How Often Should You Change Your Strings?

Two identical sets of strings, one corroded and one brand new.

Is There a Rule of Thumb?

Since strings wear out both from use and the passing of time, the magic rule for beginners is to change strings every 100 hours or 3 months—whichever comes first.

Why You Need To Change Your Strings

Old strings sound bad, are difficult to get in tune, and can break unexpectedly. They also feel a bit yucky to touch.

Do Your Strings Need Replacement?

Strings wear over time, and will need replacement when they’ve become worn enough. Check your strings for these signs of wear.

Corrosion

Next
time you’re in a garage or basement, look carefully at the metal

objects left there. The moisture in the air rusts them over time. This

happens to guitar strings, too, but the process is accelerated by

frequent contact with the moisture from your fingers that you leave on

the strings after you play. This moisture slowly attacks the strings,

causing them to corrode and killing their tone.

Kinks

Fretting the strings will cause fret wear over time.

Over
time, small kinks begin to form along the length of the strings. These

dents are caused by contact with the fret wire, which itself is made of

metal. They affect the tone and feel of the strings, and also increase

the likelihood that the strings will break suddenly.

Loose Windings

The
guitar’s treble strings are made from a single piece of wire. But the

bass strings are made from a thin wire “core”, which another wire is

wrapped around to bring the string to the correct gauge.
Acoustic guitars have four wound strings and two plain strings.

Electric guitars, whose strings are lighter in diameter, usually have 3

wound and 3 plain.

Over
time the windings can become loose, making the string very

unpredictable. When this happens on a steel string it will normally fall
apart. On nylon strings, the winding may sometimes begin to pull off

without breaking the core.

Protecting Your Strings

Wiping Your Strings

Wiping your strings after each time you play will extend their life, to a point.

Wiping
down your strings (top and bottom) with a thin cloth can remove the

corrosion-causing substances left on them after playing. This can

therefore prolong the life of the strings. Few guitar players do this

regularly. A handy tool to use for this is the ToneGear String Cleaner^[?].

Conditioning Your Strings

There
are a number of products on the market for cleaning and conditioning

guitar strings. These products work by putting a layer of oil over the

strings which protects them from harmful, corrosive substances. Examples
include Dunlop String Cleaner^[?], and Fast Fret^[?].

Deciding When to Change Strings

Most players should plan on changing strings about once every 3 months or 100 hours of practice—whichever comes first.

If
you’re late by awhile, it doesn’t matter. Your strings may last twice

this long, or more. They will continue to wear and you can continue to

use them, as long as they don’t break. This is just a “rule of thumb”.

How often?	Hours Used	Suitable For
Daily	≤ 10	Touring professionals
Weekly	≤ 50	Extremely keen players and professionals
Monthly	≤ 100	Serious players
Three Months	≤ 100	Most learners
Six Months	≤ 200	Amateur players
Annually or less	≤ 200	Don’t care at all

How much do you care?

This
is a key factor! If you aren’t serious about the guitar at all, and

don’t practice regularly, why bother changing the strings? That’s not

even the fun part.

How often do you play?

If
you’re playing every day for several hours, you’ll probably need to

change your strings more often than if you only play once per week. And

if you own five guitars that you play equally, you’ll probably need to

change less often than if you use just one. Note that corrosion will

effect strings even if you don’t play the instrument, but wiping the

strings down after use and using string conditioner will reduce this

considerably. Noticeable wear can become visible on the strings

beginning within 1-2 weeks or 5-10 hours of practice. By the time 3

months or about 100 hours of use, your strings will be fairly worn out

and may not sound as good anymore.

How corroded do your strings get?

The
corrosion on your strings is what makes them feel gritty and unpleasant
to play. It also has an effect on their tone. This corrosion can be

influenced in a number of ways, including by body chemistry. In other

words, some players naturally corrode their strings more than others.

What kind of strings do you use?

Many
players love Elixir strings because they tend to last longer due to a

protective coating. Although this is very convenient, the coating does

affect tone and some players prefer the tone of uncoated strings.

However, many instrument manufacturers prefer coated strings because

they know that they can’t expect the guitar shop to keep new strings on

hundreds of instruments; coated strings ensure a longer string

shelf-life in the guitar room, and helps to boost sales by keeping

guitars in good condition.

What do you prefer?

Some
players put a new set of strings on every week, or even more. However,

others don’t change their strings for weeks or months at a time. The

question of how often you should change your strings is highly personal.
If you feel your tone may be affected, or that the strings feel gritty

and uncomfortable, it’s a good time to change them.

Rule of Thumb

All
else being equal, it’s a good idea to change your before 3 months or

100 hours of use have passed. It’s also a good idea to use coated

strings if you like them, as this will give you some insurance if you

wait too long to change your strings.

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