By way of group therapy: my name is Victor, and I'm a cheapskate!!!
I had meant to change strings for a while but, every time I thought of doing so, someone would invite me to a friendly sightreading-session, or I had a rehearsal, etc., etc., so I would postpone the restringing for another day, not wishing to inflict the twang of brand-new strings on my friends and colleagues.
Well... to make a VERY long story short, I just DID replace the Lenzners I had on my Calace, three YEARS (!!!) after I first put them on. Yes, the bronze-wound bottoms had gotten a bit tubby and dull, but intonation was still 100% accurate, there was no rusting, no A-course winding coming apart... no symptoms, other than of course reduced brilliance. No excuses either, though, considering it takes me no more than 15-20 minutes to change strings, provided I have my trusty, JUST-right-sized pliers and a wire-cutter on hand...
I take solace in a favorite anecdote of Pablo Casals, one of my personal heroes: he used to say --always with a wink-- that strings sounded best just before they snapped of old age and wear and tear; he coupled this with a deft parallelism to his own playing, and the nonagenarian wisdom he had brought to his music-making. Now... I won't say that mandolin strings sound best when 3 years old. I will say, however, that quality strings are worth the expense and trouble of procurement. I recall *ahem* less-than-quality strings going false after a mere 2-3 months of daily use.
Needless to say, YMMV.
Cheers,
Victor
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