the longest time period you kept strings on a bass(be honest)

[mattsmusicstudio]

I haven't got a bass yet, but I'll probably keep them on for a very long time. I've heard that some people don't like new strings on their bass, and that older broke in strings are better.

I know on my guitar, I'm going to try to keep my Elixir Strings on as long as possible. I've had a .009-.042 set of Nanowebs on my Squier Telecaster since October 2006. They still sound just as good as when I put them on! The Elixirs save me a WHOLE lot of Money!!! I can't afford $5 a month per each of my 3 guitars.

I know this isn't the guitar forum.

[bob anderson]

When I was young, I always got a set for Christmas. I used to boil them in lightly salted water every few months. (makes a great soup stock!) Once i was playing out every few weeks.

James Jamerson (as was mentioned at the beginning of this thread) refused to change his strings, in fact one time some of the other Motown session musicians changed the strings behind his back, whereupon, he promptly retrieved the old set from the trash, and put them back on. His bass earned the name "funk machine" because of the funky strings. (from "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" a biography of Jamerson.)

As for breaking strings, I tend to break one a month or so, usually the low e when playing funk.

Bob Anderson

[army_bass]

I've got a 62 Precision that I've taken a Duck Dunn mentality with..I last put on a set of Fender 1000's in 1989. Now, they feel like flatwounds, but they sound, well, like a 62 PBass should sound. On most of my other basses, including older Jazz basses and my Modulus 5 strings, I change every 4-6 months IF I have been playing them. I don't gig much anymore, but when I did Gig I would change my RotoSound 66's every Thursday before my Friday/Saturday gigs.

[bloodless]

I've had my D'Addario Nickel Wound Heavy Gauge for about a year now but I have to say that I can't wait for my new set of Earnie Ball Power Slinky to come.

I love that my Fender Jazz sounds punchy but heavy on the low end but now my D'Addario have lost it all and now the sound deep and shallow. I used to change strings every 5 months when I used the fender brand, but sience I tried using a heavy gauge the punch dies VERY quickly.

[kman2007]

As a guitar player, I am surprised on how well bass strings hold up. My guitar strings literally become unplayable after about a month of heavy use, they get so rusty and cruddy - when I was in college and fairly broke I used to stretch them until they were unplayable or I broke one. Now I usually change them when I start to feel a slight drag - I notice that before I notice the sound change because the tone decline is so gradual it is hard to notice until they are beyond shot but the thing is once you put new ones you notice a pronounced difference. I do notice the tone decline on my acoustic though, that starts to happens after a few hours even with elixirs.

My gf plays bass and she has only changed the strings once in the past 3 months and that was when the bass was in the shop getting an adjustment and setup. I haven't noticed any significant tonal differences after a change myself. I pick the bass up once and a while and I can never really feel or hear a difference in the sound from week to week. I'm sure they could easily go a year although 3 to 4 months seems more resonable. I hate restringing my guitars, maybe I should take up bass.

[greywolf31]

I have had my Dean Markley Fretmaster Med-Lights on My Fender Jazz bass for over 2-years. They still sound great.

I have a spare pack, just in case... LOL

Now to find a decent set of flats for my Tobias 5-String...

Rounds are way to squeeky for me, and groundwounds are impossible to find these days... especially for 5-Strings.

[zfender9]

Every months for me!

[4stringaxeman]

I have a few bass guitars that have D'Addario flats on them and they have been on them for about 10 years. I have a Ric 4001 that has not had a string change in over 20 years... flats last forever.

[neonKnight]

I dont change them until they start to sound bad (you can tell when you hit that pivot point) or if one breaks. Of course, I dont think Ive ever had a bass string break on me.

[cdanddvdpublisher]

I changed the strings on my bass once - and, quite frankly it was only because I didn't like the tone of the strings that came on it. That was about, damn, 15 years ago now...

[mdoyle]

www.myspace.com/bluesdudes

www.facebook.com/mark.d.doyle.

thanks for digging my question!!!

[Big Bottom Willie]

I just replaced the original strings on my circa 1995 Ibanez ATK, bought used in 2007, for the first time. So that's like what, 15 years? (Even though not all in my possession.) And they still sounded OK, but the new Rotosound Swingbass 66's sound FANTASTIC!

[Shdggsdv]

well technically i didnt keep them on it for that long but thts bcuz i just bot my hofner about a year ago... i play a 1966 Hofner 500/1 and up until about a month ago i had tha original strings put on tha bass about 44 years ago... so yea tht wud hav 2 be tha longest... ud be suprised at how it sounded... not much tone but i was still happy with tha sound

[Shdggsdv]

i forgot to mention... they had barely played wen i bot them but iv cleaned them about evry week or 2 now

[byeager]

I break strings quite often...usually the D string. I change strings when they start to sound dead, or affect intonation. On the average, that's about every 6-8 months. I might also add, I don't use a lot of highs or mids in my eq...just mostly low end.