How often do you restring?

Question

i play bass (have been for about ten years) and use all styles of playing, how often should i restring my bass? noone has ever really told me and ive just been doing it every few months, im guessing the style of music you play has something to do with it too? ie if you slap loads you have to change your strings more? Cheers

Answer 1

Your strings changing routine should be dictated by 2 things.

1: Style of music.

2: Quality of strings.

Some genres you need a punchier sound. These include rock, punk, most funk, alternative, ect...

It is important in these genres to be able to cut through the mix and come out front with fills and slaps and pops, and generally sound better with fresh strings.

Other genres, like soul, reggae, most hip hop and some classic rock, you want a warmer, bassier tone.

James Jamerson (If you don't know who this is, quit playing bass immediately.) never changed his strings on the Funk Machine, and this is what gave him that signature, almost double-bass sound. Dead strings give you a much more natural bass sound, much like an upright or a pair of flat-wounds.

Also, the quality of the string comes into question. Cheaper strings, like Ernie Balls, don't last as long as high-grade strings, like Elixer and Tomastik-Enfields, which should keep that new sound for up to a year.

Answer 2

I restring about every 6 months, unless I notice a problem before. I play at least a little every day, and that's about the life span of the strings.

There is a cleaner you can buy which supposedly extends the life of your strings by removing all the oil and grime from them. I've never tried it.

Answer 3

I restring once the strings sound flat, or a few days before I know I will be performing, so that the bass strings are nicely broken in.
If you're interested, you can download bass guitar tab at http://download-sheet-music-online.com/bass-tab.html

Answer 4

It depends on how often you play, how agressively you play, how clean you keep the strings, and if you play in a band or not. I used to play in a band at church, so I was practicing twice a week, and playing in front of people once. I used metal cleaner to keep them from getting grimy, and they would last me a year. They would have lasted longer, but I felt I was losing some sound quality, and since I was playing for an audience (and God) I changed them out.

Answer 5

I restring every 6 months