If you are a guitar player or interested in the instrument at all, you might wonder if guitar strings ever go bad. Knowing how often to change the guitar strings and recognizing when you need to change them are important pieces of knowledge to have as a guitar owner or enthusiast.
Guitar strings can go bad and need replacing when they do. Guitar strings typically last about three months, whether you practice daily or the guitar sits un-played most of the time. The guitar can still be played if its strings are older, but it may be harder to tune with old strings.
There are many factors that can impact your guitar strings’ longevity and cause them to go bad. Some are environmental and thereby inevitable but keeping up with proper guitar maintenance can help to improve the lifespan of your strings slightly. No matter how much maintenance you do, however, you will need to replace your guitar strings a couple of times per year.
What Causes Guitar Strings to Go Bad?
Several factors impact the lifespan of guitar strings. Even if you don’t regularly play the guitar, the strings will go bad due to exposure to the air and humidity. These things cause the guitar strings to rust, which is not good for them. Guitar strings that are rusty are considered to have gone bad and need replacing.
Be careful to not “stock up” on guitar strings because these environmental factors can cause brand new strings to go bad, too, unless they are in a perfectly sealed container. Most guitar strings that you will pick up from a music shop do not come in air-tight packaging. It is best practice to buy new strings only when you need them.
Guitar strings will also wear out with regular use from playing and practicing. After about three months, the strings will either start to rust from environmental factors or be worn out from being played with regular use. Loose guitar strings will fall out of tune more easily and can have poor sound quality.
Are Rusty Strings That Bad?
You can still use old strings that have been on a guitar for more than three months, but the strings may be rusty, and the guitar can quickly go out of tune. Rusty guitar strings won’t prevent you from playing and aren’t the end of the world. However, they can:
- Produce a bad sound with an inconsistent tone.
- Break more easily when played.
- Cut your fingers.
- Damage your fretboard
In general, you can keep your guitar strings on for longer than three months for convenience or to save a few dollars on replacing the strings, but the sound quality of your playing will decrease, and you run the risk of hurting yourself or breaking the strings.
Professional and expert guitar players will probably want to stay away from rusty guitar strings so that the quality of sound isn’t compromised. This is especially important if you plan to play in front of an audience, as sound quality is very important in those circumstances. However, if you are a casual player who doesn’t care too much about the quality of sound, you can get by with slightly rusted guitar strings for a while.
Guitar String Maintenance
To prolong the life of your guitar strings as much as possible, be sure to clean and maintain your guitar properly. This will not only help to make your strings last longer but the guitar itself as well.
To properly care for guitar strings, experts recommend:
- Wiping Down Guitar Strings After Use: Use a microfiber cloth to wipe away any moisture and dirt or oil from your hands before putting your guitar away.
- Store Your Guitar in a Low Humidity Area: As humidity and moisture are the causes of rusting guitar strings, it is important to store your guitar in its case and a place with little to no humidity if possible.
- Oil Your Guitar Strings: Use a guitar-specific lubricating oil on your strings every once in a while to add a protective layer to the strings to prevent corrosion.
Proper guitar maintenance and storage can increase your guitar strings’ longevity by a few weeks or months and is also good for the guitar overall. Follow these recommendations to keep your guitar’s sound quality good and lifespan long.
Types of Guitar Strings
In general, you can buy acoustic or electric guitar strings. Both of these types of guitar strings go bad in around three months since the difference between them is small. You won’t save your guitar strings’ lifespan by switching out the acoustic and electric guitar strings.
Guitar strings can come in a “coated” variety, which can extend the lifespan. Coated guitar strings can be found for both acoustic and electric guitars. The coating is simply a layer of polymer on the string that helps protect it from the elements. Coated guitar strings can last up to six months before they need to be replaced as compared to three months for the uncoated variety.
However, some players don’t prefer coated guitar strings even if they last longer because they can produce a different sound and feel different to your fingers, which can mess up how you play the instrument(This is one of those “preference” type things. I suggest trying out a set or 2 and seeing if you like them before ruling them out totally). Coated guitar strings can also cost about twice as much as uncoated strings, so you are not really saving on cost by purchasing them. You may however if you like them save on the job of changing strings a little less often.
How to Replace Guitar Strings
Replacing guitar strings involves taking the string completely off of the instrument and replacing it with a new one. Some experts recommend changing only one string at a time to keep plenty of tension on the neck of the instrument, but others say that this doesn’t matter as much with modern guitars.
To start, loosen the string by turning the peg at the top of the guitar. Once it is loose enough, you will be able to unwind the string from the top, or the peg, and the bottom, or the bridge. Once the old string is removed, you can install the new one in its place. Start by winding it around the peg at the bridge and then at the neck.
Once the new string is attached, you can clip the excess string and tune the instrument. It will be ready to play immediately. You may find that the new strings fall out of tune quickly, but they will stretch out over the next few days. You can also find online recommended methods for speeding up the stretching process of new strings.
Be sure to consider any instructions for changing strings that come with your guitar or the strings themselves. Different manufacturers may recommend specific techniques depending on the model of guitar or type of string that you are installing.
Wrapping Things Up
At the end of the day, guitar strings do go bad and will need to be replaced. Whether you play acoustic or electric guitar, are a daily guitar player, or only pick up the instrument every once in a while, you will need to replace the strings on your instrument about every three to six months.
You can prolong your guitar strings’ lives by practicing proper maintenance and storage or by buying coated guitar strings. You could also play the guitar with old strings if you don’t mind a bad sound or the risk of hurting yourself on the strings.
Be sure to keep an eye on your guitar strings’ condition after about three months of use to know when you should replace them. Happy playing!
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