Infinite Spirit Music

The Tools

• String-winder
• Bridge-pin puller (for acoustic guitars)
• Wire cutters
• Tuner

The Steps

• Start by removing the strings. Unless there is a floating bridge, I prefer to take off all the strings at once, but many prefer taking them off one at a time.
• Once the strings are all removed, you can clean and polish the fretboard. Lemon oil (not furniture polish !) or Fret Doctor, a toothbrush and a soft rag is all you need. Cleaning and oiling your fretboard should only be done about twice a year.
• Back to stringing. Secure the 6th string to the bridge or tail piece of your guitar. There are different types of bridges and tailpieces, but it should be evident how to secure the string. Align the tuning peg with the nut slot and pull the string through the hole of the tuning peg until there is about two inches between the string and the fret board (when pulling the string up). This allows for about 3 windings on the tuning peg.
• Bend the string to the right and put it underneath itself where it goes in the hole. Give the string a sharp bend upward and keep it that place while you turn the tuner in clockwise direction. Tune the string to the right pitch with a guitar tuner. Make sure the windings go down from the top.
• Now stretch the string by pulling it upward at its midway point. New strings go out of tune easily and this increases the stability.
• Cut the excess string with a wire cutter.  Don’t cut them too short or the string will come loose, but don’t leave it too long either, string ends are very sharp and accidentally poking yourself is painful.
• Repeat this process for the other 5 strings.
• Once all strings are on the guitar, continue to stretch and re-tune the guitar until the string doesn’t detune anymore.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:52 pm and is filed under guitar, music, strings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.