Guitar strings

Butters said:
I feel abused :(

lol

I guess its a very personal choice, heard Rotos are good. Might get a few sets of different ones and over time see which ones i enjoy the most.

How often should I be changing strings?
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Depends how much you play. When I was playing every day for a few hours I'd change them every couple of weeks to a month.
 
To prolong the life of your strings make sure you have a cloth to wipe them down when you've finished playing, if you do this then the sweat and crud will take longer to corrode the strings, if you can, also wrap the cloth around the string to get underneath aswell. When I don't do this, my strings go black after a week or so (but I play for several hours every day) if I do do this, they last at least twice as long.

4 things might (should) affect your decision to get new strings: they break - most obvious, they begin to lose their tuning stability, they begin to feel rough due to the corrosion and harder to hear probably at first - they begin to sound dull and lose a lot of their tone.
 
Beer towels, if you can still get them, are ideal for keeping the strings clean. Personally, I use Carlsberg one as the green mat goes well with my purple 'Flying-Vee'. :D
 
Ok cool, I'll take a look at the phosphers.

Just a mate told me that if you leave strings on too long the neck can start to warp.

I dont play every day, so I'm usually the kinda person to change when one breaks but I know they need changing now as they are corroding.

One other thing, what flavour should I go for?

10-47s
11-52s
12-57s, etc.

Is this the guage? Does it make a large difference to the timbrel sound of the string?
 
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Butters said:
Just a mate told me that if you leave strings on too long the neck can start to warp.
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cobblers mate :)


the heavier the string, the better the tone, although you might have to adjust your truss rod/neck accordingly, and you might find them harder to play!

i would think 11's, certainly not less than 10's mabe even 12's !!
 
Butters said:
I thought so, he likes to think he knows what he's talking about so I just nod my head.

I've gone for Martin Phospher 12s
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good choice!

what can happen, is, if you have the strings on the neck for ages, and they are really, really, overtuned or undertuned, then the neck can warp, but the tension of the truss road balances out the force of the strings (with 10's tuned to A440 the tension is around 12 pounds)
 
Here's some I normally go for on Acoustic (either 11 or 12 gauge):

D'Addario Phos Bronze - Good solid all round Acoustic string.

D'Addario Silk & Steel - These are great for a nice mellow, folky sound - I use them once in a while for a different flavour to the acoustic sound - worth a try!

Martin SP Phospher Bronze - I prefer these to the D'Addario but it's a matter of personal preference... they are great strings and also worth trying out in comparison to the D'Addario!

DR Acoustic Extra Life - The best coated strings you can buy... forget Elixer (terrible strings, never get them) DRs are where it's at. I've also used the colour coated one's on my Electrics and they are awesome. They look cool, last forever, and great on the fingers and sound superb for a long time! Worth the money for sure.

Enjoy!
 
I'm pretty new but I got my guitar on Elixir .12 strings...just changed them to Elixir .12 with some kind of funky copper looking coating and they are much brighter sounding and apparently last longer.
 
i sue dd bronzes they always give such great and for a long time too for both my 12 string and my 6 string.

depending on the type of music it is not unherad of to use bottom E,A and D from a set of 12's and Top E,B and G from say 9/10's for ease of playing any lead bits etc.

great if you havn't built up your finger strength. personally its like cheesewire to me.
 
how often should you change strings?

how long is a piece of string ?!?!?

i would say every couple of months tops, especially if you play loads

when they go black and grimy, then you will be know its time ....
 
that balck grimey look is definetly the time to change them. i love changing the acousitce strings as you look at the difference in colour between the bright bronze and the mucky old ones. its the equivelent to a good t-cut on the car it always seems the car is a little happier.... :p
 
Ok, strings arrived yesterday and I put them on.

I have to say, they've made an already good guitar sound even better.

Thank you very much to everyone who made recommendations.
 
Butters said:
Ok, strings arrived yesterday and I put them on.

I have to say, they've made an already good guitar sound even better.

Thank you very much to everyone who made recommendations.
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good to hear!!

next time try the Martin SP's to see how you like them as a comparison, I personally prefer them:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9731435&postcount=30

and the DR's I posted are great too... it's good to experiment with strings to find the one's to suit you!
 
Theres quite a few depending on what gauge strings you prefer to play on. I would personally recomend some Ernie Ball earthwood strings, they have got a smooth solid sound and will set you back about £7, or if your after a sound that fits pretty much anything you should get some Earthtones strings which will cost you about £9
 
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