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Best time to change strings


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If you are going to record, would you change right then or do it several days before? Does sound quality continually degenerate and the only issue is stretching or is stretching no big deal to you?

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There's some difference in opinion about this. But most people agree that the sound of "brand new" strings are a bit "brighter" than when they've been played for a few hours.

 

Some people LOVE this sound, and wouldn't think of playing live or recording with anything but new, "Zingy" strings. Others can't stand it... and some pros even go so far as have their guitar techs play them for a couple of hours before hitting the stage or studio... or at least do it themselves.

 

I personally prefer newer, but slightly less "zingy" strings, mainly because you the sound is more stable... in other words you can duplicate it later more easily if you want.

 

But there's certainly no right or wrong about this... unless you LOVE new strings, and decide you have to have a new set everytime you play... that can get expensive!!!

 

guitplayer

I'm still "guitplayer"!

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IMHO brand new strings are just a touch to bright so I think they sound best after some hours of playing. Very important however is to always clean the string right after playing. The strings last much longer this way...
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I agree. Brand new strings are just a little too bright for me. A few hours of playing seems to season them.

 

Also, yeah, stretching drives me crazy!! :freak: I have to play really hard for a while on each new set just so they aren't dropping out of tune when I'm really playing them.

May all your thoughts be random!

- Neil

www.McFaddenArts.com

www.MikesGarageRocks.com

 

 

 

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Originally posted by NMcGuitar:

I agree. Brand new strings are just a little too bright for me. A few hours of playing seems to season them.

 

Also, yeah, stretching drives me crazy!! :freak: I have to play really hard for a while on each new set just so they aren't dropping out of tune when I'm really playing them.

You won't have that problem if you stretch your new strings out on a re-string job. Once the string is on and pre tuned, lift it away from the fretboard, moving the lift point up and down the neck. You don't need to lift too hard & you'll kind of feel the stretch. Then re-tune. The first couple of times doing that you'll probably have to do the procedure a couple of times but after you get the hang and feel of it, you'll install, pre-tune, stretch and re-tune one time per string & then run a final re-tune. That'll lock the strings into tune and they won't keep on stretching for hours. I've been doing this for years and if the humidity and temperatures stay fairly consistent the guitar will stay in tune for weeks with no more than a possible need to just nudge a tuner here and there & I play most days at least 30 minutes.

I pulled my old 12 string off the rack after more than 2 weeks without being picked up and didn't have to touch a tuner.

 

Try it, you'll like it. :D

 

Our Joint

 

"When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke...

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Absotively Dak! I always pre-stretch that way, and have very few tuning problems. Well I don't stay in tune for weeks, but I play a trem bridge Strat, so there is a little play, but not too much(The whole thing is balance with a Strat anywho).

 

As far as the brightness goes, I don't really mind too much. But I do like to get the strings lubed before really playing on them anyway, so that may cut some of the extreme high end of virgin strings. My last step is always to run my hand up and down the strings several times to get a little slickness on them. I'm not one of those corrosive people so, it really does't affect string life for me. I wipe them after playing though, so there not too much gunk build up.

I really don't know what to put here.
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Thanks for the re-inforcement Sylver. I was beginning to think I was the only Cobber to stretch 'em out like that.

To be perfectly honest, the boxes don't always hold the tune like it may sound but it's amazing who long they will stay in tune, humidity, temperature & other things all staying the same.

I play in Orange County, CA regularly & if the guitar is in tune when I leave my home I usually have to re-tune when I get there. About the same elevation but other atmospheric concerns seem to make the difference though the last time I played at the Canyon Amphitheater over there I didn't have to touch a tuner on either of the two guitars I took with me. One my Yamaha FG411S and the other my Guild D4.

The D4 is one that seems to untune itself if you even look at it sideways. Hell, the first time I took it on a live gig the damned end pin fell out when I strapped on. It was tight when I played the thing at home to warm up so I gotta figure the box just wanted to stay home. I've pretty much got the honk out of the midrange & that's all strings. The Yammys, Epi & that ole Ventura 12'r are stable as hell with tuning.

 

Thanks again mang....

 

Our Joint

 

"When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke...

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Originally posted by daklander:

Originally posted by NMcGuitar:

I agree. Brand new strings are just a little too bright for me. A few hours of playing seems to season them.

 

Also, yeah, stretching drives me crazy!! :freak: I have to play really hard for a while on each new set just so they aren't dropping out of tune when I'm really playing them.

You won't have that problem if you stretch your new strings out on a re-string job. Once the string is on and pre tuned, lift it away from the fretboard, moving the lift point up and down the neck. You don't need to lift too hard & you'll kind of feel the stretch. Then re-tune. The first couple of times doing that you'll probably have to do the procedure a couple of times but after you get the hang and feel of it, you'll install, pre-tune, stretch and re-tune one time per string & then run a final re-tune. That'll lock the strings into tune and they won't keep on stretching for hours. I've been doing this for years and if the humidity and temperatures stay fairly consistent the guitar will stay in tune for weeks with no more than a possible need to just nudge a tuner here and there & I play most days at least 30 minutes.

I pulled my old 12 string off the rack after more than 2 weeks without being picked up and didn't have to touch a tuner.

 

Try it, you'll like it. :D

Actually I do that, and it certainly helps, but I find there is still always a little more stretch left in 'em... Maybe I overwind the pegs when I re-string? Could that effect it? (Just a thought).

May all your thoughts be random!

- Neil

www.McFaddenArts.com

www.MikesGarageRocks.com

 

 

 

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Yes, the uber-zinginess of Fresh Out Of The Package strings used to be way too much on my strat. I used to change my strings religiously every 10 hours like the suggestion, but usually it'd mean difficulty recording because stuff was too bright and it was hard to eq into something sane (with my limited 3-band eq). I think this was around the time i started getting into flatwound strings and upping the gauge size.

 

Nowadays, i'm back to playing roundwounds, and i still find the initial brightness overbearing every couple of years when i change strings. :D

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I just recently learned of the pulling the strings AWAY from the neck to stretch them out, as opposed to just bending them until they stayed in tune.

I prefer strings with a few hours on them. I always wipe my guitar and strings down after each playing session, and apply guitar polish and a string cleaner/lube to the strings. I find the strings last much longer before tarnishing or losing their briteness.

 

Karl

Skynyrd fan forever!
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I've got too many guitars to be able to change them extremely regularly. I change them when they break, or when they go all dead and tarnished.

 

I do like Dak except I sorta pinch them up and down the neck to stretch them out. Saw this strange product years ago called a 'String Iron' which sort of bent them at an angle for about an inch and you slid it up and down the strings to stretch and I thought; "Why buy that little plastic piece of junk when I can do it with my fingers?"

 

I figure you've got way too much money and time if you're changing the things weekly or you only own a couple of guitars. If they ain't rusty or dead, I'll make em sound just fine.

 

That said, sometimes strings last 6 months, and sometimes they last 3 days before crapping out. If I use stainless steel on electrics, they seem to last forever.

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What I meant at least, is that I change the strings when they get flat sounding or too tarnished. If that thakes two weeks or two months, it does'nt matter. Some sets just last longer than others.

 

When you put a new set of strings on the guitar, stretch them out good. Play them that day-1 hour, three hours, whatever. Maybe play them two or more days. Then consider recording or playing live with them. I never just slap on new strings and then record or play out, which I am just slowly starting to do again. You want to wear the strings in a bit, and build a trust with them that they are through stretching, and are not going to prematurely break.

JMO

 

Karl

Skynyrd fan forever!
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