change strings how often

[Geri O]

i hate new string sound - i play my rounds and my flats for at least a year once i find the type that sounds good on each bass. i have definitely tried strings that i didn't like after a couple months, and in those cases it was time for a change.

I'm divided on that...

I love zingy new round wounds on my Stingray and my Jazz and Precision.

However, I have 2-year old rounds on my fretless and they sound wonderful on that bass. I dread the day I have to change them.

 

[PunkNerve]

Every year, I use D'addario nickel wound roundwounds.

 

[crlujan]

Flats. So, never.

 

[ZenG]

I think it depends what "tone/style camp" a player is in to begin with.

Slappers seem to obsess over string tone big time.

Flats players seem to want a certain sound.

I don't slap...I just use fingers and occasionally pick along the lines of McCartney's style...

I've gone back to rounds on all my basses. To a slapper my strings probably sound doornail dead. But to me they sound old-school vintage mellowish....which is what I am looking for.

The longer I leave my rounds on , the better they sound...for me. Even better than flats.

 

[FourBanger]

I change strings when I change basses. I use flats.

Nah man, when a bass leaves you, keep the strings. Basses I'm selling usually get a new set of D'addarios and the Boomers I've paid my sweat equity into stay with me for the next bass that comes along.

At the moment I have a set of very used Boomer 52s in the closet just waiting for a bas with the right headstock.

 

[tfer]

I like my fretted to have some bite, so every half dozen gigs or so. If I want a mellower tone, I play fretless.

 

[wolffire99]

I like the mid-forward sound of broken in rounds. So only when there gets to be build up or corrosion, which is about 4 months.

 

[Atshen]

Nah man, when a bass leaves you, keep the strings. Basses I'm selling usually get a new set of D'addarios and the Boomers I've paid my sweat equity into stay with me for the next bass that comes along.

At the moment I have a set of very used Boomer 52s in the closet just waiting for a bas with the right headstock.

Yeah, I'll put new strings on the bass I sell, but I just feel like a new bass needs new strings. OCD type thing I guess.

Funny story: I've read and interview with Joe Osborn, and he was recalling when he had his P-bass stolen, and he put an ad in the papers addressing to the thief telling them to "keep the bass, but please send back the strings"...

 

[JulienneFrankus]

My Stainless Steel Roundwound, any brand, Sound dead after two weeks of daily playing 4-8 hours[I sweat a lot]....If I pick up the bass for an hour once a week, I leave them on for a year....

 

[gary m]

With flats, only when a string breaks, which is hardly ever.

 

[Jensby design]

Whenever I can afford to, so like once a year.

 

[Marko 1]

Lol I can't remember what I did yesterday let alone when I changed strings on which bass.

Anyways, strictly hex-core rounds, usually nickle,

four (mostly three) basses that I rotate (I'm fickle),

dry skin, I keep the strings dry and just "snap" them every so often...

I'm gonna guess if I used one bass for everything I'd prolly change the strings every six-to-eight weeks.

 

[Jereth]

Hi guys, was just wondering how often do you change you're strings? Mine are five or ten years old. And lately, I'm not liking the sound I'm getting out of my rig, witch is a hartke HA7000 with a 15" and a 2x10" with a tweeter. Now, for many years I loved it. But lately, I don't know if its my ears, or maybe the amp. But it just doesn't sound like I want it to lately. The guys in my band are telling me its my old strings, but I don't think old strings sound bad, they're just not bright. Was just wondering how often other bassists change they're strings.

Following the initial shock of seeing '5-10 years' and now 6 pages of reading, I feel invested and need to know - have you tried new strings???

 

[Marko 1]

 

[_godspeed_]

For flats - never. Well, only when I want a different brand/sound Cureently on TIs and they sound better the older they get.
For rounds - I don't like sound of absolutely new fresh rounds. I like them when they're settle in, after 2 weeks or so. Change them every 2-3 months.

 

[ZBirdV8]

When they sound like poopie. Ear is king.

 

[Imaginary Pony]

I read an interview with Carole Kaye where she said if she ever broke a string, she bought a new bass.

 

[dave64o]

I always loved the sound of broken in rounds, so my MO was usually to put a fresh set of my choice on a bass when I first get it and only change them when they were so dead even I couldn't stand them. I would have also changed them when one broke, but I've never broken a string.

Then I started perusing the String forum about two years ago and have browsed threads in here more often since I first wandered in. So the inevitable happened - I started wanting to try different strings. But, after a couple of years of trying a different set every few months on different basses, I've basically concluded that, out of the strings I've tried so far, I really do like the ones I used almost exclusively for several years.

It remains to be seen whether or not I'll go back to my old MO of putting on my favorites and leaving them on for a few years.

 

[whatever4]

Try this: