How to Easily Restring a Guitar
Ever hear of an athlete who doesn’t know how to replace his shoelaces? To keep the sound of your guitar sharp and clean, you should change the strings at least once every three months. If you have the right tools and the right string, the following steps will have you restringing your instrument like a pro.
Whether you’re restringing an electric or acoustic guitar, do one string at a time. If you take all the strings off at once, the neck of the guitar will have no supporting tension and may need an adjustment once the strings are all on.
Acoustic Guitars use two plain steel strings and strings with bronze windings around the cord. The first step is to lay the guitar flat in front of you. Take off the string by loosening it enough for the string to slip over the peg head.
Now use a pair of pliers to gently wiggle the bridge pin, or peg, loose then pull it straight out, releasing the ball end of the string. Discard the old string..
Get your new string and put the ball end of the string into the peg hole on the bridge. Put the peg back in the hole. The peg is not supposed to show the string inside the hole. You want it to brace the ball end against the guitar underneath the bridge. You may need to spin or manipulate the peg a little to get the ball properly positioned.
Hold the string between your thumb and forefinger and with the other hand loop the string around the turning peg in a clockwise direction. After several loops, thread the wire through the peg head then pull it straight out at a 90 degree angle from the guitar head. Rotate the peg to tighten. Stretch out the string once more before tightening to pitch. When finished, cut off the excess string with wire cutters. (TIP: The strings wound in bronze grip better so do not need to be looped on the peg head as many times as the steel strings.)
Electric guitars use copper windings. If you have an electric guitar where the string goes through the back of the guitar underneath the bridge, you just need to loosen the string on the peg head, cut off the curled par, grab hold of the ball end and pull the string through the back end
Get your new string and thread the pointed end through from underneath so the ball end is resting against the underneath of the guitar. Make sure your string goes through the slot on the bridge piece, through the nut and sits under the correct tree. Loop the string in a counter clockwise direction on the peg head, thread it through and pull tight at a 90 degree angle away from the guitar. Tighten to near pitch, stretch the string a little and snip off the excess string.
To get more free information on how to become a better bass guitar player, visit <a rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank” href=” “>http://www.MusicBizCenter.com/blog/”> http://www.MusicBizCenter.com/blog by Ty Cohen.
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Changing Guitar strings on a fixed bridge Part 3 of 3
Guitar repair video, “This video show you how to change your strings on a guitar with a fixed bridge. I use a strat in this example but you can apply the methods to any electric guitar with a fixed bridge.
Check out www.rockguitarpower.com to learn more!” from Youtube user rockguitarpower
Tips and Accessories to Change Guitar Strings Easily
It not that tough to know when your strings need changing. They’re no longer sound bright and they begin to feel almost dirty or rusty. Breaking a string or two can also cause you to have to change your strings, possibly sooner then you had wanted.
Removing strings and replacing them isn’t a tough job, but there are some simple rules you should follow not to mention some accessories that can make the job easier. In this article I’m going to explain the simple steps to removing and replacing a string along with a couple of accessories worth having.
One String at a Time
Some people might tell you differently but I’m a fan of only removing and replacing one string at a time. This reduces any chance that you could warp the neck of your guitar by removing all the strings, reducing tension on the neck and then adding tension back all at once.
Start at either the 1st or 6th string and work your way up or down until they’re all changed.
Don’t Wind too Tight
Once you remove a string only wrap it 3 or 4 times around the tuning peg on the head stock. There’s no need to have a bunch of excess string that just makes it more difficult to remove next time. Also pay attention to the way you wrap the string around the peg. It’s easy to put one string on backwards. This is another benefit to only taking one string off at a time you can match the new one up to the old strings still on your guitar.
Stretching
It takes some time for strings, especially if they’re nylon strings, to stretch. I suggest you don’t wind the string up as tight as it will go right away. Go slowly giving the string time to stretch. It takes a while for your strings to finally stop stretching and finally remain in tune so don’t rush it. Tightening a string too quickly can result in breaking it.
