singemonkey wrote: But one guitar has a burr on the saddle that claims strings so often it gets more regular changes. But that guitar's on probation until I can get the bridge to someone with a fine enough file >

An emery board works too. Water paper wrapped around a thin rod also works in a pinch. ?

Mixerboy wrote: Is it possible to get 13 gauge in stainless, has anyone used stainless steel strings, I'm presuming the "tone" and all that isn't much different than anything else?

Flatwounds with a wound 3rd or roundwounds? Steel are generally harder feeling and a bit brighter. Wear frets faster too...

i own about 8 guitars ....... let me add at the moment ?

and since i do gig i change strings about every 5 to 6 shows on my 2 gig guitars leave the rest i tend to just leave for ages till i want to gig the guitar then i change the strings .....

for me tone is not so much the issue but breakage ....and dare i tempt fate and say since i started the regime of changing strings every 5/6 shows i have never broken a string onstage ....

and tonaly since i change strings so often i always get nice string tone ....

and yes strings are expensive but if you a pro player they also a tax writeoff as consumables .... ? there's an upside to everything

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:

singemonkey wrote: But one guitar has a burr on the saddle that claims strings so often it gets more regular changes. But that guitar's on probation until I can get the bridge to someone with a fine enough file >

An emery board works too. Water paper wrapped around a thin rod also works in a pinch. ?

Mixerboy wrote: Is it possible to get 13 gauge in stainless, has anyone used stainless steel strings, I'm presuming the "tone" and all that isn't much different than anything else?

Flatwounds with a wound 3rd or roundwounds? Steel are generally harder feeling and a bit brighter. Wear frets faster too...

Roundwound with a wound 3rd, I've checked around but couldn't find any in 13's

Unfortunately mine have to last me for months. I used my Strat last night at a practice, the second time that I have used it this year, and was quite disappointed with the dull sounding, wound strings.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could afford to change them every month.

I've never thought about WHY I change when I do, but the first thing I notice after I change is the slight extra tension that Alan refers to. That and the brighter sound - but that usually fades pretty quickly.

I use coated strings. I find that they are a good economic deal because the extra life you get exceeds the difference in price. Also I don't like the tone of a brand new string, but I don't like the dull sound of old strings either. I find with Elixirs they lose the new string brightness quite quickly but then the loss of treble seems to plateau out and they don't get duller until many months go past.

But I SHOULD change on the feel, I think. That's what I notice (and like) when I put the new strings on.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:

singemonkey wrote: But one guitar has a burr on the saddle that claims strings so often it gets more regular changes. But that guitar's on probation until I can get the bridge to someone with a fine enough file >

An emery board works too. Water paper wrapped around a thin rod also works in a pinch. ?

What about for a .10 gauge high E string saddle? Emery board won't fit in there. Certainly coarser sand-paper doesn't. Any advice?

When they lose their brightness.

singemonkey wrote: What about for a .10 gauge high E string saddle? Emery board won't fit in there. Certainly coarser sand-paper doesn't. Any advice?

You'd be surprised how often smoothing the outside of the saddle solves problems - it's not always the groove itself that's to blame, but metal from the groove that has extruded outwards.

You can do a lot with just fine waterpaper and your fingers/nails too. The grooves on the saddle shouldn't be very deep and for the most part are fairly wide so it's usually possible to get a folded piece of fine water paper most of the way in.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:

peterleroux wrote: For instruments that are played seldom, am I better off spending money on coated strings to get a longer use life out of them?

Absolutely. Playing wear is the thing that kills coated strings in the long run, so coated strings on rarely played instruments tend to last for ages - especially tonally.

+1. A mutual friend converted me to Elixir nanowebs sometime last year and i haven't looked back since.
The bonus has been that even with regular use (i.e. 6 - 9 hrs per week) they've lasted well (been 8 months & 1 week since the last string change)

I change once a year,when my car is due its annual service,as i dont drive too much,then i know i need to change soon.
Ive cut down on playing a lot,but i used to once or twice in sweaty summers,and normally once round about now,start of winter...so its fair to say im might be a seasonal stringer...lol

It's toenails. Changing strings isnt fun. Cutting toenails aint a jol. So, when I cut my toenails, I check out and change the stings.

