Quick question… what’s the collective wisdom as to when it’s time to changes strings? I’ve seen as few as 20 hours - sure seems like a low number, but I don’t have any experience, since I’ve only been playing for about 3 months. For perspective, I’m guessing I have 90-100 hours on this set of strings, which are the originals that came with the bass when I bought it. And any recommendations on brands (round wound) are much appreciated.
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I just found out that the best time to change the strings is, when somebody else plays your bass and tells you it’s time.
I did not notice it, as I got used to the slow decay of the tone…
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I simply change them when they sound dead. It’s easy to tell.
Some artists change them before every live show.
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It’s a personal choice. If you play a lot and the genre you play most requires the zingy top-end tone of fresh rounds, you should change your strings more often. Conversely, if you don’t put a lot of miles on your bass and/or your choice of tunes doesn’t require the zing, you can change strings less often. Only you know where you fall in this spectrum.
Personally, I tend to change strings infrequently. Then again, I choose to play strictly for myself and not gig. Again, your personal choices will dictate how often you should change your strings.
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Yep. Go by sound, and when they start to sound dead to you, it’s time. If they still sound good, keep on going 
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Haha, yes, quick question… but potentially more long-winded replies and a thread that goes on for a while 
Apart from being a personal preference (brighter vs. duller tone), to hear when a string is dead is not that easy, mainly because it is such a gradual process.
Additionally, not all strings age equally quickly, and other factors such as whether you have sweaty hands (sorry, not intended as shaming) or whether you are good at wiping off your strings or not etc all factor into how fast the strings "deteriorate).
What I do is: on basses I play a lot, I change strings every 6-8 months, on basses I play only sporadically, I change strings perhaps once a year.
Or, really, when I feel like it (and maybe want to try a new brand/model of strings) 
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This is when I typically change strings 
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Yeah but you play flats. Technically you never need to change flats
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I’ve got 1 bass with flats. My preferred are pressurewound (so far). I haven’t touched the stock rounds on my BB yet, even with the Foundations sitting on my desk ready to go.
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Ahh, cool - for some reason I thought you were all flats. Try Elixir rounds yet? I bet you like them, not pressurewound but coated.
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I think the GHS’ are going to go in the next few months (whether they want to or not) on my P bass. That seems like a good one to test those out with.
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Fender 45 and Ernie ball slinky are my go to in general. My favorite is a tie between TI Jazz round and Optima gold strings.
I change them when they are old and dull sometimes some would just break or “dead”. That’s when it’s time to change. Maybe once a year for me may be twice I own so many basses they don’t get much playing hours.
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TI Jazz Rounds definitely my go-to, for damn sure. I haven’t tried Optima Golds yet. Gotta do that some day.
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TI Jazz Rounds are pricey and seem hard to find. Where do you purchase them?
Also the gauges seem odd(?) or at least pretty small. Like .089 for an E string where the standard is .105.
Have you ever tried TI Power Bass Strings - curious how they are?
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I am interested to see if anyone else has tried Alice brand on Aliexpress.
I have a couple of sets of flats being used currently but they also do rounds.
If I was changing frequently I think I would use them.
I use TI Jazz Rounds Super Long (JR364) 43-101. They are made for 36” scale but I just cut them for my 34” basses.
TI Jazz strings are more expensive than most others, but they last much longer, their round cores are very easy to play, and their windings are smaller and smoother than any other round wounds.
TI Jazz Rounds great tone, feel and long life make them more than worth the price for me.
I buy mine on sale from gimmesomestrings.com stringsandbeyond.com and even Amazon sometimes, for as low as $66.
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The rounds stay crisps and bright for a long time. Put a set on my Joe Dart II last year, it’s still as bright as the day I installed.
TI Jazz Flats, forget about it. It takes about 3 months just to break them in and it the sound and feel gets better over time. I have one on my SB 2 for a few years it’s just so good I put them on 2 other basses. At the rate I’m playing them in rotation it won’t be till next Christmas to break them in.
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If this is the case (which I am not doubting), then that means that the deterioration of roundwound must be caused by dirt only, right? Dirt that accumulates in the gaps between the threads results in dullness.
Cause otherwise they are basically the same (except for being flat or round).
So that means that cleaning roundwounds properly should give them a 2nd live!?
Absolutely. I’ve had a set of TI Jazz Flats on my Cutlass for over two years. They sound amazing and they feel super slick.
The Jazz Rounds on two of my other basses sound as crisp and fat as the day I put them on several months ago.
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No, it’s more that flats are already lacking a lot of the tone rounds have in the higher harmonics, so there is less to lose for them as they deaden (which flats players consider to be breaking in).
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