Anyone changing strings?

[DCrown]

James Jamerson never changed strings, whereas other guitarists change(d) strings every two days.

What about you?

[BertKoor]

James Jamerson played the bass. On my bass I only changed the strings when I bought it second-hand. I yet see no reason to change its strings, they sound absolutely fine.

Fresh guitar strings have a certain sparkling fresh sound, at the cost of not so stable keeping tune.
To me not worth the cost.

[Bombadil]

I use elixirs on my acoustics, so they get changed every 2 months at the earliest. They begin to lose their lustre after about 4 months (i.e., strings sound dead-ish, don't stay in tune, intervals seem off). Then they get changed. Elixirs are either hated or loved, me, I am kinda in the middle. I occasionally try other coated strings, and uncoated...see acidic sweat syndrome.
My electrics...usually plain Daddarios 10-46. They get changed when needed. My sweat kills ordinary strings. During all day recording sessions in a hot, humid climate during the summer, I'll need to change strings every few days.

[lfm]

The more tea I drink the more often I change strings. Fingers evaporate more and strings get dirty real fast.
- not with coffee though strange enough

Just trying out D'Addario after doing Ernie Ball for 20 years.

On acoustics I went to Martin MA535 from Elixir on a Taylor, since the guitar itself is brighter in tone. So soften tiny bit. But keep Elixir on Recording King, since more wooden tone and nice balanced tone then.

Dead strings is no fun on great guitars. Why not get the most out of them. Strings also get magnetic from pickups loosing tone there too as they are stored.

[Tubeman]

James Jamerson played the bass. On my bass I only changed the strings when I bought it second-hand. I yet see no reason to change its strings, they sound absolutely fine.

Fresh guitar strings have a certain sparkling fresh sound, at the cost of not so stable keeping tune.
To me not worth the cost.

Cleans will sound nice with new strings. You need to stretch new strings properly so they stay in tune. You can prolong string life with products like Fast Fred etc. but at some point old strings will sound dull and lifeless no matter what.

[tapper mike]

I'm lazy

Last time I went on a string changing binge my jackson with cheap jackson FR broke them like mad. It doesn't help that I tend to get stupid when playing on FR based guitars,

My guitars are all long overdue for string changes but if it's just me listening I live without it.

[Cuauhtli]

I change them fairly regular on my electrics. I rarely play my electric-acoustic or bass so they go years without string changes.

[Uncle E]

On bass, I use flats, so changing strings wouldn't bring bad any new string clarity. If someone releases coated flats, I would change to those, just to protect the frets from corrosion.

I change my electric strings when they rust. Now that I'm switching over to only using coated strings, it'll probably just be an annual change when the coating is broken down.

[AsPeeXXXVIII]

I actually bought new sets of strings for my guitars a while back. Been meaning to change 'em.

Basses could also use fresh sets - too bad string sets for 5-string bass guitars aren't particularly cheap as far as I can tell.

[vurt]

as they say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

"if you only use one at a time, you don't need 6" is my motto.

[vurt]

I change my electric strings when they rust. Now that I'm switching over to only using coated strings, it'll probably just be an annual change when the coating is broken down.

the rust adds dirt.

[mystran]

I tend to swap strings pretty close to the "100 hours" rule, so about once a month.

Speaking of strings... does anyone have any recommendations for strings that are not made in the US? Trying to avoid buying any US products if there are reasonable alternatives.

[Uncle E]

Many strings on Amazon are from China. Far inferior, though, IME.

[Cuauhtli]

Yeah, avoid China strings. At least the no-name ones.

Rotosound might be worth checking out, assuming they're not US. I tried one set and thought they were fine.

[Uncle E]

Thomastik-Infeld are made in Austria.