Changing Guitar Strings

From left to right:  Tuner, neck rest, pegwinder, wire cutters, polish cloth, and of course you’ll need strings (not pictured)

1.  Place the guitar’s neck on a neck rest or something else that will support it during the restringing process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Unwind the strings with your pegwinder.  If the guitar has three tuners on each side (like the one pictured), you’ll have to turn the pegwinder clockwise on the bass side of the headstock and counterclockwise on the treble side of the headstock.  Once the string is loose, pull it out of the eye of the tuner.

 

 

 

 

1. 3.  Push the ball end of string through the tailpiece.  Repeat steps 2 & 3 for the other 5 strings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  It is usually a good idea to grab a cloth and wipe off the places that would normally be hard to get to because of the strings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  Lay the strings out in order of their gauge.  The thickest string will be the low E and the smallest will be the high E.  In case you don’t already know, the string names from largest to smallest are EADGBE (you’ll need to know this when you tune the guitar).

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Starting with the low E, run the string through the hole in the tailpiece and over the notch on the bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Run the string through the eye of the tuner, making sure to leave plenty of slack in the string.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Once you have the right amount of slack, bend the long end of the string at a right angle on the tuner.  I usually bend the short end straight up so it’s out of the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Put downward pressure on the string as you turn the tuner counterclockwise with your peg winder.  Make sure the string is over the proper notch in the nut.  Also make sure that each wind is below the one before it.  NOTE: on a guitar that has 3 tuning pegs on each side you will have to turn the tuner clockwise for the strings on the treble side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.  Tighten the string until you no longer have to hold onto it.  Clip the end of the string with the wire cutters.

 

 

7.  Repeat steps 2 through 6 for the other strings.  TIP:  On a guitar with 3 tuners on each side, I usually start with the outside strings and work my way in. 

 

 

 

 

8.  Once all the strings are on, it’s time to tune the guitar. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.  After the guitar is in tune, I usually give each string a light tug to stretch it out a bit. 

 

1. 10.  Retune the guitar
2.  
3. 11.  Repeat steps 9 and 10 until the strings no longer go out of tune when you pull on them.

12.  That's it, you're done!