and I think that 75% of my repair duties are changing people's strings for them. Some of them are beyond nasty to the point that I have to wash my hands before I even touch the new strings.

As far as my strings go I'm obsessive compulsive when it comes to changing them. At least once every two to three weeks. Less than that if I have more gigs than normal, or outdoor gigs in the summer. Those summer gigs kill strings in a matter of minutes.

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Depending on how much I get to play (some weeks it's as low as 1 - 1.5 hours) I'll change them every 3 months or so - depends on the brand of string and how well they hold up.

I'll admit to putting off changing guitars with "standard" tuners; I'm terrible at changing them even after playing for the better part of 30 years (I'll admit to a 5-year "hiatus" from about 1987-1992). Locking tuners or Fender split-post aren't an issue, just standard tuners where you have to thread the string through the hole and have either tie them or use some kind of lock wind. I will always wind up with at least one plain string with a cross wind (instead of all the winds being in the same direction up from the bottom of the tuner). I took the time to make a list of the guitars I've owned over the years, and of the 40 some-odd guitars 15 had locking tuners of some kind, 13 had split-post, and only 7 had "standard" tuners.

I can see how some people might just forget to change their strings, as I've done it more than once but now I generally change my strings when the old ones begin to oxidize and they start to feel a bit gritty, and sound dull. I maybe do it every three weeks, maybe more frequently when I play more

Drew

What I can't understand is guitar shops who don't try and keep the strings on their guitars at least semi-fresh. I was in a store yesterday and tried out a 2009 American Deluxe that they have on display (it's still brand new - it's an 09 serial number but they only got it in last year) and struggled to play it properly because the strings were that bad. This is a £1000 guitar!! I can almost understand it on the Squiers and MIM guitars - but on the higher end MIA stuff??



My Ex's brother was a guitar teacher and yet didn't know the first thing about changing his strings or setting up his guitar - I always ended up doing it for him...

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How did it sound to you?

Agree! If they start to feel sticky to me and sound dull they're gone! This could happen after one gig or a few weeks, depending on how much play a certain guitar gets. I could never go to a gig or a jam with strings that don't feel fresh! It really does affect my playing and tone.

Absolutely! There is definitely a hygienic perspective to changing string when and as appropriate.

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You dig?

On guitars that I play daily I try to change strings every three or four weeks. I hear people complain that their guitar won't stay in tune and they have to tune it every time they play. To me when I pick up my guitar and it no longer needs tuned I figure the strings are probably dead and it is usually reflected in the tone I'm hearing at that point.

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?

I have a routine with changing my strings. I do not forget very often, but I can tell when it is time to change by the tone. I generally change my strings once a month on my electric guitars and every 2 months on my acoustic.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head