I had not changed the strings on my main gigging lap steel in well over a year...
Fearing I would break a string during one of my solo performances, I changed my strings. I always use D'Adario Chromes (Flatwound) on all my non-pedal steel guitars, so I assumed the tone difference would be minimal given the "warm" reputation that flatwounds have.
WOW! Was I surprised, The tone just came alive - so much brighter and clearer. I guess I hadn't noticed how dead they had become, I must have compensated by turning up the treble on my amp!
All I can say is do yourself a favor and change your strings more often. If it has been a few months, you won't believe the difference!
Oh my goodness, more than a year? I recommend to my students that they change their strings every three months. When I was playing 4 nights a week, I changed dobro and lap steel strings once a month, banjo strings every week.
I think this changing strings thing may be a personal reference thing. I will admit that I (used to)change strings during a gig sometimes if we were to move in to a classic country set that involved Hank Williams Sr. or Eddy Arnold's, Little Roy Wiggens take offs. The modern strings will not produce the true 40s & 50s sound of the old steels.
In short however, I would rather just clean my strings than change them out completely. Unless a string is flat or damaged, I'd give $100.00 to anyone who can tell the difference between a new set of strings from a year old set of strings. A good cleaning job and they should sound 99.5% the same. (If they are the same gauge and type of string that is)
I never played harp or piano so I don't have any idea how often strings on those should be changed. Aside from tone, one of the reasons for putting on new strings is to lessen the chance of having string breakage at an inopportune time, especially if you have an important gig to play. Because a piano isn't retuned as often as a lap steel, my guess is there's less likelihood of string breakage on a piano, although I have seen pianos with broken strings. At the other extreme is my banjo with "D" tuners, thus my changing those strings every week when I was using them a lot. I guess we'd need to have a controlled double blind study to determine if the average musician can tell the difference on the same instrument between year old strings and new strings, same brand, same gauges. To me, new strings always sound more alive but maybe that's influenced by my paying for them and putting them on expecting a better sound.
Call me crazy, new set every gig. Aside from the band work, I will sit in with different people...last night I did 3 sets with a group and I played everything from Hank Williams to ZZ Top. The non-steel stuff, I play rhythm parts, and I play hard. Well I sure can tell the difference with fresh strings. They sound crisp and bright, and they hold their tune better.
When those fresh strings ring out, the people listening love the sound (didn't say all my playing!)
And hey, that's worth the $7.00.
Steve Pearce
So you're suggesting that I change the strings on my BIGSBY? The one neck has the original 1956 strings and they still sound great!
That's excellent, Ray! Think of all the money you're saved on strings in the past 58 years. Probably enough to pay for that Bigsby.
I change the strings on my steel guitars about once a year, maybe twice a year, especially during the summer... outdoor gigs, hot, dusty, damp, etc. The steel guitars I play at home I seldom change the strings on... maybe once every three years.
As far as breaking strings on a non-pedal steel... it's never happened to me in 45 years of playing. Pedal steel, yes, but I've never broken a string on non-pedal. I didn't even know it was possible to break a string on non-pedal steel, unless you drop the guitar or drop something on it.
I've broken a lot of strings on the dobro and lap steel during the 60 years I've been playing. Many times only the winding will break and the core remains intact. This National metal thumbpick eats up the strings.
I agree, Peter! Bob, I can understand how a metal thumbpick would chew up a wound string. Fortunately I don't break strings much at all. I can only remember breaking a string once on stage, on regular electric guitar. Never broke one on non-pedal steel, and broke occasional strings on PSG, as expected with PSG.
I change strings after about 30 hours of dobro playing and about 40 hours of pedal steel playing.
New strings always sound so good it's inspirational, and that means it inspires me to keep practicing!
I'm surprised that you fellows who get the long mileage don't notice tuning issues. I've found that after a certain point of wear, I have a hell of a time getting the strings to sound in tune, regardless of what the tuner reads.
Call me crazy, new set every gig. Aside from the band work, I will sit in with different people...last night I did 3 sets with a group and I played everything from Hank Williams to ZZ Top. The non-steel stuff, I play rhythm parts, and I play hard. Well I sure can tell the difference with fresh strings. They sound crisp and bright, and they hold their tune better.
