Is it true that i must change my bass string 1 week beforea gig? Why?

sLapshock · #1 06-02-2005, 09:45 AM

Why should i change bass string one week? Cant i change a day before?

Is it the matter of SOUND or FEEL?

**Marcus Willett** · #2 06-02-2005, 09:47 AM

Who told you this?

sLapshock · #3 06-02-2005, 09:49 AM

friends of mine. so is it a matter to change a string a day before a gig?

Brad Johnson · #4 06-02-2005, 09:49 AM

bassteban · #5 06-02-2005, 09:51 AM

-is that after changing strings, they stretch & keep going flat for awhile. If you don't want this happening mid-gig, change your strings well beforehand, & play on them a bit to break them in. New strings can also affect other areas of setup(intonation, action, trussrod/relief).

mwm70 · #6 06-02-2005, 09:51 AM

Strings stretch when they are new. It is recommended to change them ahead so your bass will stay in tune at the time of gig/show. I have had some strings stretch so bad that they would go out of tune within a half a songs time.

sLapshock · #7 06-02-2005, 09:52 AM

so does play them frequently for few hours might prevent this?

**Marcus Willett** · #8 06-02-2005, 09:53 AM

I've changed strings 30 minutes before a gig. Sometimes a month. You might experience a slight lag when you hafta tune up every so often, but only for a brief period. I actually like strings best after about 2-3 hours of play, when they still have the attack but have lost just a bit of the "wire-y" sound.

BassikLee · #9 06-02-2005, 09:54 AM

Yep,

I used to do that very thing, technically. Of course I'd also change strings the day of the gig, so the week old strings weren't really part of the deal. We had a 3-4 day per week house gig from hell. Marcus thinks getting taken around by armed guards is rough. Well has he ever played the same bar for 2 years, 3-4 nights a week???!!! Anywho, before I discovered DR strings, I'd put new Boomers on my bass on friday night, and sound great friday, pretty good saturday, and by the next wed/thu nights, they'd sound like poop. This was circa 1993, but it holds tru today.

This may not have helped, unless you read thru the lines and see that I am suggesting new strings the day of the gig are not a problem....

Lee

Mon Rominee · #10 06-02-2005, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Willett

I've changed strings 30 minutes before a gig. Sometimes a month. You might experience a slight lag when you hafta tune up every so often, but only for a brief period. I actually like strings best after about 2-3 hours of play, when they still have the attack but have lost just a bit of the "wire-y" sound.

+ infinity.

sLapshock · #11 06-02-2005, 09:56 AM

so now can anyone reccomend me the cheapest string for me? im using it to play metal song that use 16beat plucking (with a pick not playign with finger)

used to use D'ADDRION PRISM 4 string 045 .. any reccomendations?

How about rotosound or DR or Esp strings?

i_got_a_mohawk · #12 06-02-2005, 10:00 AM

Only change the strings before the gig if you dont like the sound it has then or if you specifically want the new string sound

Some people prefer playing with dead strings, some like them to be brand new out the package, its all down to taste and what you look for in your sound

**Marcus Willett** · #13 06-02-2005, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassikLee

Marcus thinks getting taken around by armed guards is rough. Well has he ever played the same bar for 2 years, 3-4 nights a week???!!!

First of all....

Not bad...

Second, try 8 years, @ 6 or quite often 7 days a week. I passed burn-out in 2000 or maybe 2001, not sure anymore; it's all just a blur...one big set.

Rezdog · #14 06-02-2005, 10:04 AM

Greetings from the North,
No you don't. If the sweat from your hands is really acidic it will kill the the brightness of your strings fast and you might have to change them more often. But of course your string changing depends usually on how often you play,how you play and what you perceive as to what's bright enough or what's dead/dull sounding. And of course there's the difference between round wounds which get changed more often than flat wounds.
If you are going to change them out before a gig try to do it with enough time for them to get settled. For me it's a day or so with a little playing time and some people do it the day of the gig. As usual it all depends on you.
Another tip, if you play with a pick keep an extra set of strings on hand because you'll break strings more often than finger players.
Rezdog

silky smoove · #15 06-02-2005, 10:06 AM

I typically change my strings a couple of hours before a gig. Play on them and stretch them out (repeat) until they don't go flat on me to any noticeable capacity. I'm a bit paranoid though, and I constantly check my tuning whenever possible on stage, but thus far have had no problems when re-stringing a couple hours before a gig.

