Learning how to string a guitar is a skill that every guitar player must know. The fact is that old strings lose sound quality and can eventually break if they get too weak. Fortunately, this is a pretty easy task to accomplish.
- First, gently unwind each string to loosen them. This will cause the string tension to reduce. Keep unwinding the tuning peg until you reach a point where the strings will be easy to remove.
- At this point, gently take each string out of the tuning pegs. Be careful not to scratch the wood on the guitar because the tips of the strings can have a jagged edge.
- Once all the strings have been removed you can now clean the guitar with ease. The fretboard builds up with dirt and grime over time and should be cleaned every time you change a set of strings. Now that the guitar is clean, you can now begin to put the new strings on. I usually start with the low E string and then work my way up with each string. When you put the string through the tuning peg, pull the excess string, but leave a little slack. Now turn the tuning peg until it starts to get taught. Do this with each string.
- This step works the best if you have a guitar tuner device. Start off with tuning the low E string and then do each string after that. Since these are new strings, it will probably take a few times of retuning the guitar.
- A good step to follow that helps keep the guitar in tune with new strings is to first tune each string and then gently tug each tuned string a few times. After you do this retune the guitar. It helps keeps newer strings in tune better.
- Another step that most guitar players do is to cut the excess strings with a wire cutter. This will make the tuning area free of clutter and keep excess strings from making potentially annoying noises especially if you are in a recording situation.
- Also, another good tip if you are planning on bringing guitar on a plane is to first detune each string at least one whole step. In addition, carry the guitar on the plane with you because it can get damaged going through the baggage process.
These are just some basic methods on how to string a guitar properly. If you want to go beyond this, you should check out Guitar Setup by clicking the link below:
