Keep track of your string selection

[barefootdesigns]

When customers come to my lutherie for work and I put a new set of strings on an instrument, I always include the empty string pack in the case, with a date on it. That way the player can replicate or eliminate that string choice, and always know how long the strings have been on the instrument. It's a simple thing to do and will give you heaps of valuable feedback going forward.

[Ron McMillan]

I always write the date of a string change on a little piece of masking tape and stick it to the back of the headstock. Otherwise I'd have no idea how old the strings were.

[LadysSolo]

I do the same thing barefootdesigns does with both my guitars and mandolins. That way if I particularly like (or dislike) a string choice I can repeat it (or not.)

[Ivan Kelsall]

I write down the date of every string change on a piece of paper kept in each mandolin case,along with the string brand/gauge. I usually remember when i changed a set - but i'd rather be absolutely sure.

Ron - do you stick to to a regular period before changing strings,or do you ''go by the sound'' of them before you change ?. Sometimes,i'll play one mandolin more than another,which means that the strings on the other 2 are being underplayed,& don't need changing after 'x' # of weeks/months. So,if i look at my 'notes',i might see a big difference in periods prior to a change,
Ivan

[Ron McMillan]

Ivan: I go more by 'feel' than sound. Because I live a long way from any source of mandolin strings, I play mine until they are definitely past their best. Sometimes that is only determined when an E string breaks

[Willie Poole]

I have four playable mandolins and don`t play them all the same number of hours so I never keep track of the dates when I changed them, however I do keep track of them on my #1 mandolin that I usually use at all of our shows, when they need changing they will let you know, at least mine do...I can go for about four months on a set....

Willie

[Bad Monkey]

Ivan: I go more by 'feel' than sound. Because I live a long way from any source of mandolin strings, I play mine until they are definitely past their best. Sometimes that is only determined when an E string breaks

Amazon ships everywhere these days. As do all the brick and mortars out there. I like to buy stuff from Elderly when I can't get it locally at Dusty Strings.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Bad Monkey - "Amazon ships everywhere these days.". They do indeed - but !. Ron lives in Thailand,not noted for speedy deliveries by Amazon or any other Co. I order my GHS A270's from a Co.in Germany & even they take the best part of 2 weeks unless i fork out around $15 for faster delivery - & what would Amazon charge for postage to Thailand ?,
Ivan

[sblock]

Well, I'm blessed to live here in the U.S., where new mandolin strings can be bought anytime online, and are just a day or two away by mail. Besides, like many of us, I tend to keep a few spare sets lying around anyway, and those are available instantly, so the replacement time is not so critical, regardless. String sets, when stored properly (inside a dry, sealed contained), last just about forever, so there's no need to order them fresh every time.

To be honest, I have never found a need to write down the dates of whenever I change my strings. Instead, my ears tell me all I need to know about whether a set needs replacement or not! I replace my strings because they'll stop holding their tuning as well, or when the open-string notes take too long to settle, or whenever the intonation goes off. Otherwise, there's no need. Most of my sets last a couple of months, but no more. Less, if I'm playing a lot.

I suppose it might pay to write down the gauges/types/brands of strings used, especially if you're trying out several different kinds of sets to find a better sound. But despite my advancing years, I can still manage to hold that sort of information in my head. At least for the time being. Now, what was I just talking about?!

[Phil Goodson]

I put the dated empty pack in the case, but it's mostly so that I remember what TYPE & BRAND of string I've used. I seldom use the date as motivation to change strings.

[Mike Snyder]

This is a thing I did during the dark years of searching for the string set of my dreams. The search was started fresh with each instrument trade. It’s all settled now with two mandolins and two banjos. EFW-74 strings on the mandolins. I change out the wire A and E when I feel rust on the bottom of the strings between bridge and tailpiece, the wound strings when the frets wear flat spots on the winding. Takes a long time and usually is indicated by some wonky intonation or tone.

[B381]

That set I just changed made it just over 2 months but were sounding horribly muddy today. D'Addarrio J74's on a Kentucky KM 250 played every day at a minimum of 30 minutes. I'm ok with that.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From sblock - "Instead, my ears tell me all I need to know about whether a set needs replacement or not !" . That's what i used to think. Most often i thought that the strings i was about to remove still sounded 'good'. I just had a nagging thought that it was about time to swap 'em out. The difference was always amazing.

