#1
|
||||
|
||||
How long do your strings last?
I can tell with my steel strings when to change them. The tone goes south, they won't stay tuned, they get grungy looking, etc.
My nylon strings seem to last forever and a day. I have noticed in the past that the bass strings start to look worn after quite some time. I actually change my strings as part of my "guitar entertainment hobby" which is how I view this. Often the strings are fine, I just want to try something else. Is anyone else like me, or am I the only one that takes the strings off the guitar before their time?
__________________
Barry Youtube! My SoundCloud page Avalon L-320C, Guild D-120, Martin D-16GT, McIlroy A20, Pellerin SJ CW Cordobas - C5, Fusion 12 Orchestra, C12, Stage Traditional Alvarez AP66SB, Seagull Folk Aria {Johann Logy}: |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Q: How long do your strings last?
A: Until I change them! Nylon strings tend to degrade gradually in terms of the audible differences. I tend to change the basses twice as often as trebles, which seems pretty common practice among the classical guitarists I know. The basses get dull faster than the trebles, which tend to start showing intonation problems vs. losing brilliance. What I can say for certain is that almost every time I change the strings, I wish I had done it sooner. |
#3
|
||||
|
||||
For standard strings, 10-20 hours of playing 80/20 bronze strings across 2-3 weeks and 20-30 hours of playing 92/8 bronze strings across 3-4 weeks. They are still playable, but noticeably off their sweet spot. More for extended life strings depending on the technology utilized.
Sorry, you asked about Nylon strings. These do last a bit longer. I play my nylon less regularly. The treble strings begin to loose intonation and the wound strings show oxidation and some grunge. I probably change strings 2-3 times a year, but I do not play it regularly.
__________________
A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
If I'm playing a lot about 6 weeks for the basses. They start wearing through where they contact the frets. Catching a fingertip on the tiny wire as it unwinds in uncomfortable. The trebles last at least twice as long, but are more prone to eventually snapping at the nut or bridge when tuning.
Best bet is to purchase an extra set of basses for each new set, replace basses after 6 weeks and change all strtings to a new set every three months. YMMV, of course. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
How long is a piece of string? Pardon the pun.
|
#6
|
|||
|
|||
OP,
Timeline wise, I tend to change my basses at about 100 hours. How do I know when it's time? It's more of a visual thing for me than a sound thing. A bit of tarnish doesn't bother me, but when the wear gets to a certain point, I preemptively change them before they break on me. After doing some backwards counting/estimating, I found the visual queues I'm looking for start to show up near 100 hours. What I found is that after about 150 hours, a random bass string has a high probably of being broken when I next pull it out of my humidified closet. So I just change them out well before I get into the worry zone. For trebles, I change them every other time I change the bass set. They do sound a brighter when new of course, but I am fond of the dull sound of old trebles on a ceder top. Also, my trebles never seem to break, AND new trebles seem to take about twice as long as new bass strings to settle, so I hate changing trebles. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
A friend of mine and my old college roommate had a classical guitar in the dorm room when we lived there. Some 20 years later he took great pride in having the same strings on that guitar LOL!
I go a couple months typically. |
#8
|
||||
|
||||
They seem last until I change them
Seriously it varies depending on my mood and level of ambition
__________________
Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Sonoma 14.4 |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
On all my guitars, I tend to change strings as infrequently as possible. I usually dislike the sound of any brand new string, and think they sound better right about the time most people would change them.
|