How often should you change the strings on an electric guitar?

Question:Why?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Why?

I change on a monthly base. If I gig a lot, than on a weekly base because I play all over the fingerboard. This tends to wear the string out uniformy but faster.

On an electric gitar, it is less evident but if you want to keep the crispy sound of an acoustic, change them as soon as the strings go dead or before.
Change the strings one at a time and tune . Otherwise, the rivets in the neck can fall out of place and cause bumps on the neck.

If you use it a lot, the strings will tell you. Naturally when they break, or if you're having trouble keeping it in tune.

Depends on what you like. Acoustic is different since almost everyone likes the sound of bright, snapping, new strings on them. I think most electric players really like the sound of strings on an electric guitar after they've been on for several days though. At first they can be kind of brittle. So I'd say that they sound best between 5 to 14 days. After two weeks all strings start to get ruts in them if you play them a lot, and that will mess with the intonation. So if you play a lot, then I'd change them every two weeks. If you just pick it up and mess around a couple of times a week, then strings can last for months as long as you keep them wiped down so they don't rust.

That depends on how often you play, how you play, and how demanding you are on your sound. I tend to change more often than many people, and I haven't had to change a broken string for a very time.

In my case, I am a high schooler who doesn't have a steady stream of income, so purchasing new strings every few weeks can start to add up. My suggestion is to to the fingernail test. Simply run your fingernail under each of the strings. If greenish/blackish gunk appears under your fingernail, then it is probably time to change strings. And change them all at once, it is a myth that changing them all at once is bad for the guitar. The guitar can handle it, and it allows you to clean in some tricky places.

Rock on.

This all depends how hard you play, and how frequent you play. Of course, when the string breaks, it breaks. Or if you start feeling grit or feeling some sort of dirt on it, change it, the grit will eventually tear away the string, and it will break on you. If your strings don't break very often, however, do change your strings every month. It's kind of bad to have the same strings for over a month, because they're kind of dirty after that long, or they will become rusty, and that's not very pleasant is it?

I read once that you should change them about every 20 hours of playtime. However, I have a friend with very sweaty hands and he has to change his all the time.
Joe Satriani once said in an interview he kept his on his guitars at home until they were rusted. But fro touring, they were changed nightly.

depends on how often you play. A general rule is when they no longer look shiny, its time to go.