Guitar Stringing Basics

Steps to Guitar Stringing

Get in the habit of installing a new set of guitar
strings every month or so. Strings are so cheap and they always sound great!

Guitar stringing is a fairly simple process, although if you are new
to guitar you may have been putting off changing your strings for
fear of having trouble doing it properly and damaging something or
not being able to get them in tune again. I know when I first starting learning guitar I kept delaying changing my strings because I didn't know how to do it. And worse - I couldn't even tune a guitar! So I procrastinated.

Have no fear. Stringing a guitar is easy and you'll learn how to do
it right and I might even dispell a few myths as well.

Myth - Remove and Fit One String at a Time

I have often heard that. Although I am not sure exactly where. But
the rationale is that by removing all the strings at once the tension
on the guitar is distorted and can twist or torque your neck.

Uhhh... not likely - unless you have a weak guitar or maybe you just
snipped the strings with wire cutters - and that's not advised.
Or perhaps if you were an odd person and decided to leave only one
string on your guitar and had it tightened at high tension, your
instrument might react to that in unpredictable ways over time.

De-Tune The Strings Evenly

I like to take my friendly stringwinder and de-tune the strings
evenly. A little tension off the big E string. Then a little off the
high E string. And so on, and so on. Until all the strings are loose.

Guitar Stringing Tips

1. Don't over tighten

There are just a couple things about re-stringing guitars you should know from a safety point and that is never tune a string beyond 1 whole tone about its designated note. So the E string should never be tuned past F#.

If you do it is very easy - let me repeat - very easy to break strings and have them whipping through the air. Especially the smaller B and E strings.
If you are removing and replacing one string at a time the chance of over tightening a string is unlikely because your old strings are still tuned close to normal pitch so you know right away if you are going beyond the range.

2. Re-tune Frequently

Even after about 15 minutes you will find the strings need to be re-tuned. They are quite elastic when they are first fitted. Steel strings less so but nylon strings are notorious for falling out of tune. It can take sometimes 1-2 weeks for a set of nylon strings to settle into tune.

3. Don't Mix and Match Strings With Guitars

I know you wouldn't do this but I am sure its been done. Someone puts steel strings on a classical guitar and wonders why the string action has become so huge. The bridge on the sound board has been pulled out or is bending under the stress. Steel strings have a lot of tension when in tune and the guitar has to be designed for the intended string. So no steel strings on a classical guitar.

So that's pretty much it for the myths, tips and health warnings associated to guitar stringing. Now you are ready for more guitar stringing adventures.

Check out my other articles that go into the actual details with pictures and steps laid out how to string a guitar. There is one each for stringing acoustic, electric and classical guitars because each of those guitars has a few nuances.