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When Do You Change Strings

R

Ron G

Mar 16, 2009
325
7
Portsmouth, VA
#1
I was reading Bass Player magazine July 2009 about Phil Chen bassist for Jeff Beck - Blow By Blow and it states the following:

...Chen's P-Bass has been his one and only main axe as long as he's been playing, and it's has the same La Bella .052-.110 strings on it for-wait for it - 45 years. "It's still sounding amazing and still going strong", he proclaims.

45 years with the same strings I can't go a year with flats, but I'm going to try.
 
#4
My Chromes are really breaking in after say 100 hours of playing and some ten weeks under tension. Then the feeling, the sound and the sustain are clearly different from new ones. I used to swap strings then, but now I try to keep them on to see (and hear) what happens. It is a matter of taste, but I'm beginning to like those 'old' strings.
 
#5
I'll change if I ever break one.

Haven't ever broken one.

The flats on my '63 P were installed around 1972, and are still on it.

P-bass.jpg


I confess that it was in storage for 20 years unplayed, so the strings haven't been worked as much as if they had been in use all that time.

I have a 2000 MIM Jazz, and its rounds are original. I have a number of other basses, almost all with flats, none of which I change. Those strings vary from 6 months old to 10+ years.
 
#15
had mostly the same set of .52-.110 labellas on for about 4 and a half years now, as long as I've had my 66 p, but I think I've broken every string in the set except for the d string now, so there have been a few changes in there. Phil must be light on his strings or they must just not be the same if a set has lasted 45 years for him. There are a set of rounds that came on my 64 that are deader than Ive ever gotten rounds and I don't plan on getting rid of them yet, soon enough I will be tempted to take the old TI' flats off another bass and put them on it. Pilgrim, thats an amazing looking 63 you got there, Ive got plenty of space to store it here the next time you want to put it away for 20 years.
 
#16
Weird!...I must be having dejavu again cuz I could swear we had this same thread a couple years ago.

Anyway, I pretty much only change mine when I want to try a different set; otherwise, I just leave them on. I don't have any strings that have been on my basses for over one year yet, though.
 
#18
Depends on the bass & sound U R going for.
For me:- Flats stay on as long as they last....
Rounds can be changed or cleaned & put back on after 3-5 gigs, or sometimes, like on a P bass I've got, the rounds just seem to keep sounding nicer!!
Sure, they don't sound like NEW Rounds, but they have a certain charm & 'bounce' to 'em that flats don't have, but none of the ringing bright sound of new rounds. They're SIT Ni powerwounds btw - great strings.
 
#19
I remember when I was a "kid", I snapped a string mid-gig. To this day I'm a bit petrified that I'll break a string and not know how to respond. With that said, I've been changing my strings every 4-6 months, not knowing what the life of them actually is :rollno: After reading these posts, I'd say I've been spending too much money on strings...
 

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