Guitar’s strings are usually durable enough to withstand months after they need to be changed, but don’t think that a popped string is the only reason why you should do that. Re-stringing your guitar should be done more often, as you won’t be able to clean the neck, and so on.

Anyhow, “why” you should restring your guitar is another topic, let’s stick with “how”. We’ll discuss several easy steps which will help you learn this crucial guitar maintenance method – you’ll be using it for as long as you play, so you might as well pay attention.

Step 1 – Find a suitable spot where you will re-string your guitar

Plainly put, you could restring your guitar virtually anywhere, but that’s not recommended for beginners. Why is that? Well, every time you take a string off, you’ll also have to put it somewhere where it can (and more often than not “will”) be misplaced, not to mention the hardware. 

Apart from that, re-stringing also means “re-tuning”, so, unless you have a tuner handy, you might as well want to find someplace really quiet. 

Step 2 – Prepare the tools needed to re-string your guitar

Let’s put it this way – there’s a fast method which simply involves changing of your guitar’s strings, and there’s a thorough method which involves cleaning, tuning, and wire cutting. Depending on which method you want to go with, you’ll need different gear. If possible, go with the “thorough” method whenever you can, as the health of your guitar should be more important than getting lazy. 

Anyhow, the list of tools you need is as following:

• Strings – if you’re a complete beginner, you might want to get an extra pair, as you might pop a string before getting the job right.
• A piece of clean cloth – you’ll use this to clean the fingerboard and other key points.
• Wire cutters – unless you want your strings to dangle from your guitar’s head, you’ll want to cut the excess parts.
• (Optional) Guitar Cleaning Tool – most beginners don’t have this tool, which is why it’s optional. 
• (Optional) Tuner – There are different ways to tune your guitar, so consider a tuner only if you can’t think of any.

Step 3 – Lay your guitar down on a comfortable surface

Even though it’s pretty self-explanatory, it wouldn’t hurt to mention that hard surfaces are hazardous for your guitar’s neck. Obviously, you’ll want your guitar to be supported by anything soft and cozy – pillows might do the trick (note: most beginners go with the easiest solution – laying the guitar down on the knees. There’s a world of reasons why you shouldn’t do that, but the most important one involves it falling off and getting ruined).

You don’t need to think about anything in particular during this step, as all you have to do is secure the neck without limiting access to other places. For example, if you used a pillow and it’s too bulky, you might need to press it down in order to get to guitar’s head. If you want to avoid this, use smaller objects as support. 

Step 4 – De-tuning and machine heads

The machine heads are also called tuning keys or tuning gears. These hardware pieces are used to tighten or loosen the tension of the strings, which is simply called “tuning”. Now, before you could re-string your guitar, you have to de-tune it. By de-tuning we mean “spin the heads so that the string get loose”. 

You’ll have to repeat the process for each string separately. Keep in mind, you should de-tune your guitar slowly, as quick movements might damage older machine heads.

Step 5 – Removing the pins/unlocking the mechanism from the bridge

Depending on the type of the guitar, you should either remove the pins (acoustic guitar) or unlock the mechanism (electric guitar) from the bridge.

Acoustic guitars have safety pins for each string which serve as “anchors”, keeping the strings “at bay”. On the other hand, electric guitars have a locking mechanism (typically guitars with Floyd rose), or none at all. If the latter is the case, un-screwing the machine heads would be sufficient, so this part could be skipped. 

Step 6 – Placing the strings

The only proper way to place the strings is to start at the bottom of the bridge. Pull the strings out from the package as you place each one, and start with the E1. Consult the list below for detailed explanation:

• Place the string in the pin hole and cover it 
• Lay the string on the metal bridge bar so that it sits neatly in the groove
• Apply slight tension with the hand that holds the pin (hold the string if it’s electric guitar)
• Pull the string slowly across the length of the fingerboard in the direction of your guitar’s head
• Put the end of the string through the machine heads, press it down the fingerboard as you do
• Tighten the machine heads without releasing the pressure on the string
• Keep tightening liberally until you feel the tension between your finger and the string, but do so slowly else it will snap (note: don’t overdo it – you just need your strings to be slightly tense, you’ll deal with tuning later on). 
• Repeat the process with other strings (E1, A, D, G, B, E)

Step 7 – Tune in

Now that you’ve placed the strings in place, it’s time to tune the guitar. Choose the tuning as you see fit (standard tuning is E, A, D, G, B, E, just like the name of the strings). Most musicians can tune their guitars by ear, but if you’re having difficulties, you can use a guitar tuner. 

In case you don’t have it, try figuring out the E1 string tuning by ear, and proceed with other strings, keeping in mind that the fifth fret of your E1 string should sound exactly like the open A string (and so on, with the exception of the G string, which should be fretted at the 4^th fret instead of 5^th). 

Conclusion

Re-stringing your guitar is a standard maintenance procedure. It might appear hard at the beginning, but you’ll get better and faster with time. Most beginners tend to get confused with a step or two, especially the tuning part, but don’t get dissuaded even if you don’t nail it in your first try. In the worst-case scenario, you’ll just pop a string or two before you get it right.

