| | | Hey Friend,
It's outdoor chore day at the Vance household.
To invoke the oft quoted M.C. Hammer, "It's gutter time!"
This is one of those jobs that isn't that difficult (unless you have a fear of heights), just tedious.
Fortunately, we only have the back side of the house to worry about. Still, it's a dirty job, and I've got to get the ladder out and climb up on the roof, and it'll take a couple hours. I guess I can take the opportunity to pick some grapefruit off one of our trees while the ladder is out.
Look at that, the silver lining... LOL.
Another chore that can be a bit tedious is changing out your guitar strings. When you have a limited amount of time for playing, string changing is not something you really think about. And frankly, although new guitar strings sound amazing, you can usually go for quite a while before needing to put on a new set.
It can be a hard call to determine when the best time is to change your strings, so I thought I'd lay out a few guidelines based on my experience...
A number of different physical factors cause strings to go dull. It's kind of gross to think about, but things like dead skin cells, sweat, dust, oils and air impurities all contribute to taking the life out of guitar strings. Heck, oxygen in the air contributes to shortening guitar string life - rust (oxidation) never sleeps.
The biggest culprit is dirt and oil from our fingers. It's a very good idea to wash your hands before you pick up your guitar, but that's probably the last thing on your mind when you get excited about playing a song! However, if your strings are going dull because you play your guitar every day, that's a fair trade off. You are forgiven...
On the other side of it, only picking up your guitar once in a blue moon to play, that's another story...
If your guitar has been sitting idle for a long time and you are just now coming back to playing, put a new set of strings on it. You'll immediately notice a difference in the guitar's sound that will remind you why you wanted to play in the first place. The $5 expense and half-hour to change them will be well worth it.
That bright tone will help inspire you to play more often.
While the bright sound of new strings doesn't last too long (again, based on how much you're actually playing), the overall sound quality of broken-in strings is fine for most applications.
Performing artists typically have their strings changed at the beginning of every show. That's one of the reasons they have guitar techs! When you have multiple guitars you use throughout a show, you could spend hours just changing strings. Your time is better spent elsewhere.
In the studio, it's not unheard of to change strings between individual takes (recording one section) of a guitar part! Think about it...
If the producer doesn't like how a track sounds and wants you to record it again, and wants the particular timbre a brand new set of strings provides, your switching out the strings. Can you imagine the expense? Let's say a studio can get bulk strings for $3 a pack, but you end up going through 5 or 10 sets in a song - per guitar part...
That can add up quickly!
Fortunately for us, you don't need to be that obsessive-compulsive about it. If you practice every day for 15 to 30 minutes a day, you'd be fine changing your strings every couple months. If you get to the point where you're doing a show with a band every weekend, I'd change the strings every week or two.
What it comes down to is how the strings sound to you on your guitar. Every guitar has a sound and personality all its own.
I know based on what I just got done saying, I'm going to contradict myself here, but there have been some pretty famous artists that recorded guitar tracks with guitars having strings that are decades old!
Bottom line is how the guitar sounds overall.
Dead, dull strings may be the exact sound you're going for, but that tends to be the exception, rather than the rule.
I'm not sure how to explain what 'dull' or 'dead' sounds like. In my case, I've always just heard it. Almost like a switch went off in my head telling me the strings sound dead. I think that with a little time you'll be able to hear the shift as well - again, it just takes practice.
If you're to that point where your guitar is needing a little life in its sound, I've put together an Amazon store where you can browse for strings. Be aware that some of them are multi-packs, so they look more expensive than they are. There's a search field too, if you like a particular brand of string. My favorites are S.I.T. Power Wounds on my electrics, but to each his own...
Have a great afternoon!
Peace~
Dave
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