How Often Should You Change Guitar Strings? (And Do Strings Expire?)

Short answer: change uncoated strings when they sound dull, feel rough or will not stay in tune - for a practising beginner that is typically a matter of weeks-to-a-few-months per set, sooner if you play daily. Coated strings (our beginner pick in the strings guide) are built to stretch that interval several-fold. We give signs and patterns, not a fake-exact calendar - hands, sweat and climate decide.

Do strings expire?

Unopened strings do not expire like food, but uncoated steel corrodes slowly in humid or salty air - a packet kept for years in a damp room can come out tarnished. Store spares dry, in their sealed packets, and use oldest first. Strings already on the guitar 'expire' by playing: skin oil and fret wear kill brightness long before a string breaks.

The change-it signs

• Tone goes tubby, especially the wound strings.
• Visible darkening or rough feel under the fingers.
• Tuning will not settle, or intonation sounds off up the neck.
• A string breaks - change the set, not just the one (its neighbours are the same age).

What to buy next: best strings for beginners, coated vs uncoated, gauge guide. Keep a spare set in the case - it ranks #3 on our what-to-buy-first order.

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