Times are a changin' and so are strings.

I have always kept fresh strings on my ukes. I changed them between 3 and 6 months. After reading so many posts about not changing strings so often I tried and expirement. My main high g player was changed in Jan of 2016. Today I put new strings on (same brand Living Waters). All I can say is wow, what a change. I think I will go back to more often changes. Once a year is not good enough for me. As soon as they settle in, I will have a new crisp sound for the holidays.

SailingUke said:

I have always kept fresh strings on my ukes. I changed them between 3 and 6 months. After reading so many posts about not changing strings so often I tried and expirement. My main high g player was changed in Jan of 2016. Today I put new strings on (same brand Living Waters). All I can say is wow, what a change. I think I will go back to more often changes. Once a year is not good enough for me. As soon as they settle in, I will have a new crisp sound for the holidays.

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I've had mine since 2014 with the same strings...

Just replaced my Kala Travel Tenor strings (Super Nylgut) with Martin 620s this afternoon. I'm not sure it sounds much different, but it feels better (to me) and looks different without those white strings. I am not against Aquila, and use the KIDS Strings on all our school ukuleles--but prefer flurocarbon on my own ukuleles.

Got to agree with OP.
New strings on a Kanile'a K4 tenor 12 months ago and then changed them last week.
It was like having an early Xmas gift.
It sounds like a new instrument.

I find that when strings get old they lose elasticity and I could hear it on intonation in some positions. I change strings then. In my case this goes usually between 2-3 months.

LarryS said:

I've had mine since 2014 with the same strings...

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Wow! Three years? If you change your strings you may find you have a new instrument. But then again, if you can't hear the difference...

When I played classical guitar I changed strings every 4-6months. I tried to play at least an hour a day at that time so my strings were well used. There was always a drastic change in the sound of the instrument and always for the better. Strings degrade or become dirty over time or exposure to the elements.

bikemech said:

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Wow! Three years? If you change your strings you may find you have a new instrument. But then again, if you can't hear the difference...

When I played classical guitar I changed strings every 4-6months. I tried to play at least an hour a day at that time so my strings were well used. There was always a drastic change in the sound of the instrument and always for the better. Strings degrade or become dirty over time or exposure to the elements.

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If you can hear the difference after the change you waited to long.

SailingUke said:

If you can hear the difference after the change you waited to long.

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That is true to some extent. But most of us aren't going to change our strings so regularly that we don't hear a difference when we change them. It can take weeks of playing before some strings are even stretched out and broken in. If I changed out the Aquila strings on my soprano every month I'd have only about a 1 and 1/2 or 2 weeks of playing without being continually frustrated by string stretch and the resultant constant need to retune. The Martin fluorocarbons on my concert settle in pretty quickly, so I can elect to change those more frequently.

Of course, we all have different tolerance levels when it comes to the sound or playability of dirty or worn out strings. Apparently, for some players, this can mean living with a set of strings for years. That doesn't work for me, but you won't find me changing my strings out every month either.

With my very small selection of very-often-played ukes, I tend to change the strings every three months. And even that frequently, the difference is always like night and day.

I'm with Janeray1940 - tend to change mine every 3 months or so. Strings are cheap really...