Changing Guitar Strings

By Darrin Koltow (dkoltow6idy)

These instructions are for an acoustic guitar, but the same general steps apply to electrics, too.

First, notice how the strings are connected both to the bridge --  that's the end nearest the sound hole -- and the tuning posts. That's what the guitar should look like when you're finished.

Remove the old strings.  You could do one at a time or all at once. Some guitarists say that you're removing too much tension from the neck if you change all strings at once. Others say this is usually not a problem.

If you do change all strings at once, you can wipe down the fretboard, which is definitely recommended. That fretboard gets loaded with gunk no matter how clean your hands are. And guitar gunk means crummy sound.

Loosen string tension on the low E string by detuning the tuning peg. Once the string is slack, pull out the bridge pin. You might need a needle nose pliers or something similar to pry the pin out.

Unwind the old string from the tuning post and *save* it for possible use as a backup.

Pick up the end of the new string that's wrapped around the little ring. Insert the ring into the hole and plug up the hole with the bridge pin. Using two hands, push down on the bridge pin with one hand while pulling on the string with the other hand, to be sure it's seated correctly.

Wind the other end of the string through the tuning post. Wrap the string around the post clockwise a couple of times, for the lowest 3 strings, and seat the string into the nut. Start tightening the tuning peg. A peg winder helps you tighten quickly and is pretty cheap. Tighten the string so its note at fret 5 matches the note of the next open string. You don't have to tune exactly yet, because the string still needs to stretch out a bit.

Do the same with the other strings. You'll need a guitar tuner or set of pitch pipes to tune the guitar to pitch. It helps to pull on the strings a bit to stretch them. If you don't do this, your strings will stretch out of tune for a little while.

Remember to always tune up to correct pitch, never down.

Copyright Darrin Koltow