A young customer, a student, recently messaged me asking me to teach him how to restring a guitar.
While I thought about how to explain to him, I also wondered that often, we talk about big issues, leaving the simplest and the most essential things unexplained. So, I decided that in this blog post, I will describe how ‘I’ restring a guitar.
It is essential to understand here that there are many ways in which people string up guitars. As long as the strings don’t slip out of the tuning post, or lose tuning, all those methods are correct.
But first a little look at guitar anatomy.
Guitar Strings is one of the important guitar parts and to take off the old strings, loosen the tuning keys (machine heads) enough and then using the notch in your string-winder, pull out the bridgepins. Do be careful about keeping the bridgepins in order, remembering which pin came out of which hole because not all strings are of similar diameter. Once a pin becomes used to a certain string size, it will not seat properly with any other string size.
If they look anything like the bridgepin on the top, you need to file it, at say, a 45° angle – like the lower of the two bridgepins. A simple hobby file will help you accomplish the task. And why should you do this?
Filing the bridgepin like this will help seat the ball-end of the string right against the bridge-plate (which is right under the top, under the bridge), as it should be, rather than it getting caught at the end of the pin. The ball-end of the string stuck on the end of the bridgepin can makes a huge difference in sound transfer. It can also move while you tune/ untune a string, making it slam against the bridge-plate, damaging it.
With the old strings off, now is the best time to give a good cleaning and rub to your guitar – especially those areas that become inaccessible with strings around – the headstock and the area between the soundhole and the bridge that comes right under the strings.
With everything dust-free and clean and with the hardware at the headstock given a little tightening, it’s time to string ‘er up!
Pull out your strings and right at the ball-end of each, pinch between the forefinger and thumb and bend it 90°. You don’t have to measure with a protractor, even a small bend will do.
This done, put each string in its hole – say a couple of inches – and close it by pushing in its respective bridgepin. Remember the groove in the bridgepin is to accommodate the string. So, when you are putting in the pin, the groove should be facing the string.
As you push down on the pin, pull up on the string. Keep pulling up till the string stops coming up. This means that is seated against the bridge-plate.
These being thick and pretty stiff, I just measure up to the next post and snip it off.
Slip in the string into the E-string machine post and just let a mm or two stick out. Then, using your string winder, start winding, even as you hold on firmly to the string. As it winds and starts getting tight to hold, place it in its slot in the nut and tighten – not too much, but just enough to keep it from slipping out of its slot on the nut.
Strings are not used to the tension they are put under. When you first tune up your guitar with new strings, the tendency of the strings is to try and return to their original position. AND THAT IS WHY new strings go out of tune and you end up thinking that there is something wrong with your guitar!!!
Once you have done that, tune up your guitar again. Again give the strings a good tug. It will go out of tune again. Tune it up again. Again give them a tug and tune up again!!
