Changing strings

[Alyssa Coppen]

I have two questions regarding changing strings.
1) The first time i ever changed strings, i kinda just went for it. I removed them all from my Epiphone, then put the new ones on. My dad saw how i did it and told me i shouldn’t take all the strings off at once because it messes up the tension of the truss rod in the neck. Is that true? I imagine a metal rod would retain its shape, not unbend the way he said. Besides, for my little acoustic, the only way to fit my hand into the body is to remove all the strings. I doubt it has a truss rod, but would the tension-of-the-neck thing hold true in the case of my acoustic too?
2) When i look at new guitars, their strings are all nicely wound around the tuning-mabobbers (not the peg, because that’s the part you twist to tune; i’m referring to the part you feed the end of the string through), no loose coils, no extra string ready to poke you. When i change the strings on my guitars, the length that’s wrapped around the tuning-mabobber looks loosely coiled rather than tight, and there’s usually extra length i have to cut off so i don’t lose en eye. Am i doing something wrong when i change strings?

 

[Andrew Saunders]

Temporarily having all the strings off does not have a negative effect on your neck or truss rod. You can leave it for days and it wont really effect it much, plus how else can you clean it properly. As for getting the string tight around the peg i hold the string tight or sort of pull it towards me as i turn the tuner, that keeps it very neat looking. Also your acoustic should have a truss rod, the adjustable piece is often just inside the sound hole.

 

[Alyssa Coppen]

Yeah, good point haha Earlier, when i wiped down my fretboard, i just loosened the strings enough to get under them.
When i changed my strings before, i pulled the string tight and wrapped it around the peg the first few times before turning the tuner. I feel like doing that is, i dunno, aggressive or rough haha Each time, the strings hold well enough, but i worry they’ll unwind when i’m bending or something.
I had this idea for the next time i change strings. It kinda just popped into my head, so i don’t know if it’ll actually work. The idea is you put the end through the hole, bend it at enough of an angle so it won’t slip out, and wind the string taunt. Does that make sense? If it works the way i imagine it, there shouldn’t be any excess string and the coils should be tighter and neater.

 

[Andrew Saunders]

I get what you mean, these are the steps i follow.
Get the string through the tuner with enough left over to wrap it around 2-3 times.
Bend the string upwards to prevent it moving or having a visual mark where it should be in the tuner.
Tune it up enough to have it wrapped once and then i pull it towards myself to keep it tight on the tuner.
It then gets to the point you don’t have to pull it any more as the tension from the tuner itself is enough.
From there you’re pretty close to being to the desired pitch and you can tune accordingly.

 

[Alyssa Coppen]

I’m not sure i follow the second part. Bend it upwards?

 

[Adin Shepherd]

Maybe this will help, feel free to trim any excess string when you are done.

 

[Alyssa Coppen]

That was super helpful! Thank you!

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I think the thing that you are talking about is called a tree. Where you feed the string through. I’m not sure though. I’m glad you figured it out by watching the video! I would like to add that I slowly DE tune my strings so that it’s not a sudden tension change. Whether or not people want to admit it, a guitar is a stringed instrument that relies on string tension for its set up. And making any sudden changes like cutting the strings all off at once can over time have a negative effect on the neck. So I just like to slowly DE tune and give it a couple of seconds to let the guitar rest with it and then remove all the strings at once.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I never take them all off at once. But I have floyd rose. What indo is put the d battery until the base part to keep the springs in the same spot. I do the strings 1 at a time from there. It may make a slight rod adjustment but honestly.. any new set of strings could throw the balance off so itll happen either way.
The looseness isnt too big a deal but what I do is out my thumb nail right over the hole as a tighten the knob. My.nail will (if long enoigh) slide right between the strings and it wont overlap the hole and cause the issue you got now. The only issue is if the air pocket breaks the string will obviously come out of tune.





This reply was modified 5 months, 3 weeks ago by  Calvin Phillips.

 

[Alyssa Coppen]

Whenever i changed strings, i unwound it until i could pull the strings through. Is that what you’re saying? (Just wanting to be sure haha) Usually, i try to be careful around the strings so they don’t snap or anything, so i’m gentle when it comes to tuning or de-tuning and handling the loose strings. The other day, when i changed strings on my acoustic, i had to straighten out the coils so i could feed them easily through the body and pull them out, and the high E string refused to straighten and instead impaled my thumb. Strings are dangerous things haha
How exactly would you change strings on a guitar with a floyd rose? I’ve heard it’s different from non-floyd rose guitars.