BassikLee · #16 06-02-2005, 10:10 AM

Marcus,

Time for a little "new math". You have a gig, which may be boring, but AFAIK, the average audience member is a paying customer, there to "see a show". This means each "show" is new, exciting, fresh on at least SOME level. Playing an a bar, even a fairly decent one like the one of which I speak, is ENTIRELY different. Pay, we were making like $80/night, for a 9:30-1:45 weeknight, and a 10:00-2:45 weekend night. Imagine playing the same 60 or so songs, every night, to the same 30 or so "regulars" in your average bar. New, exciting, fresh?? Not so much. Speaking of all this, heard from bernaki lately?? I haven't seen him in ten years.

Lee

That is $80/each per night, which still sux, but imagine what it'd have been split 6 ways....

Stox · #17 06-02-2005, 10:11 AM

If you are using a good string manufacturer you should have no problem changing just before a gig. A few tips, change one string at a time, if you take the old ones all off at the same time the neck will 'relax a bit' and when the new strings go on it takes longer for the neck to return to it original position and this is the single largest reason for them going a bit flat. Once the bass is restrung and tuned, fret the string at the first fret whilst placing you right elbow on the bridge saddle of the same string, then pull the string off the fretboard with your right index finger a few times, be gentle but firm and this will stretch the string a little. Re tune and I'll think you'll find the string will stay in tune.

**Marcus Willett** · #18 06-02-2005, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassikLee

Time for a little "new math". You have a gig, which may be boring, but AFAIK, the average audience member is a paying customer, there to "see a show". This means each "show" is new, exciting, fresh on at least SOME level.Imagine playing the same 60 or so songs, every night

Bro, you'd think so, but you'd be wrong. Average age of our customers is 59...really. Many that come to "see the show" just wanna complain how loud it is. Many blue-hairs. Often asleep. In the front row. Each show is the same tired crap we did the day before. Trust me, I did my time in bars...they were more fun; this is worse. Imagine playing the same Elvis set every night, but twice a day, 12 times a week for 10 years. THEN talk to me about 3-4 nights a week at the bar.

-All said with love

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassikLee

heard from bernaki lately?? I haven't seen him in ten years.

He kinda vanished. Need to get back to Miami one of these days...

Oh, sLapshock; we'll get back to your question in a little while.

Nedmundo · #19 06-02-2005, 12:00 PM

If I want new strings for a show, I usually change them for the last one or two rehearsals before the gig. That way I know they'll stay in tune, but sound pretty fresh. Honestly, though, I stretch them at installation, so they stay in tune from the get go. I wouldn't worry about changing them an hour before a set.

steveksux · #20 06-02-2005, 12:14 PM

I don't think its string stretch at all, or not much anyway.

I think the string resists bending over the nut and the bridge at first. After some time in tension, the string bends over those points, loosening the tension a little. At first, the string goes over the bridge/nut like the Dukes of Hazard went over bumps in the road, soaring up away from the fretboard/bass a little instead of straight from nut to bridge. Eventually the string bends over the nut and bridge saddle and forms a straight line between them.

after I restring, I "push the strings down" a couple times, a little bit, just at the nut and the bridge saddles to "pre-bend" them a little. Never have trouble with string stretching. I'll change strings on a break if they sound bad.

This only applies if you use same brand/type/diameter strings so the tension doesn't change. Different tension of strings can cause the neck to drift, changing intonation, action, all kinds of things.

If I'm trying a new brand/guage of strings, I make sure to change days in advance to allow the neck to settle, and make sure I bring tools to the gig for a quick truss rod/intonation adjustment in emergency.

Randy