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String life: how long do you rock a set?

#102
Jscriv said:
For me I like my strings at thier brightest. I'd be hard-pressed to say a bass that I play for 2 months straight at practice and shows and around the house gets changed. 2 4 hour sessions a week. A show is short. And then around the house avg an 30 minutes per day.
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I get about 50 hours of play out of a set. Back in the day (70s) I'd get 2-3 gigs out of a set before I'd start snapping then off. My buddy has a picture of me from back then in mid stroke with the A string over the E string on my EB3. I believe I was using Roto-Sound Swing Bass strings at the time. Chewed up the frets and fingerboard too. Needed a refret job done with just a bit over 2 years from it being brand new.
 
#105
With stainless steel strings (D'addario Pro steels or LaBella RX) I usually get about 20 gigs before they lose their zing. The D'addario NYXL and the Thomastic super-alloys get me up to about 30 gigs. Dean Markley- one gig and they are spent......
 
#107
Johnny Crab said:
Pretty much this EXCEPT it is mainly when the tone is "dead sounding" compared to a new set of CHEAPO rounds(very similar to Roto's). NOTE: This brand of cheapo's no longer meets JC's standards as they appear to have changed manufacturing methods OR QC went to hell OR pirated versions are so plentiful that one never knows what the REAL gauges are in a pack nor what tension will be included in each string. Glad to have gotten many boxes of them for $3 to $7 per set when they were good.

With a Kahler-equipped bass(whammy bar), strings MUST be changed about every 6 shows if the Kahler has been used and abused properly. Past that point, you run the chance of a string breaking at the roller-crossing point leaving YOU with 3 strings very much out-of-tune thanks to the trem springs pulling 3 strings instead of 4 now. Not a fun deal.

Also, if you have more than a few basses it becomes easy to have a couple available with "good strings" simply by rotating use. Looked at the old string pack(that includes dates of string changes) and the Epi Embassy used last night with new-sounding strings had those put on it in October 2017.
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Are you talking about Superbrights having changed? I have seen a couple strings with winding problems (space between the wraps) but assumed this was damage I did. Maybe I am seeing the result of an equipment problem during manufacturing?

I have two sets arriving tomorrow. If I see a problem I'll post pics.

(A Kahler has been the reason behind the only broken strings I have experienced while playing. I blame me more than the string!)
 
#109
wvbass said:
Are you talking about Superbrights having changed? I have seen a couple strings with winding problems (space between the wraps) but assumed this was damage I did. Maybe I am seeing the result of an equipment problem during manufacturing?

I have two sets arriving tomorrow. If I see a problem I'll post pics.

(A Kahler has been the reason behind the only broken strings I have experienced while playing. I blame me more than the string!)
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I tried the Super brights...... this was the E string as I was tuning it.

101_3538.jpg
 
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#111
wmhill said:
I tried the Super brights...... this was the E string as I was tuning it.

View attachment 3085972
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I used to use Smith strings a long time ago. I really liked them but stopped because they would break if I installed them on anything but the big 1/2" posts.

What I have seen is actual space between windings...gaps where I can see the windings underneath or the cores.
 
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#112
Jscriv said:
For me I like my strings at thier brightest. I'd be hard-pressed to say a bass that I play for 2 months straight at practice and shows and around the house gets changed. 2 4 hour sessions a week. A show is short. And then around the house avg an 30 minutes per day.
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When I gigged regularly I changed my Roto rounds regularly

No $ gigs? If it ain't broken I ain't fixin it!

If you can reasonably afford then change rounds as often as you like

Flats? Can last a lifetime

I've never broken a string either and I like to dig in
 
#115
with guitar, i change them when they won't hold tune anymore. i use flatwounds on bass, so basically never. the last time i changed roundwounds was about two years after i put them on. wash hands before playing. wipe down after playing. occasionally clean them with rubbing alcohol.
 

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