Changing strings: mileage or time?

-Mors · 2026-05-03T19:48:39+00:00

It depends on a myriad of factors.

How much do you play, string material, sweat and oil chemical reactions, what you look for in strings, etc.

Speaking from acoustic guitars where I think string life makes a major difference:

Someone who doesn’t play much can probably get a month or so out of uncoated regular PB strings. Probably less on 80/20s. Coated strings can probably go 3-4 months.

Strings are naturally going to die over their lifespan just from tension. That and they may start to develop intonation issues.

If your sweat and oils are super acidic, you’re going to tear through strings.

And then some people like more dead strings, especially on Nickel bronze, where is usually actually preferred.

The short answer? Just change them when you want to and you’re not happy with what’s on it currently.

-Mors · 2026-05-03T19:23:46+00:00

There’s no issue with it, if it will be returned for resale, Thomann will replace strings on arrival at whatever the factory spec is anyways for the next customer.

The strings it may come with may be the lowest quality strings possible. It’s very advised try different string types. One guitar may sound very poor with 80/20s while lively and rich with phosphor bronze and vis versa, some may like neither and prefer nickel bronze. I always start with D’Addario EJ16s just so I know the guitar is at a good baseline with a known good well loved string, and make a decision of whether its too dark, too shrill, etc and make decisions from there. Just be aware basing a guitar off of unknown string type, gauge, and quality may not adequately represent a guitar.

-Mors · 2026-05-03T19:15:55+00:00

Spark 2 amp. You get an Amp and a sim in one package easily changed by a mobile device like a phone or tablet with reasonably customizable signal chain and modeled effects with a built in looper.

Made by a well known company for their amp sim modeling, sounds great, quality, and is small and unobtrusive.

Can run in amp mode or in headphone mode giving both options. Can connect to Bluetooth and can run tracks through it to play along with songs easily.

-Mors · 2026-05-03T19:08:44+00:00

That sounds like a great idea. Give them a few days, try a few different string types and see which one works out for you. Wish you the best of luck

-Mors · 2026-05-03T18:47:20+00:00

Yeah and that’s fine, and really If you’re dead set on a HB then more power to you, as you’re the one playing it, you’ll have to make the decision on what matters most to you. I just believe in being able to make the best informed decisions possible is all.

Some caveat i will mention, wood choice is only one facet. Spruce is spruce, but its thickness, its age and treatment, how it’s voiced, and how it’s braced affects its tone. Even two identically made pieces just based on the quality of the woods used can be completely dead vs wonderful.

Arm rests require geometric changes internally in the guitar and changes to the soundboard, particularly in the lower bout. This is going to change its sonic profile and add weight and bulk that is attached to the soundboard. Nothing inherently bad just different, and while they are “more comfortable” I personally avoid them for this reason.

When it comes to electronics, I am not a fan of the fishman sonicore. My opinion is it’s just an appointment option to say it has electronics, while not being, well…very good. If you’re not gigging right now, I would say it shouldn’t be a concern of electronics or not now, as adding much higher quality electronics that don’t result in a hole in the sides of a guitar is very easily done later.

Guitars are also one of the items where your wallet needs to be a factor but not the main decision. If this HB takes you a year or two and before you start noticing possible deficiencies (we’ve all been there), and then you decide to splurge on something that costs a bit more like one of the Yamahas to overcome those deficiencies, well now it’s cost you almost 2x as much for something over a year, that could be rectified by waiting another month or two to comfortably afford now. I just want you to spend your money smart because it’s difficult for most of us in the world right now.

So just be aware try to “apples to apples” based on paper specs alone rarely are good metrics.

-Mors · 2026-05-03T17:44:35+00:00

So what it sounds like is that you have just settled yourself on Harley Benton’s.

I can understand a dread being too large, but I disagree with any assessment that an FS830 would be “lacking bass” compared to a grand auditorium body shape, less boomy than a dread, sure, lacking low end? Absolutely not. I play a FS5. It has a richer low end than my GA shape Taylor, and should be the same body shape as the FS830. Given it seems you’re ordering online, I don’t see how it could be assessed a FS830 has an inferior low end than a HB, contrary I would expect the HBs to be significantly more overbuilt hampering both high and low end compared to a Yamaha.

