The other day, I finally got around to replacing the strings on my acoustic guitar, something that had been overdue for a while.
As I finished fitting the last new string, and then tuned them up properly, my guitar seemed to have a refreshed sound, from these zingy new strings. It struck me that I should probably change the strings a bit more often, just to get that feeling of refreshing the sound once in a while.
More than just the sound though, it seemed to refresh my playing a bit also, as I tried out playing lots of different tunes on the new strings. So fitting new strings every so often could be good from that point of view, almost helping to renew your enthusiasm for playing the guitar.
The other thing with changing strings is that it’s good sometimes to experiment with different thicknesses. For example, the previous set of strings on my acoustic was a ‘light’ gauge, with the top E string being 0.012in (0.3mm). These had seemed fine, but this time I went for some ‘custom light’ strings, with a slightly lighter gauge, the top E is now 0.011in (0.28mm).
This small change in string thickness has quite a big effect on how the guitar feels when you play it, and the overall sound. I find that the lighter strings make it a bit easier to fret certain chords, and make some fingerstyle passages more manageable.
There’s also much less wear on your fingers with lighter strings, so especially if you’re just starting out with a steel string acoustic, I would recommend going for lighter strings, until your fingers toughen up enough for heavier strings.
The downside of lighter strings though is that they don’t quite have the same volume as heavier ones, which was something I noticed soon after fitting them. So it’s pros & cons as usual.
The main thing is to experiment until you find the ones that suit your playing style the best.
I also came across this video, which shows how to change guitar strings, which you might find useful. I definitely recommend using one of those string winder tools, like the one shown in the video.
Chris
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