The Steel Guitar Forum

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Hi,

I am very new to steelgitar playing and even gitars; first time. I have my gitar for about 5 months and practise two hours a day.
My question is; when do you know you need new strings on your gitaar? Can you hear it?

thanks,
Marco

When you care for a good sound, replace them every month at least. I change my plains every week, to avoid breakage on stage. But thats for pedal-steel':)
You can hear it, especialy the lower strings loose their brightness.
regards, Johan

Unless you're playing in recording sessions, live before an audience or on radio/television........and unless your strings are rusty and/or caroded or just plain DEAD........

WHY worry about it? For wood sheddin' in the garage or where ever, one string is as good as another.....

If your playing is exclusively for your own amazement, jes' keep playin' 'em until they break.

One of my Bigsby necks from when it was built in 1956, still has a set of the original strings on it.
Plays well, sounds good IMHO.

Don't fret over the small stuff.

Ray, a man who always talks good sense. I have dozens and dozens of instruments. If I kept changing the strings on them I would be bankrupt and it would consume every spare minute I have.

Marco, er is geen noedig te doen ervan.

Change them when they break.

THANKS ALAN for the kind words.........

I've got $127.00 worth of brand new Gibson Spanish Electric Guitar strings that have been sitting on my desk for nearly two years now.

I was anxious as all get out while waiting for them to get to me (took 7 months!) but now that I've got them, I can't even imagine unwrapping and reinstalling strings on all 24 guitars that I've got here in my Music room. GADD!

Where did I go wrong?

When they start sounding dead, and dull.

Thanks for your advice!
really helpfull.

I'll guess my strings can stay on my gitar for a while.

Marco

If you're playing about two hours a day at home there's no need to change your strings more than once a year, in my opinion. I seldom change the strings on my "home" guitars, maybe once every two years. Unlike regular guitars, our fingers never touch the strings, so the strings don't go dead as quickly. I change the strings on my main steel guitar about every three or four months, but I play that guitar on gigs... in clubs, sometimes outdoor gigs, etc. I also play a lot of gigs on regular guitar, and I change the strings on my guitar after every four or five gigs. With steel guitar that's not necessary, in my experience.

Strings go dead gradually, so you probably won't be aware of the difference until you change strings at least once.

Another problem you may have eventually is that the strings won't play in tune. Over time due to changes in the strings from vibrating they will no longer vibrate uniformly, but again this is a gradual change that you may not notice until you try a new set of strings.

Finally, some strings last longer than others. For example, I have found that D'Addario Chromes seem to last.

Barney Issacs never changed his I heard. JB cut them off one time I also heard. So they must have been workin' for a long time!