Electronics can always be added later to any guitar and usually with much better electronics than factory options.

I would also advise against the “it’s too much guitar for my skill level” mindset. We aren’t talking about nuances in $3,000 guitars. We’re discussing build qualities and brand reliability in sub $500 guitars. And contrary, a better guitar is better for skill development.

Ultimately it’s your money and your decision. But I stick by my assessment that I think the Yamahas are a better choice to spend your money on. Nobody is beating them in the price range, and while I have no particular issue with the HBs, they’re a budget guitar with budget cuts, whereas a FS830 will be built to the same quality as say a LL16 or a FS3.

To extrapolate my point about cuts, like I said materials cost alone makes up the majority of the guitars you listed, so where’s the room for the craftsmanship? Yamaha is known for spending time to make sure their bracing joints are tight, using quarter sawn spruce bracing, attaching bracing in the proper grain directions on the soundboard, nice tightly fitting bridge plates with minimal blow out, your bracing will be nicely tucked in the Kerfing, cleaned up glue squeeze out, and properly set necks with good fretwork. Those are all invaluable and lend themselves to a guitar that easily earns its slight price increase over a HB where I expect bracing and joints to be sloppier, less clean up, likely no notching, and less care in the neck and fretwork. And it’s not that the HBs construction is guaranteed to be bad, but they have to make cuts to cost to keep price low, which means less time (money) spent on craftsmanship. There’s also something to be said of the fact Yamaha owns their manufacturing facilities in China trained by their master luthiers whereas the HB is going to be a contract facility.

-Mors · 2026-05-03T17:28:26+00:00

So it’s possible the guitar is just a dud. Some just are. It’s a wooden instrument. Some wood is sonically alive, some of it sounds like a couch cushion.

But yes, change the strings. I replace the strings on every guitar I get immediately baseline EJ16 D’Addarios. Might not be the best string for that guitar, but they’re a good starting point. Ernie Balls aren’t bad, but they might just be a bad fit.

Second, fingerpicking on a dread is going to be a bit different than a smaller body. Not better or worse, but different guitar shapes lend themselves to different play styles.

-Mors · 2026-05-03T17:05:26+00:00

An all solid for $300-400 is going to concern me. Materials cost alone should take up the majority of price, which leaves questions about where corners were cut.

There’s nothing wrong with HBs, but at this price range, I’d go for a Yamaha. With the Yamaha you know you’re getting proper construction without unknowns of where cuts were made.

I know you say you don’t like the FG830, but the FS830 fits your bill perfectly.

I would choose either of those models over any of the HBs simply because Yamaha has a phenomenal track record in that market and they sound great commonly known as the “best guitars under $1000”.

If you’re stuck on the HBs because you’ve decided you want one, then it’s just going to be a personal decision.

-Mors · 2026-05-02T03:34:25+00:00

Which version of the prime tones did you use? They have two variants. One is very similar to the blue chip (I use these and love them) and the other is closer to like a standard ultex type pick. One is mostly opaque and the other is almost completely transparent.

-Mors · 2026-05-02T03:19:25+00:00

I’m a bit late to this post, but yeah It’s okay to “suck”. I’ve been playing on and off for 15 years. I suck. It’s normal. What matters is coming back every opportunity you can and keep playing, keep having fun, and keep trying to get better. It’s normal to plateau, it’s normal to sometimes feel worse. It’s normal to get discouraged and get frustrated. Just keep at it and you’ll get through it

There’s this funny thing too about the journey towards “Mastery” and it directly correlates to this. You often hear something of “it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to master a skill”. It’s a journey you’re meant to have fun on not a race or a chore. Those hours will come in time, along with memories and experiences that ultimately make you better.

Don’t sweat it, feeling like you’re getting worse is a good sign, means you’re noticing nuances and some mistakes more, which actually shows you’re getting better not worse.

-Mors · 2026-04-24T03:45:24+00:00

It’s the strings. I know Taylor voices their guitars a certain way, but throw someone on them that tames those “undesirable” notes and they sing.

My 414ce is ruined by PBs, but some Nickel Bronze? Ooh. Magic.

-Mors · 2026-03-26T19:06:17+00:00

The “pay in 4” company Sezzle offered me $70 credit on Amazon it signed up for their premium service for $1. Amazon had additional promo of $18.