Author bio

I’m Anh Vu who has worked sound technology industry for 10 years now. Today, I am an affiliate blogger who likes to educate my audience more about sound technology. Visit to headphonesunder100center.com to find all information about music that you need.

How to re-string a guitar from MyRareGuitars.com

Learning to play guitar won’t be a daunting task for you if you get proper teaching and know the ways of playing it right. It’s quite easy to grow some bad habits unknowingly and if you don’t deal with them at the early stage, it can damage your learning and will be difficult to break. Nevertheless, you should not be afraid of this as every bad habit can be changed and initially, you just need to identify them.

Basically, these damaging mistakes are commonly found with the beginners or self-taught players. Here, we have outlined 11 common damaging mistakes done by the guitar players and how they can avoid them.

1. Ignoring to tune your guitar before practicing

tuning the guitar is important!

Many newbies not only don’t know how to tune a guitar properly but also don’t notice when the guitar needs tuning. And practicing on the out-of-tune guitar won’t help them to progress. If you play a well-tuned guitar, you can keep the pitch of the notes in your mind. Likewise, if you constantly practice on an out-of-tune guitar, you can’t learn to identify the precise pitches.

Solution – Prior to playing guitar, ensure it is tuned. You can utilize an online tuner and check the tuning twice so you can play it right.

2. Not having an expert guitar setup

Your guitar setup sometimes gets impacted by the weather conditions like humidity and heat. Sometimes new guitarists try to set up their guitars by own which doesn’t make their guitar any easier to play. They can even find difficulties while practicing, and therefore improvements also become slow.

Solution – You need a professional setup for your guitar which makes the guitar easier to play and also, you won’t need extra effort for getting good sounding notes as like digital piano.

3. Not replacing strings ever or often enough

Playing on old strings not just spoils your guitar playing enjoyment but also can lead to premature wear of the fretboard and frets of your guitar. [As we wrote on a previous blog, you need to know when to change your guitar strings]

Solution – You must change your own guitar strings as it’s important on a regular basis. Even if you don’t play your guitar regularly, your strings should be replaced at least once in every 6-8 months. You should wipe the strings after practicing so you can maximize their lifespan.

4. Neglecting Barre Chords

You can experience some hurdles while advancing your guitar expertise by learning barre chords. Newbies might be intimidated by these chords as they need lots of effort in their fretting hand. And these chords are really hard to play at first. But if you avoid playing them, you won’t ever learn them.

Solution – Learn barre chords to enhance your guitar playing capacity. It will make your fretting hand stronger if you play them for a few months.

Watch this quick lesson:

5. Guitar practicing without a metronome

Practicing guitar without a metronome is not a good idea as this is the most vital practice tool that’ll give you a clear concept of your advancement while practicing: it can force you to slow down while practicing, and help you to grow a natural sense of rhythm within yourself.

Solution – Start practicing your guitar with a metronome; it will keep your music sense composed.

6. Holding your guitar improperly

Some newbies struggle a lot with playing particular chords and the main issue is that they hold their instrument improperly. Playing the chords is not difficult but they make it harder by holding the guitar incorrectly.

Solution – You can read the blogs written on proper ways of holding a guitar in different standing and sitting positions. Also, you can check out different YouTube videos.

Watch this video:

7. Irregular practice

Memory plays the main role while it comes to playing music. Consistent practice makes your memory sharper so you can make the most difficult techniques, chord shapes etc. smoother and more effortless day by day. Irregular practice will not be advantageous for your learning.

Solution – It’s better to practice guitar playing daily for at least 15 minutes. This consistency should be maintained regularly.

8. Consulting lots of sources

Some newbies take a leap from watching YouTube videos to reading blogs on the web or switching to the different online courses or reading guitar magazines. This doesn’t make things easy for them; hence they get stuck on something and cannot learn the right techniques.

Solution – You must not run towards different information sources for learning the ways of playing guitar. Rather, find a teacher to get a comprehensive lesson.

9. Going too fast

This is another mistake made by beginner guitarists. If you go straight for playing a specific song “at 100%” after learning the position of right notes, it can sometimes impair your progress – you can play the right notes, sure… but are you playing them right?  If you don’t practice perfectly, you won’t get to improve your technique.

Solution – Rather than playing a song at 100% of the speed, try to go first at 50%. You will get better results if you take it slowly…

10. Not cleaning the guitar appropriately

It’s important to know how to clean your guitar

Using furniture polish or standard household cleaners can damage your guitar. These products are unsuitable for your guitar. You don’t need to clean it every day but a good cleaning once a month can keep it durable.

Solution – Use the cleaning products which are specially made for guitars.

11. Not learning music theory

Many newbies make this mistake as they avoid learning proper music theory because they are worried about learning the more technical ways. Some often find it boring and difficult when attempting to learn these concepts – but if you persevere, it can be very rewarding.

Solutions – Undoubtedly, understanding music theory can take much time but it can sometimes quicken your music learning.

Wrapping up

So, these are a few damaging mistakes made by the newbie guitarists. The same happens with the piano artists, drummers or other artists of different instruments. If you are encountering the same issues mentioned here, try to resolve them ASAP to improvise your guitar learning – you will thank yourself later!

11 Bad Habits Beginner Guitarists Need To Avoid in 2018 from MyRareGuitars.com