These days,if i get the idea that a mandolin isn't sounding like it should,i check the date on my bit of paper to see ''when & what''. It's usually after around 3 to 4 months when i need to change a set,but,having 3 mandolins does spread the 'playing' around
a bit, & sometimes a set will go on for 4 - 5 months. I had my first set of DR MD11's on my Weber "Fern" for 8 months,& it really did sound good. I only took 'em off because the strings behind the bridge,where my wrist touches them, had gone a horrible shade of greenish black !,
Ivan

[Jess L.]

"Keep track of your string selection"

I wish I had done a better job of that, last time I changed strings.

A while back (longer than I care to admit to), I cobbled together some custom gauge sets by swapping out strings from several other different sets. I did that on both my CGDAE nylon-string Yamaha "half-size" classical guitar *and* my GDAEB electric guitar.

I carefully wrote down the gauge and brand of each of those individual strings.

Then, I stupidly managed to lose the piece of paper I'd written all the info on.

So now I have no idea.

Next time, I'm not going to rely on handwritten pieces of paper tucked in desk drawers etc. Too easy for those to literally slip through the cracks and disappear or get swept up and discarded.

To help figure this out, I recently bought a digital caliper to measure the gauge of each string that's currently on my instruments. It's not an expensive caliper so it won't be very accurate, but it will be a starting point in comparing strings. That way I won't have to *completely* start over from scratch, in deciding string gauge.

Meanwhile... good excuse to put off changing strings a while longer! Er, maybe not. The mandolin is ok for awhile. But the GDAEB electric guitar has a lot more 'miles' on it (I've played it a lot more because I like it better) and it's gradually gotten to the point where the strings are starting to sound out of tune regardless of what they're actually tuned to, and I don't even want to play it when it sounds like that. (It's my favorite instrument and I want to play it, but just not when it sounds perpetually out of tune.) I know it's just bad worn-out strings that cause that, seen it plenty of times before on other instruments over the years. So I'm going to have to figure out what strings to buy, to do the mix-and-match thing to try to duplicate what's already on there.

[Beanzy]

I’ll have to admit to thinking this sounded a bit OCD when I read the title, I just like to go from the last set, so keep the packet cover for things like the Tenor guitar or mandoloncello, not so bothered with the arch tops and the bowlback as they get more frequent changes. But having read the comments I do get where you all are coming from. Would it help if people blogged their string changes / mandolin name / date of change on here so others could rummage with the search engine?

[Willie Poole]

jl277, After you check the gauge of each string you can contact Mapes Strings on the Internet and they will make you custom sets of strings and you won`t have to buy a lot of different sets to get one set of the gauge that you like...They don`t sell strings in stores so you have to contact them on the Internet...They do make a nice string so give them a try...

Willie

[Billy Packard]

I've gotten into the habit of taking the cover of the set, writing the date on it and putting it in the plastic envelope the set comes in. I currently have more than a half dozen of these in one envelope. If I am replacing with the same set I just add the current date below the previous one.
Cake.

Billy

[Jess L.]

jl277, After you check the gauge of each string you can contact Mapes Strings on the Internet and they will make you custom sets of strings and you won`t have to buy a lot of different sets to get one set of the gauge that you like...They don`t sell strings in stores so you have to contact them on the Internet...They do make a nice string so give them a try...

Thanks! Sounds good, I might try that.

[Bertram Henze]

I am more of a forward planner. I always use D'Addario .050w, .036w, .024w, .015p, change them on the last day of Months 02, 04, 06, 08, 10, 12 respectively (those are also days when other routine changes happen, such as for my razor blade, so I don't forget).
When my stock of strings runs low so I have one whole set for the next change left, I order strings for another year - that gives them 4 months for delivery (should be sufficient).

[Ivan Kelsall]

If you do write down the brand /gauge of any set of strings on an instrument,put the piece of paper in the case with the instrument.
That way you'd need to loose the whole lot.

From JL277z - " It's not an expensive caliper so it won't be very accurate, ...". Some cheap measuring instruments are very accurate,they're just not built to be very durable. You can easily gauge how accurate it is by measuring a blade on a Feeler Gauge set - or anything that you know the exact thickness of,
Ivan

[Jess L.]

... Some cheap measuring instruments are very accurate,they're just not built to be very durable. You can easily gauge how accurate it is by measuring a blade on a Feeler Gauge set - or anything that you know the exact thickness of, ...

Thanks! Good advice.