How to Properly String a Guitar

Putting new strings on a guitar can easily be done improperly, in fact most guitarists Ive seen over the years haven't had the slightest clue on properly stringing their instruments. I say this not to insult anyone, I didn't learn how to string a guitar the proper way for years.

There are a few different techniques to stringing a guitar, for example, there is a different technique for stringing a classic guitar than an electric. For this lesson I will be using a standard electric guitar for the example.

Now if your anything like me, you might be the type that breaks a string and replaces just that one. The type that replaces strings as they break. If you want to get the best sound out of your guitar, I suggest changing out your strings every month. First you want to remove all the strings, and put the new ones through all at once. Then, instead of starting at the top and going down one by one, your going to want to alternate from top to bottom. Start with the top string, then go to the bottom, then back up to the A, then back down to the B and so on. The reason for this, you don't want your neck to twist, putting too much pressure on one side of the neck can cause it to twist over time.

Now when you string it through the tuning keys, you want to leave some slack in the strings, don't just pull them tight then start turning the key, leave enough slack so that you get a nice wrap around the tuning keys, this will help your instrument stay in tune a lot better. Now once you have done all 6 strings, alternating them, get them all in tune, then give each string a little tug to stretch them. Tune them back up again and repeat the process a few times until your strings can hold their tuning. Now your ready to go, and hopefully with this your guitar will stay in tune a lot better and you wont break as many strings if you have in the past. Hope this lesson has enlightened some of you, and as always Keep Rockin!

Guitar Tuning Issues- Part 2

Now Im going to cover another topic when it comes to out of tune guitars: tuning machines. Not all tuning machines are created equal. A good set of tuners should respond to the subtlest of adjustments. If you find that you can tweak on a tuner for awhile without hearing a change in pitch, thats not good. Sperzel and Gotoh are two examples of manufacturers that offer high gear ratios. The gears in these tuners mesh really well together and hold tuning reliably without backlash.

In addition, you dont want more than three to four neatly wrapped winds around the post of a tuner. Messy winds in excess of three or four can introduce slop and stretching problems. Regardless of what kind of tuners you have, you can always tighten the screw on the tuner buttons to reduce backlash.

I will post the 3rd and final part of this topic soon, till then Keep Rockin!