How long have your Worth strings lasted?

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phlatpicker

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One of my baritones has had Worth Brown strings on it for a year & a half. Prior to putting these on I was changing Aquila & Dunlop strings quite often. The Worths still sound good. At this rate I have enough sets to last for many more years. What has been your experience? How long have you had them on your uke? I don't think my ear is to blame as I play another different instrument also & I'm sure my ear is okay.
 
Not totally related but I have an old soprano with aquila that are about three years old. They still sound good to my ear and I have much newer ukes to compare it to. It hasn't been played an awful lot in those three years though.
 
geez, they don't cost that much, I would change them out after a year at the most. You might be surprised at how the sound changes.
 
I don't know about your ear. If you think it's time for a change then change 'em. I've never had a set of strings on an 'ukulele that long. Heck, I've barely had an 'ukulele that long.
 
I don't know how long they're good for, but I would agree that Worth's - once they're settled in, they're really settled in. Remarkably stable and consistent. (I don't care for the floppy low D on their baritones though; other than that, love them all).
I order them from Elderly as part of a big string-order to get to the $49 free shipping minimum.
 
I have had a KoAloha soprano for about 6 months with stock strings (Worth CLs I think). Just this past week I noticed that intonation was all wonky and the sound just wasn't as good. It always sounded out of tune but i would check the tuning and it was fine (open tuning was fine, 5th fret was not).

Just put some new Worth CLs on and so far they sound twice as good. I can't comment on the intonation etc yet until they settle in more. But at least in this situation it seems that the strings lasted 6 months (from when I bought the uke). This is the first time I have really noticed strings going bad.
 
Interesting to see your replies. I will change them soon to see if it makes a difference. I'll die of old age before I use what I've got on the shelf. I've never had strings on for more than 2 or 3 months at most before. These are the first Worths I've tried. They just seem to go on and on. Thanks for your comments.
 
Aloha Phil,
Most people will not notice the decline of their strings as the decline is very slow and almost un noticable... A good Metaphor would be like your tuning on your car,
you only notice when it gets bad,,,well most that is...
Also on how much you play and how hard and if you change tunings...time is NOT most time the most crucial indicator...
yes put on new strings, and I bet you will certainly notice the difference for sure..
I think myself many who change their strings when they cannot keep a note or go dull is way beyond the time for changing... strings are cheap, and make a whole lot of
difference.... try different brands occasionally and see what your preference is..and what you like... good Luck and happy strummings...
 
Here's a test for you that can help decide when it's time for a string change. Run a finger under the strings up the neck toward the nut. Does the string feel smooth all the way? If you can feel dents and worn spots from contact with the frets it is definitely time for a change. The irregular diameter of the worn strings will affect your tone and intonation. Worse, as the dents get deeper it allows the string to sit closer to adjacent frets when playing causing buzzes because the string is no longer contacting the played fret on the outside diameter but now at the depth of the dent. Also, even if strings aren't play a lot, I'd still change them no less than annually. Come on... 5 or 6 bucks...
 
bigphil said:
Here's a test for you that can help decide when it's time for a string change. Run a finger under the strings up the neck toward the nut. Does the string feel smooth all the way? If you can feel dents and worn spots from contact with the frets it is definitely time for a change. The irregular diameter of the worn strings will affect your tone and intonation. Worse, as the dents get deeper it allows the string to sit closer to adjacent frets when playing causing buzzes because the string is no longer contacting the played fret on the outside diameter but now at the depth of the dent. Also, even if strings aren't play a lot, I'd still change them no less than annually. Come on... 5 or 6 bucks...
Click to expand...

I play hard and noticed the same thing. Dents, groves, frays over the frets. That white stuff by the bridge/sound hole is bits of skin, nails and STRING. So you are putting nicks and groves in the strings on one end and changing diameter and cross section on the other.

Strings wear out, and way before they break they have intonation issues. It comes on slowly as the strings wear, and you can really notice you had it when you put on new strings, less fiddling with tuning.

I have a big lighted magnifier on a stand I'll inspect strings with. Sometimes they seem OK but the magnifier shows some surprising damage.

I like the white nylgut strings and Worths. I can't really say if one lasts longer than another, about the same.

I HATE changing strings, but you just have to bite the bullet.
 
I've had Worth's on my tenor for a little over a year and they still feel/sound good to me, or they seem to. It hasn't been played much since I got my concert last summer.

My concert also has Worth clears on it and they are starting to feel and respond in a sluggish manner. Still seem to sound okay, but I can tell that I've worn them out. Time to change.

My soprano has Aquilas on it, came with, and they are still going strong. But, I'm going to do a Worth and Southcoast order and get new strings for each of them.

I'm pretty sure my ear has become desensitized to the sound change as the strings age and that I will be pleasantly surprised when I change them on each one.
 
UkerDanno said:
geez, they don't cost that much, I would change them out after a year at the most. You might be surprised at how the sound changes.
Click to expand...

I change strings, no matter what kind they are, about every 3 months. Not because that's some magical number, but it was recommended to me initially and I've found it works for me. I'm surprised every time, even when replacing with the same kind of strings, how improved the sound is, and sometimes playability, intonation and action improve as well.
 
I change my strings every 2 or three months. Once I start feeling wear on them over the sound hole (I fingerpick) I know it's time to change them.
 
My experience is that fluorocarbon is very tough and very stable. Even on ukes that get played a lot I've had fluorocarbon strings that were still in good shape after a year or more.

In comparison, I could shred a set of the old coated NylGut strings in a few weeks and most nylon strings start showing their age (by losing sparkle and intonation up the neck getting worse) after three months on a frequently played uke.

Basically, strings are cheap, just change them any time the tone and sustain start to decline or if the intonation up the neck starts going south.

John
 
I put a fresh set of Worth Browns on my uke. They do sound fresher. I'm glad I changed them. The strings that I replaced didn't sound too bad though after a year & a half. These are very stable strings. They stretch a lot for the first couple of weeks as I remember, more than normal nylon. I reckon I'll change them again in a year even if they sound okay to me still.
I think a lot of the extra lifetime comes from the fact that there are no wound strings. I don't use any wound strings these days as I don't like the noise & they don't last, even though I wipe them down after each use. My other bari uke, a spruce top, wears SouthCoast Light Linear Non-Wound strings. The Worth Browns didn't sound too good on the spruce & I took them off it a while ago but they suit the laminate uke really well.
 
I know I've had Worth Clears and Browns last a year or two, (maybe more). The sound quality might be diminished in that time, perhaps considerably. But, if I don't notice, why would I care?

I brought three ukuleles to a friend's house last week. Changed the strings on all of them before-hand. I always change them before I try to show off (no matter how futile the attempt might be).

Now the wound low G, that's a different story.
 
My Worth browns or clears last a long time and I don't feel a lot of fret wear, but will notice a nick or rough place right where the string crosses the nut. The slots are well fitted and smooth, so I guess the string vibration uses the nut as a pivot point. I play a lot, and really play hard. I probably change strings more often than I need to, even though I dread the break in period. I have to play the Ohana concert, which feels and sounds inferior compared to the LoPrinzi cherry concert.
 
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