alibaba - 1-16-2008 at 07:05 PM
how often to change strings? Thanks 
SamirCanada - 1-16-2008 at 08:12 PM
if you play an hour every day.
I find aquila strings will last about 5 months max
I think usualy change them every 3-4 months.
other brands will be different.
Jason - 1-16-2008 at 09:43 PM
Nylon strings are notorious for not lasting very long. I must confess I usually let my strings go a lot longer than I should.
I wish I could pay someone a few dollars to restring my oud and stretch the strings 
Benjamin - 1-17-2008 at 11:35 AM
personally I play more than an hour a day but I try to change them every 6 months at least, I guess this is the average frequency for an average
player, but if you have the money and the patience you can change more often. Again it depends upon the strings and the time spend on the oud. Another
point is that usually new strings need some days to get stable in intonation (you have to tune them very often when they are new) so changing them
oftentimes could be anoying.. And as I am lazy and it's so boring to change strings so I let them as well a lot longer than I should, so don't worry
Jason everybody here is a bit like that I think..
alibaba - 1-17-2008 at 04:00 PM
thanks for info
MatthewW - 1-18-2008 at 02:13 AM
changing strings is one of the things I always put off for too long, and I share Jason's view that I wish someone else could come along and change
them for me!
I'd like to add that if you are a player that gets a bit of sweat worked up on your hands and onto the strings when playing, then this may cause the
life of the strings to shorten. In this case it's a good idea to wipe the strings down when you are finished playing with a soft cloth, and perhaps
even the back of the neck.
Lysander - 3-16-2014 at 02:15 PM
Changed strings for the first time yesterday and what a difference. The strings I was using were the ones that the oud came with, now it sounds like a
different oud, the Musicaravan strings are great. I don't think I should let so many months go by as last time before changing the strings, maybe four
or so like Samir says.
Brian Prunka - 3-16-2014 at 08:05 PM
Change your strings every two weeks!
Just kidding . . . really Samir has the right idea, somewhere between 3 and 6 months is a good idea, depending on how much you play and/or sweat. If
you don't play much, they might last 9 months.
I play a lot, and probably change the strings around every 4-5 months.
hussamd - 3-17-2014 at 04:30 AM
I changed the strings yesterday and was wondering if there is a safe technique to stabilize the strings faster. On a guitar I can stretch the strings
so they stay in tune from day one. I cannot do that on an oud obviously for fear of damaging it. Any advice from the experts?
SamirCanada - 3-17-2014 at 05:40 AM
yeah sure you can stretch the strings a little, as many do for classical guitar strings.
I stretch them by pintching them near the soundhole and going up and down across the face of the oud, not away from the oud. Dont be too agressive and
you will get them to stablize much quicker.
hussamd - 3-17-2014 at 05:48 AM
Thanks Samir.