| Step #1 Take off one string. I start with
the 6th strings if I am changing all of my strings. Using a peg
winder will make the process much faster and easier. Do not take
off all of your strings at once, just one. There are times when
it is necessary for certain repairs or maintenance to take off
all of the strings. But if you are just changing your strings,
change one at a time. This will help you with tuning the new
string, and help you avoid making unnecessary neck adjustments.
As you are turning the machine head (tuning peg) with the peg
winder, make sure that the string is getting looser.
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| Step #2 Depending on the style of guitar you have,
you may need to cut off the end of the old string so that it will slip
easily out of the guitar.
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| Step #3 How you do this next step will really
depend on your guitar. The guitar that I am using here is similar to a
Fender Stratocaster. So I take the new string and feed the end through
the back of the guitar. This is another reason that you will want to
change only one string at a time at first. This way you can look at how
the old strings were attached to the guitar. Assuming that they were put
on correctly before.
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| Step #4 Then pull the string through the other
side.
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| Step #5 Line the hole of the post so that it is
facing straight down towards the neck of the guitar, then stick the end
of the string through the hole. Pull the string tight so that there is
not any slack in the string.
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| Step #6 Measure approximately 1.5 inches (4
centimeters) past the post, and bring that amount of the string back
through the hole. An easy guide to help you measure is this. If you have
all 6 tuning pegs on one side, measure 2 posts past the one that you are
working with. If you are stringing a guitar with 3 pegs on ones side and
3 on the other, measure a little bit past the next post.
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| Step #7 By pulling the string back through the hole
about 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) you now have the slack that you need to
wrap around the post. You are now going to make on loop around the post
with that slack. You will make that initial wrap clockwise for the
tuning pegs that are on the left side, and counterclockwise for the
tuning pegs that are on the right. This is with the guitar facing you.
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| Step #8 Now cut off the excess string leaving about
a couple of inches (5 centimeters). You don't want to cut the string off
too short at first, just enough to get the excess out of your way for
the next step.
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| Step #9 Put your right hand 2nd, 3rd and 4th
fingers under the string. You made one initial loop around the post, and
now you are going to wrap the rest of the loops underneath that initial
loop using a peg winder. You may find this easier if you are sitting in
a chair with the guitar on the floor facing you braced between your
legs. Or you can have your guitar on a table like shown here.
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| Step #10 With your 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers
underneath the string, pull up so that the string is tight. As you are
wrapping the string around the post you want to make sure that there is
not any slack......keep it tight. Use your index finger to guide the
string. You are now going to use the peg winder to wrap the string
progressively underneath the previous wraps. Turn the peg
counterclockwise for the those that face up, and clockwise for those
that face down. For the pegs that face up you are going to have to wrap
with your left hand, and hold the string with your right. You will wrap
with your right hand and hold the string with your left when stringing
up the pegs that face down.
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| Step #11 When you are done, you can clip off the
excess a little shorter than you did before you wound the string. You
may also want to take your needle nose pliers and bend the excess string
that is left down towards the guitar. This will avoid you grabbing your
guitar and puncturing your hand. It will also help avoid shredding the
inside of your gig bag if you have one.
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| The End As a final step, you may want
to give the new string a slight stretch. Just give it a tug up away from
the neck of the guitar. New strings have a lot of give at first. So if
you did not stretch the string, you would find that your guitar would
not stay in tune.
And then of course last but not least, you need to tune the string up
to pitch. If you have become a slave to your electronic tuner, this may
be difficult for you at first. Electronic tuners are good for fine
tuning, but not good for taking a string from zero to being in tune. So
get the string into the ball park of being in tune by ear before you
even attempt to use your electronic tuner. You can use as a reference
point one of the old strings that is still on the guitar. For instance
you can tune your 6th string up to pitch by playing your 5th string
open, then tune your 5th fret on the 6th string to match the 5th. If you
are already familiar with this basic tuning method you know that you
normally play your 6th string 5th fret as a way to tune your 5th string.
But in this case you are just reversing the method to tune the 6th
string from the 5th. |
