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INSTRUCTION
String Me Up!
Restringing your guitar doesn't have to be difficult, tedious, or time-consuming. Follow these simple steps to give your instrument back its golden tone.

By Rik Elswit

How long has it been since you last restrung your guitar? Many players put off restringing until one of their strings breaks or the guitar just won’t tune up. They may have even have left it long enough to have forgotten how good the guitar sounded when they bought it. Finger grease between the windings and corrosion on the unwound strings are good clues that restringing is overdue, but you shouldn’t let it get to that. Restringing only takes about ten minutes, and afterward not only will your instrument sound and feel much better, but you’ll also have a whole new sense of ownership and control of it. Changing strings every two or three months, at least, will really enhance your enjoyment: you’ll remember what your guitar was supposed to sound like.

Steel-string acoustics often come with a set of light-gauge bronze strings. If yours did and you want similar replacements, look for a package with the numbers “.012-.052” on it, or ask the staff at your local music store for “a set of 12s.” What brand should you buy? That’s a matter of personal taste and experience, really. Today’s players are fortunate in having a vast array of fine string products available—nobody stays in business making lousy strings—so I suggest you simply seek recommendations from guitarist friends and experiment over time to find the right strings for your guitar and your playing style.

Some players find the mechanics of restringing somewhat mysterious or daunting. The following guide should demystify the task for you—and encourage you to restring more frequently.

Tool Up
You only need one tool: a good pair of needle-nosed pliers with a wire cutter built in. Don’t skimp here; a few dollars can mean the difference between having an easy time of it and swearing a blue streak because you’re having trouble nipping the ends off. Invest $10 in a good pair of pliers and keep them in your guitar case. That ten-buck expenditure will pay off every time you restring.

Remove One String
Put a towel on the table to cushion your guitar, and slack the lowest (sixth) string—just that one. (I advise against taking all the strings off before you put the new ones on. Your guitar was meant to have a couple hundred pounds of pressure pulling on the neck; taking all that pressure off and putting it all on again is hard on the instrument.) When the string is slack, pull out the bridge pin (you may need the pliers for this), set it aside, and unwind the rest of the string from the tuning post.

Put One String On
Take the lowest (thickest) string out of its envelope and put a small bend at the ball end, almost like a hook. Then drop the ball end far enough into the bridge-pin hole that the hook and ball end will curl out of the way when you slide the bridge pin back in. When you tighten the string, the string wedges up tight against the pin and holds it in.

Do the Twist
The key to anchoring the string at the tuning post is a little complicated to describe but easy to do. Start by turning the post so that the string hole is aimed across the headstock, then thread the string from center of the headstock toward the outer edge, pulling out almost all the slack in the string. Then wrap the string end around the upper side (closer to the top of the headstock) of the winding post, under the string (where it enters the post), and back up toward the top of the headstock—forming a lock that becomes slip-proof once you’ve put about half a wind on the string.

You don’t need half a dozen winds on the post (two or three is ideal) or a knot in the string end. Tighten the string, tug it sideways to stretch it a little (there are tools, including some winders, to help you do this), and tune it to pitch. Then take off the next string and repeat the process until you’ve replaced all the strings. Once you’ve restrung your guitar a few times, you should be able to do it in about ten minutes without feeling hurried.

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This article also appears in Acoustic Guitar, Issue #163

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