Where do I Start?How to String a Guitar
Follow These Steps to String String (and clean) Your Guitar
Have you read the guitar stringing article yet? You should. It's short and to the point and covers starter info on how to string a guitar. So let's get started with how to string an acoustic guitar...
First off, you can choose to string your guitar by removing and installing one string at a time or - as this article will explain - removing them all, cleaning the fretboard and re-fitting new strings.
I recommend this latter method because you wouldn't believe the gunk and oil that builds up on your fret board from you fingertips. Also, your frets start to wear and there are a couple tips you should now to deal with that.
Loosen All Strings Evenly
In case you didn't read the other article we did some "myth busting" about taking off strings. Read it.
Take a stringwinder and start by loosening the low E string a few turns. It doesn't take much. Go to the high E string and do the same. Then loosen the A string a bit followed by the B string, the D string and G string.
If you follow these steps you will reduced the string tension on your guitar evenly and no disasters will occur. Now Finish Unwinding Each String Completely. Get your stringwinder going full speed. Its way faster than by hand. Carefully pull out the strings from the tuning head capstans.
Remove The Bridge Pins
You can use either a nail file or your stringwinder to pry out the bridge pins. Sometimes the pins are in pretty tight and the nail file option works best to loosen them.
I like using the opposite end of the stringwinder because its softer than a file and seems to work well without scratching your guitar. But if they are in too tight you'll have to use the file approach.
Carefully lever the file under the pin and push it up like so...
Then take your stringwinder and lever it out the rest of the way like this...
Remove the bridge pin from the hole...
How Dirty is Your Guitar?
Before you start stringing your guitar take a quick look at all the oil and residue that builds up on the fretboard. Now is the perfect time to clean it all off. Look closely here and you will see typical dirt build up and fret wear.
Let's Clean it Up
Now is a perfect time with all the strings removed to remove all the oils from your fingers that accumulate on the fretboard. I like to start by giving the frets a nice rub down with some fine steel wool (#0000) to smooth out any fret wear.
Next use the steel wool to rub between the frets parallel to the grain and get that hard gunk off. Finish up with a soft cloth moistened with fretboard cleaner or guitar string cleaner. Don't use water! If there are any fine pieces of steel wool left on the surface they will rust and could possibly stain your fretboard.
The string cleaners are usually designed to condition the wood on your fretboard and return its natural oils. You can pick these up for as little as $3 a tube to about $7 for the more expensive products. But if you have an nice guitar its nothing.
Look what came off this guitar
Here is a really clean fretboard after cleaning.
Let's Fit New Strings
Acoustic strings have little rings on the end to anchor underneath the bridge pins. Pick whatever string you would like and place the ring into the hole of the bridge. Take a bridge pin and push it into the hole against the string and on a bit of an angle to create good contact between the pin and the string.
You don't want that pin popping out once you tighten up the strings. Push the pin all the way down.
Secure The String To The Tuning Head
Now this is important. Take a good look at the pictures of the head in this article to make sure you attach the correct string to the correct tuning head. I could try to explain it all in methodical descriptive language but I won't. A picture is worth a thousand words. Take the low E string and pull it down the fretboard over the nut and into the slot for the string. Now wrap the string around the tuning head from the inside radius. Pull it taught and then with your fingers bend that 90 degree turn into the string.
Now feed the end of the string through the hole in the tuning head and - here is what I recommend - Make sure the end of the string goes underneath the string. This way when you tighten the string it wraps up the tuning head nicely.
Tighten The String
Caution: Only a few full turns should be required - Max - to get the string taught and pretty close to concert pitch. That is of course assuming that you didn't have a ton of slack in your string when you started to tighten it. Once its fairly tight the string should be wound neatly around the tuning pin.
Go ahead and fit the remaining strings in the same manner, just tightening them so they are firm. Tuning the strings is discussed in another article. And then trim the excess string with wire snips and this is how it looks.
And That's How To String a Guitar!
So now you know how to string a guitar - an acoustic guitar - but the steps remain pretty similar among all guitars. Check out the articles about how to string an electric and classical guitar...
