[slejhamer]

I've heard some people change guitar strings after a few days, and some let 'em go until they rust. How often do you change yours?

I've noticed that my 6-week old Yamaha acoustic strings have gotten a little dull - the bass strings in particular seem a bit "thumpy" rather than resonant.

I believe the stock strings are an 80/20 bronze, but I'm going to replace them with a set of Martin Silk & Steel folk strings, which seem to promise the type of tone I want. Might have to do a neck adjustment though as these are very low tension.

On my electric I have a set of Ernie Ball Slinky 11s that have held up much better than expected given the low price. I've been waiting for these to die before I experiment with D'addario ribbon wound 11s, but the Slinkies keep going strong.

[guitarman]

When I was on the road playing up to 6 nights a week I would change every 3 or 4 days. I used D'adario 9 to 42s.
My acoustic strings they stay on till they rust off or I get bored enough to change them. When I owned my D28 martin I changed them alot because I love the rich sound of new strings on that baby.
My Tele, now I change every 2 or 3 gigs which means about every 6 months. I'm not as passionate about fresh strings for a gig as I used to be. I've lost my passion to play infront of crowds and the odd time that I play on the weekend I find myself wishing the night would hurry up and end. Although occasionally I will be in to it and have a good time.

[Rufus]

Well, it's hard for a newb to say, but I changed the strings on my Tangle within two weeks.
The 10's it's now wearing have been on it for ...... :/ .....Hmmm.... ...... About 4 weeks or so. I noticed they'd dulled recently, and skimmed a **** load of dead skin and skuz off them, between string and fretboard, with a microfibre cloth, (my favourite invention!!! ), They were 50% brighter after that!
Mind ewe, it put me off my supper.
Yes.

[shuttertalk]

My accoustic... where is my accoustic? I have no idea where it is, since I got my Tele.

I change my Tele strings whenever they break - maybe every six months? Last time I broke a string in the 2nd song of a 6 song gig, and kept going til the end with a broken string. One of these days I need to invest in a backup guitar..

I've got Fender 12's I think .... but I think they're a bit on the light side. I might try some heavier strings next time round...

[shuttertalk]

Well speak of the devil... I was leading worship on Saturday and my high E string broke on the 2nd song...

It threw me off a bit but I kept going and recovered after a while...

[adam]

I said that I'll change my strings when one breaks, but I've never broken a string;
So, on my electric guitar, I'll change it once every holidays (about 4 times a year);
And on the acoustic guitar, mmmm, I've only changed it twice since I got it in the beginning of 2003; ahh! the sound of new strings

[slejhamer]

Interesting. I seem to be more fanatical over how the acoustic sounds vs. the electric, so I will probably be changing the acoustic strings every 2 months or less, when they lose that new string "shimmer." These Martin Silk & Steels are very nice, by the way, especially amped. I'm going to have to buy them in bulk...

[de_axeman]

I change my acoustic strings more often - probably once every 6 weeks (depending on how much I play). Like slej, I love the shimmery sound of new strings on an acoustic! I use D'Addario 11s (medium gauge) which are harder to fret but give a much beefier tone. It also helps build up my finger strength, and when I swap over to my electric, it plays soooo smooth!

I change my electric strings probably once every 3-4 months. I don't sweat buckets when I play so they don't corrode very much.