How often do you chaps change strings?

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  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10337
    change strings on a Bass?
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited July 2018
    if and when they go dead and unresponsive to the way i play. it's all about me.
    the usual first sign for me is i start to feel and hear more rattles and flubbiness and less ping and zing (sorry if i'm confounding you with technical jargon).

    bass strings i don't even really think about. sometimes years without a change.
    guitars a lot more, but no idea exactly how much in years because i switch between instruments. so i might use my guitar loads or barely in the same year (eb slinky 10s usually).

    of basses, bass rounds last least for me it seems. plus i like my rounds super-responsive to all the 'non-musical' noise that accompanies my playing (mine probably more than most).
    so they above all types, can't be dull or slack. maybe every 2 or 3 years on average, as i play.

    i'm only just trying my first set of flats, so have no idea how they last. possibly longer since they don't have the 'noise' of rounds that makes me aware of them starting to go. i've only got basic flats, but if they last years i might try fancy. budget dictates prudence.

    the longest lasting bass strings i have ever had were tapewounds, and my theory is that the winding keeps them 'sealed for freshness'. obviously sweat and air can't get to the metal.
    a bit of hand sweat and air may not seem a big deal, but salt (acid) and oxygen (oxidising) are quite heavy duty corrosives when combined with time. will happily wear through stone in a few years.

    but i regularly played tapewounds for more than five years and they never lost their zing at all. i switched to guitar for for five years and retuned to the bass, and they were still good. for all i know (i sold the bass) they are still going now.

    so if you want lasting (desert island), i recommend tapewounds all other factors considered.

    but i think all this 'must & should' change every three gigs, every three months, every three years, is just marketing with maybe a bit of player superstition and neurosis fed in.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    edited July 2018
    For those who insists on having frets, these will eventually wear a flat spot on the part of the string that comes into contact with the crown of the wire. This is sub-optimal for intonation. Time to change.

    vale said:
    a bit of hand sweat and air may not seem a big deal, but salt (acid) and oxygen (oxidising) are quite heavy duty corrosives when combined with time. will happily wear through stone in a few years.
    I know of three individuals within a thirty miles radius whose corrosive sweat is so bad that they can kill all of the treble of brand new strings in eight days. Two of them also smoke roll ups. I do not know what contribution the tars make to the issue. 
    Be seeing you.
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27587
    Hang on - you're claiming that it's possible to change bass strings?

    Citation most definitely needed. 
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • martmart Frets: 5205
    For those who insists on having frets, these will eventually wear a flat spot on the part of the string that comes into contact with the crown of the wire. This is sub-optimal for intonation. Time to change.
    ...
    Time to change indeed ... to fretless.
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited July 2018
    For those who insists on having frets, these will eventually wear a flat spot on the part of the string that comes into contact with the crown of the wire. This is sub-optimal for intonation. Time to change.
    thanks @Funkfingers ;;;;;;; this i didn't know but will watch out for from now on.
    vale said:
    a bit of hand sweat and air may not seem a big deal, but salt (acid) and oxygen (oxidising) are quite heavy duty corrosives when combined with time. will happily wear through stone in a few years.
    I know of three individuals within a thirty miles radius whose corrosive sweat is so bad that they can kill all of the treble of brand new strings in eight days. Two of them also smoke roll ups. I do not know what contribution the tars make to the issue. 
    just applying my science brain to that for moment, it may be that the tars in the smokey ambient environment leave a thin tacky oily film residue over everything in the environment they occupy, including the strings.
    so just like greasy smears on the inside of a car windscreen in winter frost can hold condensation to it, sweat on fingers when playing (and general humidity in the air from breathing and interior climate) will be trapped on the string surface 24/7.
    or at least to a considerably greater degree than would be the case if the water could evaporate off unimpeded.

    so the strings are effectively constantly acid wet from the first instant they get that sticky coat. with resultant corrosion and oxidisation accelerated (in relation to normal string ageing) by whatever factor that may be. could be anything from marginal to major.

    it's an idea to consider anyway.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11414

    I know of three individuals within a thirty miles radius whose corrosive sweat is so bad that they can kill all of the treble of brand new strings in eight days. Two of them also smoke roll ups. I do not know what contribution the tars make to the issue. 
    Don't think it's the rollups.  Some people just have that kind of sweat.  I play in church, and I lent a guitar to clean living young church lad for a weekend for conference we had.  When he had finished the strings were black.  I couldn't have got the strings into that state if I'd left them on for 5 years.
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  • funkyfrazfunkyfraz Frets: 93
    I'm very glad I don't like the zing of new strings. If I did, bass would be a very different expensive hobby!
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  • GuyRGuyR Frets: 1323
    crunchman said:

    I know of three individuals within a thirty miles radius whose corrosive sweat is so bad that they can kill all of the treble of brand new strings in eight days. Two of them also smoke roll ups. I do not know what contribution the tars make to the issue. 
    Don't think it's the rollups.  Some people just have that kind of sweat.  I play in church, and I lent a guitar to clean living young church lad for a weekend for conference we had.  When he had finished the strings were black.  I couldn't have got the strings into that state if I'd left them on for 5 years.
    Does he have a "666" birthmark?
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  • PaulWarningPaulWarning Frets: 906
    I use DR Neons, usually green (I am in a punk band!) they're coated, play for about 4 hours a week and change them every 6 months, I did try longer and snapped the A string mid gig, tbh the new ones don't sound that much different after a couple of hours
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  • UnclePsychosisUnclePsychosis Frets: 12881
    I change bass strings when I notice the intonation going. Probably every 18 months or so.
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    I change bass strings when I notice the intonation going. Probably every 18 months or so.
    Is it possible to notice when a basses intonation is out then?!
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  • valevale Frets: 1052
    edited July 2018
    I use DR Neons, usually green (I am in a punk band!) they're coated, play for about 4 hours a week and change them every 6 months, I did try longer and snapped the A string mid gig, tbh the new ones don't sound that much different after a couple of hours
    there's a great interview with the mary chain circa 1985, in which they ask douglas hart why he only has two strings on his bass;

    "they're the two i use. two is adequate."

    since 'psychocandy' has been in my top 10 albums ever since i first heard it, i don't question his wisdom. he knows his art.
    hofner hussie & hayman harpie. what she said...
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  • @vale the bass I used in my twenties and thirti s broke the Bottom E tuner (i mean E, but I've been less able to get gigs on guitar as bass) durin rehearsals one night and I swapped it for the G tuner. I rarely used the G string. I had it like that for over 10 years, then bought a Harley Benton shortscale.
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  • I tried it. Bit of a faff and I'm not sure I noticed a difference.
    I tried it and it sparkled my bass up quite a bit. Bought new strings somewhat later after I got a job and came off the dole.
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11414
    Just changed mine.  Was doing a bit of adjustment to the bass, and I accidentally put a kink in one of the old strings.

    Sound too fizzy and clanky.  How long until they sound like they should again?
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71960
    crunchman said:
    Just changed mine.  Was doing a bit of adjustment to the bass, and I accidentally put a kink in one of the old strings.

    Sound too fizzy and clanky.  How long until they sound like they should again?
    About a year... 

    :)

    Try taking them off again - not from the bridge if they don't just un-hook - but fully slack at the machineheads, then re-fit them, stretching them thoroughly. If necessary, repeat this more than once. I'm not sure how effective it will be on bass strings, but it works on guitar strings.

    I first discovered this when working on vintage Fenders where the strings have to come off to adjust the truss rod.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11414
    ICBM said:
    crunchman said:
    Just changed mine.  Was doing a bit of adjustment to the bass, and I accidentally put a kink in one of the old strings.

    Sound too fizzy and clanky.  How long until they sound like they should again?
    About a year... 

    :)

    Try taking them off again - not from the bridge if they don't just un-hook - but fully slack at the machineheads, then re-fit them, stretching them thoroughly. If necessary, repeat this more than once. I'm not sure how effective it will be on bass strings, but it works on guitar strings.

    I first discovered this when working on vintage Fenders where the strings have to come off to adjust the truss rod.
    It's a Classic 60s Fender and I had to adjust the truss rod a bit after putting them on, so I guess I've done what you said.  Also slackened them off to adjust the intonation.  Don't like doing that under tension.   Don't know if it's helped. 
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  • bassborabassbora Frets: 132
    I play around 4 to 6 gigs a month.  Depending on the musical situation (I am mainly in a covers band but I have done jazz and acoustic sets as well) strings are dead after a night.  I just add treble if I feel its needed but in a loud band setting it does not matter. 

    I only use round wounds and have for the last 30 years.  I play quite aggressively usually and in the last year I have broken a string 3 times (never happened before).  I think that was due to the strings having been on the bass 2 years or so.  But I try to change if I remember every six months.  

    And yes I do boil them.  It makes a huge difference bringing them back to life but I dont do it often.  I play natural finished basses that require waxing ever so often so I sometimes boil the strings when I am giving them the once over.
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  • bassborabassbora Frets: 132
    I thought I would just add to this.  I just bought some strings from strings direct.  I had forgotten how much 5 string sets are.  Guitar strings cost peanuts but bass strings are just far too expensive to change too often.  Hence the reason of boiling them and keeping them on for as long as possible.
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