For the past 10 to 15 years, I've only used Elixir coated strings on my basses and guitars, (with the exception of the odd freebee packet of uncoateds that I have received here and there, and my recent 'experiment' of other brands of coated strings), so string changes tend to be far between for me. The deciding factor for the Elixirs is generally when either they look grotty, and have big black patches on, which usually only occurs when they have been on for over a year, or when the coating starts getting too frayed from plectrum rash.

I generally find that Elixirs stay consistantly the same tension for an incredibly long time, and do not tend to stretch or soften/harden much with time, so these are not normally factors I am faced with. However during my recent testing of other brands of coated strings, I found that some brands got very dirty with black blotching very quickly, and another brand became very hard and harsh under the fingers, so they got changed rather quickly. Tonally they were still pretty much the same, but the feel was so shocking that they had to go.

So with all this in mind, I guess for me the two defining factors for string changes are tone and feel. Pretty much covers virtually all avenues but there we go. ?

From a bass point of view, I could leave a set of elixirs on my bass for way over a year, possibly even two years before they would need changing, and that was even with regular gigging. However, I'm a finger style player, so I rarely use a plec on the strings, and never slap them onto the fretboard either, so you could say that my technique is optimised to promote string life.... Not a bad aspect of technique to have in my opinion! ?

Regards
G!

BobZ_1989 wrote: The only question I have regarding Elixirs is that they don't come sealed, and if I bought 2 sets, 1 spare, would the spare last long enough or would it rust in the box?

Even uncoated strings tend to last for many years if untouched in the packet. Coated strings, I don't know, but I'd guess decades...

PeteM wrote: When they lose their brightness.

+1

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:

BobZ_1989 wrote: The only question I have regarding Elixirs is that they don't come sealed, and if I bought 2 sets, 1 spare, would the spare last long enough or would it rust in the box?

Even uncoated strings tend to last for many years if untouched in the packet. Coated strings, I don't know, but I'd guess decades...

For a while the supply of Elixirs was unreliable and so I'd buy more than I needed. I ended up with a little stash. I also marked the boxes with the date that I bought them. I recently fitted a nearly 3 year old set - no problems at all, shiny and bright (visually and sonicly) and clean to the touch.

I am with Big G regarding the Elixers. They hold their tone longer than other brands. I play my acoustic the most thus string changes happen on average every three months. An added bonus is that the strings settle in fairly quickly requiring less frequent tuning depending on temperatures in the music room/venue.

As for the classical guitar I use Augustine high tensions. Expensive but worth it for sound quality.

On the electrics "Gasp" I have not yet changes strings

I agree with Alan completely w.r.t changing strings on their feel. Especially on my go to guitar. How my instrument feels plays such a big role in how free I feel to totally express myself.

I change them when they need to be retuned more than usual. This is between 6 to 8 weeks. Only once they started to sound real bad and on changing them I saw the high E string was rusted.

I change strings when they really suck, and, when I can afford it ? (true)

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Even uncoated strings tend to last for many years if untouched in the packet.

Quite disturbing on this note . . .
Most string manufacturers are sealing their string packets nowadays, (with most packs advertising that their strings, when purchased, are as "fresh" as the day they were made), but even so, I, and a number of associates, have bought many Ernie's 10 - 46 (regular slinky) in the last 6 months (from different stores here on the lower KZN S Coast*), which had rust-divots scattered over the plain-steel strings. You can't wipe them off, as the rust's eaten into the surface (you can feel it with your fingernail).

As I haven't heard a murmur of this on the forum, I'm just concerned that our dealers around here*, (due to them being "smaller fish" compared to the city shops with a bigger turnover) are getting knobbled by the suppliers, . . . and are being given "old/defective" stock.

I dunno . . . .
Just never got rusty strings before . . . . ??? ??? ??? ???

{Edit}
Just to note, . . . our local dealers do not hesitate to replace the bad sets, . . . and are most concerned