Newbie question--How long do strings last?

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paulthebaker

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When I had a guitar, the steel strings would either break, get too grungy to clean, or just completely lose their tone. This is my first experience with a nylon stringed instrument, and did not know if they behaved the same?
So, all that said to ask, how long do they last, or how often do you change yours? The uke is a Koalana concert model, it has Aquila strings.
 
I was just wondering that myself. The Aquilas I have on now sounded great for a couple of weeks, but have now lost a lot of its punch and volume. Should strings die and sound like wet noodles after only a month? Or did I simply murder the poor strings with my amateur playing? :(
 
Funny that you say "wet noodle", after two weeks of playing, the A string just sounds dead. G, C, and E ring out nicely with good sustain, but the A just doesn't have the same tone as the others.
 
I'm actually glad you said that, cuz I was beginning to worry that I was just imagining it, or my playing was getting worse, or I was suffering hearing loss (yeah, I worry a lot). Although I exaggerated a bit, the strings definitely don't sound as bright as they did at first. At least they don't get filthy and grimy like guitar strings though. Come to think of it, wiping the strings down after playing would probably make them last longer. Brilliant!
 
Not sure, I'm a newbie too. Put aquillas on all our ukes last February and they all seem fine so far, but I have eight ukes and change ukes daily so that may be the reason mine haven't worn out yet. My teacher says they will start to go flat when you need to change them. Also, I don't crank hard on my strings like I've seen some of the younger players do, so maybe that's another reason why mine seen fine. I sort of wish one of mine would go bad, I want to try Worth strings.
 
from my experience, Aquilas strings lost their quality a lot sooner than my other worths and d'addario. I typically change them out every 2-3 months and that is during the time I play heavily and non-stop. I never really noticed wear from the tone of the strings until then.
 
davoomac said:
I've had the same stock strings on my hilo concert ukulele for 5 years! They sound just as good as they did the first year, and they probably sound better than you are thinking!
Click to expand...

gross brah, stocked strings?!

i cant stand the way stocked strings sound for some reason. i leave them for a month then changed them ASAP.

but about 6-9 months for me. or whenever i either have money or have the time to change them.

they do last a long time though, so unless you play like jake or Aldrine, then every month or two or three would be best.
 
OK, a few weeks old is nothing for strings, I get that. So why would my A string sound so different? The action was VERY low on that string, and after checking with MGM (told me how to slightly raise the saddle), it still has less "tone" than the other strings. Have you ever had 1 bum string? I may go ahead an order a 4-pack from MGM and see if it is the case. Thanks for all of the responses!

Aloha from the Redneck Riviera!

Chef Paul
 
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