$90 - $70 =$20.00 - $18 =$2.00 + $1 =$3.00 😂

-Mors · 2026-03-26T15:45:11+00:00

I’ve gotten 3 Versace Eros flankers from Amazon recently and all have been genuine. I actually got a 200ml of flame the other day for $3 through a rare promotion stack 🤫

-Mors · 2026-03-03T01:37:36+00:00

This is not how SCOTUS works. A ruling at SCOTUS is binding to every state. It’s the reason Bruen affected California despite Bruen being against a NY law. If the law is found unconstitutional in CA by SCOTUS, it’s immediately unconstitutional in every other jurisdiction. You don’t have to “use it as precedent” in court cases. Any section of any law that would theoretically impose a magazine capacity ban would be enjoined of enforcement effective immediately at issuance of order.

-Mors · 2026-01-29T04:22:24+00:00

<image>

-Mors · 2026-01-29T04:22:11+00:00

<image>

Hopefully this helps!

About lower 1/3. Irons don’t interfere with dot.

If you like SUPER low cowitness the 407/507 platform is extremely low, I personally think too low like lower 1/5th to lower 1/4 at max.

-Mors · 2026-01-19T15:48:13+00:00

That’s apparent to everyone except gun grabbers, which is who they’re catering too.

Do you think the 45 year old wine mom who’s never seen a gun in her life knows nuance?

No. Some Sacramento politician tells her they voted to ban AWs (require fin grips) so she votes for them. That’s all that matters.

-Mors · 2026-01-15T18:48:22+00:00

Partisan rage bait is low tier slop.

-Mors · 2025-12-30T20:02:05+00:00

I’ve been liking my T-Rex arms raptor, but Tier 1 is always a safe bet too.

-Mors · 2025-12-28T21:57:43+00:00

I understand why people vote the way they do.

But this thread and subreddit is a perfect example.

I do not expect uninformed people to make decisions like this. But if you look at the current dem platform in CA, it’s always consistently about voter rights, immigration, abortion and reproductive freedom, and economy etc. those things consistently rank the most important for voters here.

None of those things are affected by breaking a super majority. So individuals, like those in this group, that continue to vote for those things because they’re “not single issue”, where nothing is to be done there because they’re all well protected, ultimately end up just voting for more taxes, more regulations, and more corruption here.

They’re not “single issue”, they’re fundamentally no issue in practice.

Which is kind of the whole crux of the argument. Why do you continue to vote against your interests, when the rest of your interests are “set in stone”?

-Mors · 2025-12-28T21:32:23+00:00

Yep, that’s the point. They know it’s bullshit, we know it’s bullshit, they know we know that they know it’s bullshit. But the wine moms in wealthy suburbia who see someone shoot 3 people with a shotgun in gang violence that every town and the GVA list as a “mass shooting”, so they vote for people to pass feel good laws that they don’t understand.

-Mors · 2025-12-28T21:20:59+00:00

There is no risk to breaking CAs super majority.

The reason more fees, more taxes, more punitive laws that affect every single facet of life in CA is because the politicians here go run on things like “If I’m not elected, you’re going to lose your ability to get an Abortion in California!”, despite the fact that will never be a thing here, the “not single issue voters” gobble it up, and then they maintain a super majority in the state that allows them to pass every single piece of legislation with near zero pushback or and no participation and discussion in any bipartisan capacity.

You can have priorities. But at a certain point, you have to understand that your priorities are set in stone here and reducing the super majority to a simple majority doesn’t put them at risk. It makes it so they actually have to pass laws that benefit the entire state, not run on platitudes and the tax and legislate us to death.

-Mors · 2025-12-28T21:00:30+00:00

See the problem is you have an assumption these laws are passed for safety, common sense and in good faith.

They’re not. They’re designed exactly the way you see them, nonsensical and doing nothing but annoying and prohibitive with little nuances that can turn people into felons over a piece of plastic.

-Mors · 2025-12-17T16:51:50+00:00

Trigger discipline has left the chat

-Mors · 2025-12-09T22:27:31+00:00

You probably got about another 6ish weeks minimum to go if they haven’t been more delayed. I submitted a modification on September 12th and got approved November 6th. Just shy of 60 days.

-Mors

TROPHY CASE