Electric guitar: Replacing strings - why do I suck at it?

mks2005 · 14 Dec 2007 at 13:40

Hey,

I've owned an electric guitar for a while now and my playing is progressing well but there's one thing I really suck at... replacing the strings. I've read guides on how to do it, but I can never seem to get it right. I seem to end up with strings that come out of tune really quickly, and/or buzz!

If any of you guitar pros could give me some additional pointers on how to do it properly, I would be very grateful!

helmet · 14 Dec 2007 at 13:45

Change them one at a time, not all at once.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi01Q7d9C1c

If you need to clip the ball end off then don't put a lot of tension into the trem bar when tightening.

MoNkeE · 14 Dec 2007 at 15:40

After stringing up, bend the strings on the 12th and 7th fret for a few minutes - just to stretch out the string. This'll stop it from constantly going out of tune!

Tk7 · 14 Dec 2007 at 18:29

MoNkeE said:
After stringing up, bend the strings on the 12th and 7th fret for a few minutes - just to stretch out the string. This'll stop it from constantly going out of tune!

I always stretch the string in down the whole length. I don't do this by bending against a fret either, just pull the string away from the body.

Make sure you don't have too much string on the tuning post either, more string on the post means more string to stretch in over time.

You don't mention what sort of bridge you have, ie floating or fixed. If you have strings buzzing it's more likely due to the action of the guitar then how it is strung up.