Beginner Guitar: 5 Reasons You need to change Your Guitar Strings

If you haven’t already read it, I did a post a while ago about re-stringing your guitar in which I explained how to replace old guitar strings…

…when they become old…

…but how old is old? I don’t want to turn this into one of those “How long is a piece of (guitar) string?” questions, so I’ll get to the point: how do you know when it’s time to change your strings? I know some people that have used the same strings for years and have no real problem with them, and others that change theirs once a week. Something that many beginner guitarists don’t realise is that guitar strings are disposable- I mean, you use them for a short time, then throw them away.

While there is no set time limit to how long your strings last, there are certain signs of wear and tear that you should be on the look out for. Here is my list of the top 5.

1. Breakage

OK, yes this one is a bit obvious: when your strings break, you need to put new ones on (else be left with a guitar with only 5 strings)…but did you know that as your strings age they lose their elasticity? That’s right, they become stiff and difficult to play. This affects string bending (and you’re more likely to break a string when bending an old string!).

The strength of the string will also make it more difficult to tune and harder to fret!

2. Tone

As strings age they start to rust, going from a smooth, shiny silver to a rough, dull brown. You may have noticed this, but did you also realise that the same thing happens to your tone? Yup, you may not have noticed but as your strings have aged they’ve gone from sounding bright, clear and shiny to tired, rough, and dull! You’ll really see what I’m talking about once you’ve replaced them with new strings!

You’ll also suffer from intonation issues, where some frets will be out of tune for no apparent reason (other than elderly strings!).

3. Sustain

Along with losing their voice with the coming of old age, your strings also lose their stamina. The notes that you fret will lose their sustain (i.e. how long the notes last)- which is really annoying for playing any lead guitar (and even some barre chords!). Some notes may not even sound at all when playing faster pieces, and with slower sections the notes will “cut out” long before you want them too!

4. Hard to Play

Many techniques that you’re finding difficult may be made impossible by old strings! First, all that rust on the surface of the string increases the friction- making sliding really hard work! If that’s not enough, any legato will use a tonne of force (i.e. a bad idea!) to get the string to co-operate (and you can forget sweep picking!). It will start to take more and more effort to get those bends up to pitch as well, making your tasteful blues sound more like a catfight!

5. Feeling

No, I’m not talking about that blues feeling! I’m talking about the actual feel of the strings! If the above reasons aren’t enough for you, they will gradually feel rougher and look brown and horrible!

Trust me, once you’ve replaced those old strings you’ll be much better off!

What about You?

I normally change my strings at least once a month (for the tone), way before I ever start breaking them. How often have you been changing yours? How often should you? What are your reasons to dislike old strings? How do you judge when to change?

February 24, 2010 at 4:16 pm | How to | No comments