Strings should be changed whenever they start to look or feel rusty, start breaking, lose their tone and sound, or look dull. It is difficult to know how long strings will last as factors such as climate, how often (or not) you play your guitar, whether you are working in a band or just playing at home, all effect the longevity of your strings. Generally, when playing a full night with a band, strings will usually only last 3 – 6 gigs. After that, you risk the embarrassment of snapping a string during one of your glorious solos.

When changing strings leave enough slack to ensure that there is going to be 3 – 5 turns of string around the tuning head. Do no not use too many turns or wraps as this leads to tuning instability and constant string stretching. Make sure you gently but firmly stretch the strings when they are new. While connected to your tuner keep pulling and stretching the string and re-tune as necessary. Remember that nylon strings will always take a great deal of stretching to remain in tune.

There are a lot of products that can help you with this process. Many require no turns or wrap because they lock right into place over the machine head.

A good idea on electric guitars with tremelo bridges such Floyd Rose types and also on Gibson style ‘tune o matic’ bridges is to change the strings one at a time. This stops the tremolo going completely out of adjustment and, in the case of the tune o matic, from falling off the guitar and losing the whole set up.

Make sure you keep your guitar strings as clean as possible. Wipe them down after each session. Use string products that increase the life of your string. It makes a big difference in life and tone of the string. The best thing to do is get Elixir strings but they cost as much as three times as regular strings though they will last eight times as long.

You don’t want to pop a string during your great guitar solo so make sure you take good care of your strings. Clean them, change them, and buy good quality strings. It will help with the tone of your guitar and make for a better sound.