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Fresh Strings?
How often do you guys and gals change your strings and why? What do you look for in your strings as far as tone and feel and at what point to do you feel you need a new set?
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How often?
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Because I am a freak of cleanliness, I make it a point to keep my hands clean before playing, I can get some pretty good mileage out of the Smith Medium Taper Cores. Given this, it is hard to come up with a typical "life-span" for the strings I play, however, as soon as my ear hears a loss in that "sparkle" and tone (i.e. that "grand-piano-like" resonating clarity, sustain and brightness) or that "fresh feel", I change them. I really hate setting up a bass with a "fresh" set of strings only to learn that a string or two are DOA. It's rare this happens, but I have experienced this on occasion, but then I go through many sets of strings each year. I keep a large supply of strings on hand in my climate controled room, so fresh sets are always near-by.....which begs the question..... Ken, is there an average shelf-life for strings? Thx, Tim B. |
"shelf-life"?
Maybe? Don't know. But air, dirt and grease will kill the tone in the windings. That's not the same as the Strings being worn or stretched out. Also, how the are packaged may mean something. If you over bend a string, you can hurt it. Storage is also to be considered. Room temp., not to dry or moist.
We don't have too many problems with bad strings out f the pack. Anything is possible but a few calls a year at most is all we hear about. If contacted before they are used, we usually replace the string that might be sub-par. |
I'm notorious for using strings a long time. I've gone 2 years without replacing strings on my Smith. I tend to use mostly the slick rounds which really don't degrade tonally that much over time. I've started using compressors lately which degrade a little more, but I'm at about 5 months now on my current set and still going strong.
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Long time
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I've been using coated Elixir strings for 2 years, and they usually last 3 months before I replace them. They only lose a bit of their freshness after 3 months. Every other string I tried was dead flat in tone normally after couple of weeks to a month. Anyway, the last month was one of the busiest in my life (yet..). The coating on the Elixir already peeled off and the E string is almost unresponsive, very dull and lifeless. As you may have noticed, I like my strings as fresh as can be, and if I had a lot of money to spend on strings, I am sure one week was my average string life.
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Bass strings
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I used DR Marcus Miller's on my other basses (mostly jazz style basses) with good results. The only problem is that they buzz a lot more than most other brands (I hear its because the are wrapped in a diffrent way around the core????). This problem is more obious if you are using a maple neck with maple fretboard. My guide as to replacing string is the loss of very high frequencies and/or dirt and build up |
I really like the way Smith basses sound in a live mix with new TaperCore mediums on. New taper cores give a nice tight defined growl that sounds great when mixed with drums.
Also, with new strings, I feel you can get more variety and nuance in the sound... think that stringy bright but massive sound a la Anthony Jackson. I change my strings when they start to get mushy sounding. I can usually tell first on the E string. I'd say I change the strings every 2 to 3 weeks. |
I used to get by on strings for 3 - 6 months. Although I preferred Smith or DR Strings even before I got my first Smith, the bass I was playing made changing the strings frequently not the biggest deal in the world (Note: When my strings were just too dull even for me to stomach, I was not above boiling them!).
Now that I have my first Smith in the house, I've noticed that my tolerance for that kind of thing has gone way, way down. I MUST have the sound I first heard when I first pulled my Smith out of the box. Nothing else will do, ever again. Therefore, I see myself changing strings no later than 6 - 8 weeks into a set, and probably much, much sooner! See what you did to me, Ken? I'm a high-maintenence guy now! ;) |
High Quality
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I'm not lazy or cheap or anything, but I am busy and I put a lot of things on the back burner. I got my bass in Nov of 06, and I have yet to change my strings. I REALLY NEED TO BECAUSE I JUST ABOUT LOST ALL OF MY TONE, but I just forget. I have been trying to change them recently, but all the music stores I go to don't have Smith Strings. I guess I have to order them off the internet or get them from the place that sold me my bass. But I am trying to change my strings.
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need strings?
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If I go out on the road for a while, Ill change them before each show.
at home..when that sheen goes away. Live I have corosive sweat so if i could change strings everyday i would. |
I just changed my strings on my Black Tiger 5 and WOW, it sounds like a whole new bass. I mean, my strings had ZERO tone, I played those strings to death. My strings had such no tone that I thought my amp was bad and I literally went out and bought a brand new amp. But now, my bass sounds like a bass again. I mean, my bass had NO slap tone. Can you imagine a Smith Black Tiger 5 with no slap tone, it is such a bad feeling. BUt now, its like a brand new bass. Ima change my strings more often.
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I have used either Smith or DR strings for years. I have always liked the sound of stainless steel, bright but consistent. I prefer light gauges and have many times used the Smith 30 to 90 set. These usually don't last very long and I will change in 2 to 4 weeks depending on how often I gig with them. Light medium strings usually go 4 to 6 weeks or if I'm tight on money or just lazy maybe 8 weeks. Strings are usually pretty dead by then and when you pull out the new string and set it next to the old you can see the difference between each. Its no wonder that the new ones are brighter and snappier- cause they are brighter. I will boil strings on occasion but they usually seem a bit lifeless and I can't take them for more than a week before new ones have to go on.
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On the 4 different Ken Smiths I have had it just seems like they sound best with Ken Smith strings on them.
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No argument here..
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In case there are those of you that don't want to take my word for it. Put in an order and discover this for yourself. :rolleyes: Just make sure you choose the right set for the right bass with the right set-up. Length, guage, sound and feel you are seeking, type of bridge and nut used on the bass are all important considerations that need to be made before ordering any set of strings. Ken has a great selection and I know he can help you out. ;) |
Strings...
I used to use Roto's light-gauge, but recently ordered Elixer's. I haven't put them on yet. As far as changing strings, it depends on how often you play and how much you sweat. I typically change out about every 3 months if I'm playing in churches or other "clean-air" places, but when I played smoky clubs and worked up a sweat, it was every 10 - 12 jobs between changes. I know most of you probably don't use finger-ease or anything, but down here in the deep south, it's hot and humid, especially in the 5-month summers we have. :eek: I take WD-40 and spray a little in my palm and rub it on the back of the neck to keep the inside of my index knuckle and my thumb lubricated. Several players down here do that. I guess it's just the way my hands sweat. Does anyone else have this problem? I'm concerned that maybe I should use a guitar polish or something safer when I buy a Smith...
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Please don't do that to a Smith!!
I've never had a comfort problem playing my Smith, and I live in Atlanta so we should have about the same climate.. |
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