i heard that some players are famous for never, ever, changing the strings of his instruments, like some reggae bass players and flatwound players, who keep their strings for years and years and years without problem. just wondering, anybody here do this? i have chromes in my jazz bass, and lately the e string is well, dead. it sounds 'muted' after the 7th fret.

my question is if there are some people that just say "fuck that" and keep using those strings or always change them on constant basis. i know that for the traditional EA bass sound (c) you need fresh strings, but im asking for the other guys. what is your aproach?

depending on the acidity of your sweat, wiping them off with rubbing alcohol after playing might help some. (be careful not to get the alcohol on the finish of the instrument, esp if it is lacquer.)

Another trick is to boil them in water -this works much better if you take them off the instrument first. I find that it helps bring back some of the bright tone that gets lost through constant use. (it probably boils out all of the dead skin that is living in the windings.) I usually do this twice with a set of strings, and then I figure that it is time to replace them before they break.

With these two "tricks" I can usually make a set of strings last over 6 months of heavy practice and lots of live performances.

hope this helps-

to my knowledge, James Jamerson never changed the strings on his bass.

and he's pretty much unfuckwitable. I don't though, as i'm one of those guys who likes the EA tone. most of the time.

I use Rotosound flats and change them maybe twice a year at the most. Often times it's more like every 8-12 months and even then I don't find that they get too dead. Usually I change them because one ends up breaking.

You lucky fucking bassists.

I got through a pack of six strings about every three days. My style is rugged bitch.

I find the problem with dead strings is that the 4th string gets really "flabby" sounding and the bottom end lacks attack. It disappears when compared to the kick drum. I guess it depends on what you are recording, but I would say anybody sounds better with strings that are not dead.

Steve V. wrote:You lucky fucking bassists.

I got through a pack of six strings about every three days. My style is rugged bitch.

I'm playing guitar and bass really hard. I mean, really hard and I use copper picks.
I used to break the D string on my bass every two weeks. Went to the luthier, he said that the saddle are too sharp for the strings, he fixed that and I don't break strings anymore.

I'm a corroder. My guitar strings go dead after about 20 hours of play. Nuttin' I can do about it, `cept maybe be a little less hard on my gear (like that'll ever happen). I take my guitars into my luthier once every 12-14 months or so, which also gets expensive, but I prefer to have him do a complete set-up once a year because of the constant string changing.

I just sent my JM to the shop because I had to buy a replacement bridge because my hand has finally turned the saddles and screws bad.

Bass strings are a bitch for me, which is why I don't have too many basses. I love to play , but it gets very expensive, esp playing in a band setting. I think I can get about 50 hours of play, which translates into about 12 rehearsals -> four weeks. Four weeks is pretty good in my book.

If you corrode, boiling ain't gunna bring the strings back. :(.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot, if you want more 'life' from your strings use flats, because the timbre isn't going to change as drastically as rounds.

And boiling does work well for non-corroders.

If you corrode, boiling ain't gunna bring the strings back. .

yeah, I think it works best to get rid of dead skin & dirt.

have you tried the rubbing alcohol right after you play?
Fortunately, I am not a "corroder" but I used to share my bass in a band with one who would kill a set of strings fucking dead in a single show (3 or 4 short songs on bass.)
I noticed some improved string-life when my OCD developed and I started wiping the strings down after each time he used it.
Maybe it only worked because the elevated BAC levels we all had back then gave the rubbing alcohol something common to bond to;)

I have no idea why I corrode. High acid levels I guess.

I remember burun having the exact same problem, maybe I'm wrong. RayJ too, but not as bad.