Wow, new strings.

xxNickTwisterXX · #1 07-16-2008, 10:47 PM

So I've had the same bass for the past 5 years (I've only really started playing a bit more than a year ago), and rarely played other basses (because I play lefty) And it has had the same set of strings on it since I got it, and I'm sure they were old when I got it. So I've never really known what new strings were like.

Until, I got my new bass in the mail yesterday, I played it a bit, and something didn't seem right, so I set the action and continued to play it, and still there was a brilliance to the sound that didn't seem in place, and I finally just put my finger on where the sound is coming from, It has new strings on it.

I guess I didn't ever realize or think of getting new strings, but now I since I've used em, I think I'm going to be using non-ancient strings from now on.

Munjibunga · #2 07-16-2008, 10:50 PM

Five years? Shoot, they were just getting broken in.

fourstringdrums · #3 07-16-2008, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

Five years? Shoot, they were just getting broken in.

Yeah nothing like putting on new strings and having to start over.

FrizzleFry · #4 07-16-2008, 11:15 PM

I usualy keep strings on for around a year, steels, they sounds awesome after that long.

alexofc69 · #5 07-16-2008, 11:17 PM

Strings on my "daily" played bass get replaced after around 6 months. MAX.

kebbs · #6 07-16-2008, 11:19 PM

The late James Jamerson would only replace them when they broke... and I doubt it happened often.

D.Don · #7 07-16-2008, 11:20 PM

I heard 17 years on the same strings, Jamerson, maybe that's just a rumour ...

D.Don

fourstringdrums · #8 07-16-2008, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D.Don

I heard 17 years on the same strings, Jamerson, maybe that's just a rumour ...

D.Don

He said it in an interview in 1979 I think it was. He said when he got the bass in 62 he put Labellas on and never took them off.

I just put a Jamerson set on yesterday, that's my plan. No more strings

GabeN · #9 07-16-2008, 11:54 PM

I had the stock strings on my Warwick 'vette for over a year before I kept getting pissed because I couldn't get a good tone anymore. I was considering a new amp head and figured I would slap some new strings on just to see. Man oh man did they bring it to life. They completely changed the bass and saved me the price of a new amp.

MattAT · #10 07-17-2008, 12:20 AM

My problem is not that I brake strings a lot but rather have too much fun trying out new ones!

Slain · #11 07-17-2008, 01:07 AM

every 3-4 months for me, I don't like them to get too worn in.

Solarmist · #12 07-17-2008, 01:22 AM

I love bright roundwound strings, and I'll clean them once or twice, but irregardless I like “the new string sound” too – so I change them after about 10 months.

fretman4god · #13 07-29-2008, 03:25 AM

haha....a month...month and a half tops...ever...I cant stand it when my strings die...

pdjb98 · #14 07-29-2008, 05:37 PM

I am newer to really working on my bass rig. I have played a fairly good amount for a hobbyist about 4 years with different people and home recording and I gotta say I dug the old sound of my bass with stock pickups and original strings but man yesterday I got a quarter pound in at the bridge and some new Nickel XLs and gotta say the thing is really sounding hi-fi now and I kind of like it. The older, the better might be a traditional thing to do but I just dont know...