A simple question for stringed instrument players
 

Do you think it's better to replace all your strings at once or as they break?

I haven't changed my strings in months, and I just broke my A string. I have a new pack of strings sitting on my dining room table that I bought a month ago.

I feel I should note that I have a Floyd Rose on my guitar.

I usually wait about 3 breaks of the high "e" string before replacing the entire set. One time I want to try those "glossed" strings that apparently last longer and prevent fretbuzz, but they're almost triple the price of regular strings.

I'd change them all a few months after one breaks, if I cared about things like that. But I don't, so I just replace them one at a time. I swear that one of my strings is growing mold on it at this point.

Strings do go mouldy if you don't replace the strings. My spare acoustic has greenish strings. It's a look.

Replace them all at once. They tend not to break if you've got better technique, or replace them every 4-6 months. I know people who replace them much more frequently than that, but I'd guess you're not a gigging musician.

Fucking hell, I'm reduced to replying to a fucking guitar thread.

i rarely break strings but i'd say if you're gonna change one you might as well put a whole new set on.


how often should you change bass strings? the strings on my bass which i am holding right now are the strings it came with and i bought it over two years ago...

..... change 'em all at one time. How are you breaking strings? That's kinda hard to do: tuned too high? nicked up frets w/ notches maybe? Strumming too hard on opened notes? Picks too heavy / thick?

The question is kinda subjective, but if you're asking others.....
do you have a bunch of spares... can afford to keep changing? It depends on if you're recording or gigging. If nothing, it doesn't matter how old they are as long as you can take the stinky finger from corroded strings!

Some mom & pop stores sell individual strings for a buck or two.

how do you break strings? i used to break strings all the time because i played so hard and i play with heavy gauge picks. that and tuning too high.

i don't really know anything about basses other than how to play one which is why i asked about the strings

With bass strings, if they're covered in shite, stick them in boiling water for 20 minutes or so, and they'll get that bright sound again. If you're not worried about that then don't bother. And you're probably not playing jazz, so I doubt you're that worried.

I just play without the E string until another one breaks and about then is when I need to replace them all.

I also contribute nothing to this thread.

thanks glice! you saved the day!

the factory strings on basses are usually shitty, i figure if you're going to use the same ones for a long period of time you might as well spring for some really nice ones.

hmmmmmmmmm, boiling bass strings works but can be "dangerous" for some materials and can weaken them a bit coz of the heat-induced dilatation/+ cold-induced re-shrinking---does this make sense? anyway, you could go for this thing:
http://www.tunemybass.com/strings/ba...ning_tube.html
which is kinda cool and works really well.

I like the strings on my guitar to be so old that they sound like they're made of wood. I can't stand the bright brassy sound of new strings.
Gut strings are a different story, of course.

i actually found some string cleaner upon further investigation, i'm good. i'm not about to use it though, i hate bright bass

Do you have a large version of your avatar, ?????????? ... I need it for later.

well, it's not that it will make your strings brighter than they used to be originally...I prefer to have clean strings and fiddle a bit with tone/eq to get the sound I want rather than relying on the dirtiness of the strings he he ;).
I'm so not rock and roll....

edit: to satanass

Fucking A.

I break strings all the time. I guess I have bad technique or something. I guess it's from what Freshchops said about playing open notes too hard. And I'll replace them one at a time for a while. But eventually I'll give up the ghost and just replace them all. I have some guitar playing friends that are fairly more tech savy than myself and they all have different opinions on the issue. They all love that brassy sound so they tend to change regularly. One of them changes strings like every couple of months or whatever on principle. Yet another hasn't changed strings on his acoustic in something like four years. Still sounds slick.

I know a guy who uses a floyd rose, they look neat. I believe he told me the string longevity is reduced in them though.

It's best to change them all at the same time unless you have one that just breaks a lot.

I agree with cha' there. The older the better to me in most cases but I don't like if they start to stink. That's when I change them. Ya' know, when they start to smell like old rusty keys? I love when they sound warm and full instead of bright and brittle. Brand new strings are so brittle and harsh. It doesn't help that I'm playing on really hot ass pick-ups.

I agree with "nicfit"'s point about new strings vs. messing w/ tone. This works too, and is important when you need sustain. ya can't expect to hold strong notes with older strings, but as they get older, the brightness tapers off and the strings sound fuller (a'la full of your finger grime).

depends. i'll go a bit without the high two strings if the others are fine. but not too long.

i don't break strings very often... i used to all the time when i was a nub.

all at once..

I know it sucks breaking in new strings, they are stiff, they get out of tune all the time BUT

it sucks even more to have that ONE string be stiff and get out of tune when the rest are fine. Plus it does feel nice to have a new set of strings once they get slightly worked in, nothing is smoother on the fingers than a new set of superlight 9s

the frequency depends on if you are peforming or not.. when I am in a band I change em ever 3-4 weeks.. not to often or I will have stage troubles staying in tune, but not to far apart lest they lose that sharp tone.

I do gig, but I haven't gigged in a little while. I'll probably just change the one string this time, but if any more break in the near future, I'll change them all.

I agree with whomever said old strings sound better, but only with acoustics. In the beginning of my band, our singer played an acoustic that he almost never changed the strings on (largely because it was easier to hold the tuners and turn the guitar than to turn the tuners), and made the songs sound much darker...

swa(y): Having a Floyd is both a blessing and a curse. I bend strings alot, and I can get pretty slammin' on heavy rhythm parts, so I was always going out of tune between songs when I had a guitar with a hardtail or a regular trem. I don't do that as much with the Floyd. That said, changing strings can be a little more tedious, and as you pointed out, you're pretty much locked into one tuning. But I gave up playing in weird tunings a while ago because I felt whenever I used an altered tuning, I'd sound too much like Sonic Youth. Plus, I play a lot of leads/solos (not shredding, but soloing nonetheless-think Johnny Greenwood mixed with some wannabe J. Mascis/David Gilmour), and altered tunings aren't really suitable for that. But it's okay, since my band primarily plays in standard A440 and drop-D tunings. The drop-D tunings could be a problem until I got an EVH D-Tuna, which allows you to drop your low E string down to D just by pulling it out.

i change them all after a few months or weeks depending on the usage.

As soon as I get a guitar, I'll let it sit in the sun for a few months to get the strings rusty.