I change strings on any instrument at least twice a year. It's better to burn out than it is to rust, it's been said somewhere
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
same strings 25 years
- Thread starter alan salty
- Start date
Great................. if your playing the blues ..............otherwise not so much
I've had a set on since 1988. Still sound fine. These are flats.
I have a 1984 bass that was a closet queen, and still wears its original strings. The silks are faded, and they are a bit dulled down in terms of looks, but they work, and sound fine. These are rounds.
I have a 1984 bass that was a closet queen, and still wears its original strings. The silks are faded, and they are a bit dulled down in terms of looks, but they work, and sound fine. These are rounds.
The “old strings” thing seemed romantic to me when I was younger, broker, and perhaps a little more scared/lazy to do string changes. But as a working player Ive learned that strings sound their absolute best about 8-10 PLAYING hrs after they’re first touched, and your overall tone is way better if you don’t let a set go beyond 120 *playing* hrs or so. That’s every 3 months, give or take, if you’re gigging a couple days a week. These are extremely anecdotal and opinionated numbers I’m throwing out here, of course.
48, now... ;-)It's not even a record.
I think @FranF has a bass with flats that are 45 yrs old.
My 60’s Danelectro had its original strings on it up until a few years ago when one of them finally broke.
I still have the original strings on my NS Designs CR4M that I bought in the late 1990s.
Neck looks pretty straight.
Yep, just about. My dad didn’t replace strings unless they broke. They were about as dead sounding as you could imagine. The bass, now in my possession, now has La Bella flats and sounds so much better.
My 2 sets of TI jazz flats are both at least decade old, sound and play great.
My concept of "my tone" has evolved in more pragmatic direction,
where a lot of fiddly tone tweaks -needing fresh round wound strings for example- just don't matter to me.
My concept of "my tone" has evolved in more pragmatic direction,
where a lot of fiddly tone tweaks -needing fresh round wound strings for example- just don't matter to me.
