Every 2 months at the longest, assuming we're gigging once a month and rehearsing once or twice a week. Mostly using nickel rounds
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God yes. I can't stand when my strings lose they're new "zing" and feel. It goes well with the music we play too. I use D'addarrio pro steels and change them at least once a month. If I were in a Motown band or something like that, I'd use flats and probably rarely change them. But rock/hard rock, I change them often. If I could afford it id change them weekly.
if you haven't changed your strings in "five or ten years"...
- and let me pause right there for a couple points: how scary is it that you don't even know whether it's five or ten? also, your phrasing implies that you only have one bass, so i'll proceed from that premise. now to return to the sentence in progress:
...that means you don't even know the difference it makes. that being the case, change them immediately! just to see what it's like! aren't you at least curious? you can save the old nasty ones and put them back on if you want. but don't let yourself remain ignorant! get out from under that rock! at least learn what you're talking about! next you'll be asking us whether you should bother tuning! now beat it!
I used a Lakland Skyline Duck Dunn regularly for 10 years and never changed the strings, though I religiously wiped 'em down after playing. I recently A/B'd it to a new Fender P-Bass, and the old strings were *way* dead. But I kind of prefer them that way! Zing and I don't get along. I mostly use flats now. I only had to change flats once, on a Gibson EB-1, because they no longer would tune.
Depends on the gig. When I was doing this manic funk/metal thing, I was changing them ever two weeks. Now? I'd say about once every 90-120 days when gigging... but as I'm not currently gigging, no string changes in a while.
It also helps that I've been mostly playing a fretless with tapewounds on it - so there's no need for a good long while.
It also helps that I've been mostly playing a fretless with tapewounds on it - so there's no need for a good long while.
I only use rounds, and at my current, low-key playing schedule, every month. If I were gigging like I was in my 20s, it would be every three days.
I've been running this set of DR flats for about a month now.
The Sadowskys before that, about two years... the LaBellas before that, about a year and a half.
The Sadowskys before that, about two years... the LaBellas before that, about a year and a half.
When one of the strings starts sounding dead or is not a bright as the rest. I use cheap strings($7~10/set), rounds, and find it much easier to shorten the sustain time or make them "sound dead" with technique/hands and EQ. It is nearly impossible, IMO, to make a dead set of strings have long sustain or sound bright.
There are more than a few basses here and lots of new sets of strings.
Note: practice time + 80~90 shows per year.
How often do I change strings? Short answer is - whenever I think they need to be changed. For flats, that isn't very often. I have an old Epiphone with La Bella flats that were 3 years old when I got it; and that was 6-7 years ago. They're just fine... Rounds? Unlike a lot of people around here, I am not a big fan of brand new zingy-ness; I like them better when they're broke in. Most of the rounds I use are EB Hybrid Slinkys. Since I'm a clean hand, non-sweaty/corrosive kind of guy, they (usually) last me the equivalent of playing a couple of hours every day for about 6 - 8 weeks. GHS Boomers seem to last a few weeks longer. No experience with other brands, except D'Addarios; they last me as long as it takes to yank them off, and throw them away... Tapes? I dunno yet; but, so far, they seem to be giving my flats a run for their money...
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No I don't. You're analogy is flawed. When the zing is gone and they start to get a scooped sound, I change them. Maybe that's how you like your strings, not me. I think old rounds sound like garbage.
If I'm not gigging I won't change them. If I'm gigging, then every 6 months or so. I tend to buy fresh strings for bigger gigs and recording.
OK, lots of feedback, thank you. I have five basses. The one I play most is my warmouth/fender combo home made fretless jazz. I have coated ground roundwounds. Some of you seem shocked that I don't know if its been five or ten years since I changed them. You must be young. I'm in my sixties, and the years go by in a blur!LOL But I don't think strings can give you a bad tone, maybe just sound dead, or bad intonation.
Wouldn't "Never" have gotten your point across just as well?
(Piano tuner/tech here...)
No. My point is not so much that I never change the strings as much as it is that strings are made to last a very long time.