Have you read the guitar stringing article yet? You should. It's short and to the point and covers starter info on how to string a guitar. So let's get started with how to string an acoustic guitar...
First off, you can choose to string your guitar by removing and installing one string at a time or - as this article will explain - removing them all, cleaning the fretboard and re-fitting new strings.
I recommend this latter method because you wouldn't believe the gunk and oil that builds up on your fret board from you fingertips. Also, your frets start to wear and there are a couple tips you should now to deal with that.
Loosen All Strings Evenly
In case you didn't read the other article we did some "myth busting" about taking off strings. Read it.
Take a stringwinder and start by loosening the low E string a few turns. It doesn't take much. Go to the high E string and do the same. Then loosen the A string a bit followed by the B string, the D string and G string.
If you follow these steps you will reduced the string tension on your guitar evenly and no disasters will occur. Now Finish Unwinding Each String Completely. Get your stringwinder going full speed. Its way faster than by hand. Carefully pull out the strings from the tuning head capstans.
Remove The Bridge Pins
You can use either a nail file or your stringwinder to pry out the bridge pins. Sometimes the pins are in pretty tight and the nail file option works best to loosen them.
I like using the opposite end of the stringwinder because its softer than a file and seems to work well without scratching your guitar. But if they are in too tight you'll have to use the file approach.
Carefully lever the file under the pin and push it up like so...
Then take your stringwinder and lever it out the rest of the way like this...
Remove the bridge pin from the hole...
How Dirty is Your Guitar?
Before you start stringing your guitar take a quick look at all the oil and residue that builds up on the fretboard. Now is the perfect time to clean it all off. Look closely here and you will see typical dirt build up and fret wear.
Let's Clean it Up
Now is a perfect time with all the strings removed to remove all the oils from your fingers that accumulate on the fretboard. I like to start by giving the frets a nice rub down with some fine steel wool (#0000) to smooth out any fret wear.
Next use the steel wool to rub between the frets parallel to the grain and get that hard gunk off. Finish up with a soft cloth moistened with fretboard cleaner or guitar string cleaner. Don't use water! If there are any fine pieces of steel wool left on the surface they will rust and could possibly stain your fretboard.
The string cleaners are usually designed to condition the wood on your fretboard and return its natural oils. You can pick these up for as little as $3 a tube to about $7 for the more expensive products. But if you have an nice guitar its nothing.
Look what came off this guitar
Here is a really clean fretboard after cleaning.
Let's Fit New Strings
Acoustic strings have little rings on the end to anchor underneath the bridge pins. Pick whatever string you would like and place the ring into the hole of the bridge. Take a bridge pin and push it into the hole against the string and on a bit of an angle to create good contact between the pin and the string.
You don't want that pin popping out once you tighten up the strings. Push the pin all the way down.
Secure The String To The Tuning Head
Now this is important. Take a good look at the pictures of the head in this article to make sure you attach the correct string to the correct tuning head. I could try to explain it all in methodical descriptive language but I won't. A picture is worth a thousand words. Take the low E string and pull it down the fretboard over the nut and into the slot for the string. Now wrap the string around the tuning head from the inside radius. Pull it taught and then with your fingers bend that 90 degree turn into the string.
Now feed the end of the string through the hole in the tuning head and - here is what I recommend - Make sure the end of the string goes underneath the string. This way when you tighten the string it wraps up the tuning head nicely.
Tighten The String
Caution: Only a few full turns should be required - Max - to get the string taught and pretty close to concert pitch. That is of course assuming that you didn't have a ton of slack in your string when you started to tighten it. Once its fairly tight the string should be wound neatly around the tuning pin.
Go ahead and fit the remaining strings in the same manner, just tightening them so they are firm. Tuning the strings is discussed in another article. And then trim the excess string with wire snips and this is how it looks.
And That's How To String a Guitar!
So now you know how to string a guitar - an acoustic guitar - but the steps remain pretty similar among all guitars. Check out the articles about how to string an electric and classical guitar...
