By itself it’s not that big a deal, really. It’s only 5 bucks and 15 minutes of your life. But having to do it regularly can get quite…annoying. Sometimes I envy our bass-playing brethren, who can go years without changing strings.

We aren’t so lucky. At most I can go a month without suffering too much. But if you’re gigging or recording on a regular basis, then changing at least every week is the norm. Otherwise the tone starts to suffer.

I don’t even want to think about how much money and time I’ve spent on strings in the 20 years I’ve been playing. But what really gets me is that every time I change them, I hurt myself in some way…a poke, a cut, a scrape. Look closely at that picture, it was taken this morning. Notice the band-aid?

But after the blood, pain and time wasted, I’m left with the guitar sounding better than ever, full of life and resonance. Is it worth all the hassle?

Totally.