Accessories to Help
A couple of nice accessories that make changing guitar strings easier are:
String Winder
String Cutter
Electric Tuner
Each of these are ideal when changing strings on your guitar. The winder makes it a lot faster to tighten up new strings. Your fingers can only twist so fast and it can take some time to tighten up a new string. Of course once all those new strings are on you’re definitely going to want to cut off the excess, and an electric tuner helps you find the right pitch and note for at least one string. You can tune by ear if you’d like after that but unless you have perfect pitch an electric tuner will help a lot.
If you’re just starting out you might want to read about our learn to play guitar dvd that covers the basics right from the parts of the guitar and string names. Also our blog on beginner guitar tips has many useful articles from how to play basic chords to advanced scale and soloing techniques.
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/tips-and-accessories-to-change-guitar-strings-easily-1498895.html
Changing Guitar Strings on a fixed bridge Part 2 of 3
Guitar repair video, “This video show you how to change your strings on a guitar with a fixed bridge. I use a strat in this example but you can apply the methods to any electric guitar with a fixed bridge.
Check out www.rockguitarpower.com to learn more!” from Youtube user rockguitarpower
Easy Tips For Keeping Your Guitar Safe And Undamaged
The moment that you own your first guitar or a new one, you realize you have a large responsibility to keep this thing safe and sound. Face it. This new axe is constantly in danger of being smashed, dropped, scuffed, crushed, or even stolen.
But, a lot of what happens are very fundamental things that can be easily prevented if you only pay attention. Look over this short list of extremely simple things that you can do to keep your guitar safer.
1. Keep it in the case when you’re not using it.
It’s very simple, but some guitarists just forget where the guitar’s home is and let it roam around too often. You bought that sturdy hard-shell case for a reason, so keep your guitar safe in there when you’re not playing it.
2. Don’t lean it upright against walls and posts.
There’s a saying I have that goes, “If you lay something flat, there’s no chance of it falling over.” So, if you’re leaning your guitar up against posts, railings, or walls, that sounds like trouble to me.
Save yourself some grief and lay your instrument down if you can’t possibly put it in its case.
3. Let it ride in the back seat like a friend and not in the trunk like a hostage.
Now, I understand that you have to pack the van up and you have lots of equipment to take to a show, but if you have the room, your guitar deserves better than the trunk. With your guitar in the back seat, you can still see it and realize how your driving ability may be affecting it.
4. Put your guitar on a stand when it’s on stage.
Let’s say you’re in a band and you’re getting ready for a gig. You set everything up, test out the amp, and then walk off the stage.
If you’re leaving your guitar up there, you don’t want it leaning up against your amp or poles. Bring a guitar stand onto the stage or put it back in the case so you can prevent a catastrophe right before your set.
5. Lock that thing up.
You wouldn’t believe some of the things that get stolen at a rock show and sometimes it isn’t even the guitar! They might open up your case and fish for strings, capos, or any other small components to your instrument.
Keep your guitar safe and sound by locking it up with all of its pieces.
6. Don’t let that thing out of your sight.
This should really go without saying. If you’re done with your set, you should be packing up your own instrument before you help with anyone else’s equipment.
Wouldn’t it make you feel better knowing that your guitar is safe in your vehicle before you start working the crowd again?
There really isn’t too much to keeping your guitar safe, but so much is overlooked and taken for granted. It can be a cruel world with thieves and Newton’s law of relativity, but with some common sense and responsibility, your guitar can last for a few more years.
Kyle Hoffman is an experienced guitarist of 8 years that loves to play as a hobby and perform live on stage. If you’re looking for a solid foundation and valuable tips to playing guitar the RIGHT way, visit How To Guitar Play as part of Kyle’s popular guitar blog, How To Guitar Tune
Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/safe-guitar-easy-tips-for-keeping-your-guitar-safe-and-undamaged-1347826.html