Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

When String Snapping Goes Wrong

Every two weeks!?!? Mine are still practically new at two weeks! Good thing you don’t play banjo, mandolin strings last me a lot longer than banjo strings. You’d be changing banjo strings every other day :joy:

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My banjo strings last much longer than guitar strings. Since I don’t play guitar hardly ever more than around the house I don’t change them as much as I would like to but if I were playing it live it would be about every week or two. No reason for that if you are just playing around the house like I do.

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I’m usually around every 2 weeks too but that’s because I only play one instrument. I do notice that during time periods when I’m playing both of my guitars a lot, I keep the same strings on each of them for sometimes months, since I’m going back and forth. For someone who’s been used to keeping strings on for a year, I think every 2-3 months is a good start. :slight_smile:

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I always change my banjo strings every couple months at least, because when they get too much rust on them playing up the neck becomes nearly impossible :joy: I just don’t play guitar enough to justify changing them super often. I have been playing more lately so I might start changing them more often. I’m pretty sure I last changed them in January, so I’m long overdue haha. And mandolin strings sound good for me for a long time, I honestly like the tone when they lose their initial brightness. I change them after they get uncomfortable to play, which is usually every couple months.

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I like the feel of older banjo strings. I agree they aren’t as bright and snappy when they’re not brand new but I don’t mind the tone. Sometimes on the banjo a set of strings break in and start to feel smooth. The guitar is totally different though. I would change my guitar strings once a week if I played more.

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This is why I don’t practice mandolin :joy: Mando strings would be junky after a week of consistent practice. Same with banjo strings. Guitar strings, 3 days if they’re anything but Elixirs, which I can stretch for a month or more. If Elixirs went out of production I don’t know what I’d do… and seriously, no other coated string has made any difference for me. They all last the same amount of time except Elixirs which will take anything I throw at them.

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Either y’all are way pickier about strings than I am or I just have unbelievably dry hands :joy:

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Plus they rust on their own. I can put new strings on the banjo, play the banjo for 5 minutes, and it’ll need a string change after a few weeks

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Yeah, I’ve found that strings last longer on an instrument if you keep it in the case vs leaving it out. Kinda weird. I always have my mandolin in it’s case when not in use, my banjo is on a stand but I would keep it in the case if I wasn’t too lazy to get it out every time :joy:

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I kinda feel bad about demoing instruments because I can wipe out a decent amount of the string lifespan in a playing session :joy:

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Me too but snapping them brings them right back to their state of newness, so my 5-minute string-killing ability doesn’t bother me anymore.

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It’s the unwound strings that I really wreak havoc on. As far as the wound strings, snapping helped for about 90 seconds the time I tried it :joy:

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Fiddle strings on the other hand have lasted me a good long while but I’m no good at fiddle so it doesn’t make much of a difference either way. :laughing:

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I’m seriously gonna try that.
I love the sound of Nickel Bronze D’addario stings on my mandolin but they don’t last me but about a day.
I use XS’s because they last longer and not for tone

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Oh yeah, unwound strings are so annoying to play once they’ve rusted. And then the wound ones completely lose their tone.

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Maybe I should just wear gloves when I play.

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I’ve got 3 sets of new strings coming so my guitar will be good in a couple days :joy:. I’m always really impressed with how fast stuff from Ben gets here, even with just standard shipping it’s never been more than 3 days or so.

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That’s actually way harder than it looks😂

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Like these gloves?? :joy: This looks next to impossible.

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The dude is ridiculously talented… :joy: That’s super hard, I’ve tried it. I couldn’t even get a clean note.

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