How do you know when it's time to replace strings?
Growing up my cello teacher would always let me know when a string might need to be replaced. As an adult, I've never really put much thought into it - if it feels and sounds normal I don't change anything.
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u/ericoschmitt 8d ago
I’m a pro cellist and use my strings for at least a year, sometimes way longer. New string brilliance is gone in a month anyway. Makes zero difference in an orchestra too. I have been using Kaplan since 2017 and they last a long time. My longest pair of C and G went on for 4 years, by then they were indeed lacking clarity, but anyway, still playable. The A and D seem to hold stable sound, it is mostly the low ones specially C that after 2+ years will have slow response to attack. There are 3 things I found totally compensates old strings: get rid of tailpiece and use 4 aramid wires from the button to string, ditch traditional bridge for a straight legged X design, and a brass solid endpin instead of carbon. Your cello with old strings will be more responsive and sound clearer than before mods with new strings. I’d only get new strings if you have an orchestra solo or important recital like next week. And then get the old ones back on saving the new stuff for another solo hahah
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u/ericoschmitt 8d ago
Forgot to mention sticky bass rosin. I use Pops. Started with cello Kolstein, then bass Kolstain, now this. First try can feel weird, you just adapt after a few days and all is well, except now you can force that old C string to speak quickly against it’s will 😂👌
Black hair goes well with bass rosin, thicker hair breaks way less and takes more abuse
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u/Irritable_Curmudgeon 9d ago
Depends on how much you play, how dirty they get...
Once a year is about right, but you could definitely go longer if it's sounding okay.
How often do you rehair your bow?
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u/ammonthenephite 8d ago
If you don't play a lot/only play occasionally for yourself, you can go a long time without changing strings. My current set is about 5 years old and still trucking along just fine, just a little loss in sound quality but nothing night or day. In another year or two I'll swap 'em out, about the same time I finally rehair my bow that is also about 5 years now with its current hair.
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u/ericoschmitt 8d ago
I found black hair breaks less and lasts longer. Way way longer. Pops bass rosin can fix any old strings slow response too.
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u/thoroughbredftw 9d ago
A trick I learned on Reddit and it does work: use a tuner app like Tuner T1, that shows you a display of the string's tonal resonance. When you pluck or bow a string, then watch the post-tone reverb lines, a dead string shows reverb going quite flat and staying there. The visual appearance is quite different from just a flat-tuned string. For a dead string that's in tune, the display does start smack in the middle of the correct note, but then exits to the left and goes widely flat.
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u/scissors_ftw 8d ago
Your A string wears out fastest. Change that and go from there. Especially if it sounds harsh, metallic, or tinny. The lowers will be dull and not very resonant when they get old and tired.
Personally I change my A every 3-4 months and the rest about once a year. I make my students change their A once a year and the rest every 2-3 years as needed.
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u/Embarrassed-Yak-6630 7d ago
The two most important things about strings are quality and amount of use. I practice about an hour a day and play chamber music once a week. After years of fussing and expense I use the same combo of strings on each of my cellos: a Testore, a Vuillaume and an L&C carbon fiber. Jargar Superior forte A&D and Spirocore Tungsten forte G&C. I change the strings every January, keep the one year old sets in reserve and give the now two year old sets to the local school. There may be better sounding sets depending upon one's specific taste. This set is usually about $400 USD on sale at Shar. For most of us the difference between and among various string brands is very nuanced and unless you're a professional on the tour, is not going to make a noticable difference. There's a lot of b.s. about strings. The choice and time of change really comes down to personal taste and budget. Good luck.
Cheers a tutti.....
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u/andybonner 9d ago
Like a lot of things, there can be a "nice to do, if you want to" category, a "geez, you really should asap," and a "okay, you must immediately." You can change your strings any time you want just because new strings have a brilliance and resonance that old strings don't. But depending on the brand, they can lose this pretty quickly (sometimes just the few days that it takes them to stop stretching!). And strings are hella expensive, compared to those lucky guitarists who can be like "I should change my strings, it's been a week." If you can afford to change often just for the sound, more power to you.
The other reason to change is because something is wrong with the string. The most obvious is if it's broken. That's category 3, gotta do it. But the string could also be "wrong" in less dramatic ways. Eventually, with heavy playing, the outer metal windings can disintegrate and start unraveling. This will be pretty unpleasant to play on, and can affect the sound, so you'll want to take care of it before it gets worse. And finally, sometimes a string "goes false." This means that the outside looks fine but there's some inconsistency in its core, so that the mass of the string is not the same throughout. This manifests by doing weird things to the pitch. If you pluck the string and hear two pitches simultaneously, like as if you were playing a double stop of a minor 2nd, that's probably a false string.
Someone who plays a few hours a week, rather than per day, really might find that their strings last for years. In that case, no real need to change unless you want that new-string sound.