Kara-Moon Forum

Quite some time ago I bought some new guitar strings (Ernie Ball Super Slinky) but never seemed to get around to putting them on - until this evening that is!

The difference is mind boggling. Checking up, I'm embarrassed to realise I had the originals  on for about 9 months, and have no idea of their pedigree :o

The question is, how on earth do you identify a very slow deterioration of performance?

 :o
Well, Mr G.

You've certainly hit on a thorny subject here, young man.
If you posted this on some other forum I would imagine you would be inundated with so many 'for and against' comments that it would cure you of even mentioning the 'S' word.  ::)

After 50 years of guitar picking I still haven't managed to get worked up about this subject.
At the simplest level ... if you are, like us, working from home on a casual basis your strings should last 'quite a long time'. Unless, of course, you use a lot of alternative tunings or you have exceptionally sweaty hands or you play 15 hours a day.
Different game if you are gigging 5 nights a week  ::)

Examples.
Being a 'poor boy, cheapskate' I have never had any truck with these expensive brand name strings.
For my electric guitars, which I feel gain most of their tone from the electronics, I discovered a great deal on multiple sets of Olympia 9/42's from Black Dog music supplies.
http://www.blackdogmusic.co.uk/ViewItem.php (http://www.blackdogmusic.co.uk/ViewItem.php)
I have stuck with these for the past 8 years and truly would not change.
On my 'go to' couple of instruments, which tend to be in daily use, I may change a set once a year.
The tell-tale signs are normally a dulling of tone and a reluctance to stay in tune. I never change one string, always the set.
For acoustic it is a different story. Tone is everything.
After trying out many big name brands such as Martin and Gibson, without finding any I was comfortable with, I finally stumbled across some 'extra cheap' phosphor-bronze lights by Stagg. I was immediately taken by the full richness of tone and the soft feel of these budget range strings.
http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/7932-stagg_phosphor_bronze_budget_acoustic_guitar_strings (http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/7932-stagg_phosphor_bronze_budget_acoustic_guitar_strings)
Over the years I have installed them on all my acoustic guitars until ....
last year when I bought the brand new Adam Black S5.
I was astonished at how super-smooth and how sonorous the 'stock' strings were. I wrote to the manufacturer to ask what strings they fit to new instruments and they replied that:
From the factory Adam Blacks acoustics are usually fitted with standard phosphor bronze D’addario acoustic strings (gauge 12-53)
I am now converted and am 'saving up' for a couple of sets of these as they are about three times the price I normally pay.  :-X

 ;)
James

I leave strings on a guitar as long as possible - until they begin to break or become difficult to tune. (apparently, my hands do not produce any of that acidic compound that causes strings to corrode prematurely :)) My G&L George Fullerton signature had the original factory strings on it for nearly ten years - keep in mind I have several guitars, so one instrument does not get played overmuch.
Acoustic guitar strings are changed more often: on the average of once every two years.
As you may intuit by now, I like the sound of old strings.

All my electric instruments are strung with D'Addario Nickel Wound - http://store.daddario.com/category/145823/EXL120_Super_Light_9-42 - in James' guage of .009 to .042
 For acoustic guitar (my 1996 Godin Seagull S-6 Cedar) I side solidly with James - D'Addario Phosphor Bronze EJ16, .012 to .053 - http://store.daddario.com/category/144849/EJ16_Light_12-53

Like Oren I have several guitars but only one gets played every week, that being the guitar I take to my teaching sessions.  I use D’Addario Chrome XL flat wounds, .010 to 0.48, on it and I change them about once a year. I use D’Addario Chromes (.013 to .056, .012 to .052 and .011 to .050) on my jazz guitars and I change them about every other year, or longer. Now the chromes have a dark jazz sound to them so letting them get old adds to that sound.  My “rock” guitar gets D’Addario .009 to .042, and I like a bright sound with it so I change the strings about every 3-6 months depending on how much I play it.  Like James and Oren my acoustics get D’Addario Phosphor Bronze EJ16s. They also get changed every 6 to 12 months, again depending how much I play them.

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is string care.  I have very acidity sweat. I wipe my strings down with a clean lint free cloth after every time I play them.  This extends the life of the strings by many months. 

Now I should mention that when I had one guitar and I was playing a lot, 1-4 hours a day, I was changing strings every 3 weeks. Everything depends on how much you play and what type of sound you are looking for.

If you ask 100 guitarist how often should I change strings you will get 100 different answers :-}

I hope this helps.

Ah right so no need to panic... yet ;D

These new strings seem to give more output than the old ones, and I think are maybe just a wee bit too sparkly. We will see how they settle in.

The good news is that there seem to be holding their tune better than I expected for 24hr old ones.

 ::)
The one great constant about new strings is that ... yes, they will settle in.  ::)
The variable is that it often depends on how often they are played during that initial period.

Try to double up on your practice sessions for a week or so. This will help the strings to bed in and will also give your callouses a real good boost.  :-X

The 'sparkly-ness' should settle down.

 ;)
James