How do I replace my guitar strings?

December 1, 2005 3:21 PM

Someone bought me an electric guitar two years ago. Maybe one. I never played it. When I hauled it out of the closet yesterday and took it out of the bag, I discovered that one of the strings was off; it is no longer attached at either end. How unfortunate. Especially for someone who has no idea what to do. How do I fix the guitar?
posted by punishinglemur to grab bag (19 comments total)

Make, model?
posted by Mr T at 3:27 PM on December 1, 2005

as long as nothing is broken, it just needs to be restringed. a quick google search brings up a ton of tutorials for that sort of thing, complete with pictures.

if you think it's broken, take some pictures and post them so we can see and tell you what's wrong.
posted by booknerd at 3:28 PM on December 1, 2005

also, if you go buy a new set of strings, it should only cost about $5. music stores sometimes try to rip people off if they think they don't know exactly what they want.

also, they may offer to change the strings and tune the guitar for you for $20 or something, but changing the strings is not at all difficult to do yourself (as booknerd says, there are tons of internet tutorials), and there's no point to tuning the instrument right after putting new strings on -- they stretch and go out of tune.
posted by clarahamster at 3:33 PM on December 1, 2005

Some general recommendations: ask for the best strings the shop has, buy at least two sets (in the beginning you might break some) and pick up an electric tuner while you are there.

Start by removing all the old strings, a quick way to do this is to snip them with wire cutters but loosen them first so they don't snap in your eye. Put on the top string and wind it just enough so it's secure, make sure you get at least five winds on the peg. Now do the rest the same way.

Break out your new tuner, wind each peg until they are all a bit over tuned snapping and stretching the strings as you do. (At this point I usually put it aside to 'rest' overnight but you don't have to.) Play some thrash metal for a while, tune, repeat. After a while it will settle down. If you did it neatly and with plenty of winds on the peg it will stay in tune for quite a wile.
posted by Mr T at 3:41 PM on December 1, 2005

The easiest thing to do is take it to your local friendly musical instrument store and have them put a new string on, which they will probably do for the price of the string(s) if they are friendly enough. Explain you're a newbie and watch what they do and you should have it down for next time it happens.
posted by fire&wings at 3:55 PM on December 1, 2005

An electric tuner is essential for a beginner. If your guitar is not in tune everything you try to play will sound crappy. It will also keep you from over-winding when you change strings. It's ok to get a really cheap tuner, they all work pretty much the same.

fire&wings: anyone interested in playing guitar simply must learn how to string and tune their instrument. It would be cool to take it in and have them show you the first time though. Also, you should replace all the strings at the same time. It sounds really funny to have one bright string.
posted by Mr T at 4:01 PM on December 1, 2005

Since you've already gotten good answers about fixing the string...

Someone bought me an electric guitar two years ago. Maybe one. I never played it. When I hauled it out of the closet yesterday...

...How do I fix the guitar?

If you're planning to sell it, don't bother. Just drag it down to your local music shop and unload it. Unless the instrument is collectible, you won't get much more on eBay (plus the hassle of shipping a friggin' guitar) -- and no, the missing string won't affect your selling price one iota.
posted by cribcage at 4:36 PM on December 1, 2005

Anyone have any tips about winding the strings? I've always done it by trial and error.


I have three questions:

1. How many times should it wind around the peg?

2.How do you get it to wind the correct number of times around the peg?

3. How do you hold it taught while winding it around the peg?
posted by any major dude at 4:36 PM on December 1, 2005

1) Depends on the type of string, which string it is, and what kind of guitar.

2) Depends on how much slack you leave in the string when you bend it around the tuning peg. See tutorials.

3) If you put it through the hole, put a 90-degree bend in it and then bring it up and over the string itself, it should hold fine while you wind the tuning peg. Peg winders are about two or three bucks and make it easier.
posted by TeamBilly at 4:40 PM on December 1, 2005

From my point of view, I'd strongly advise against popping all the strings at once. Electric guitar necks are built to remain straight under 200 pounds of tension¹. If you remove all the tension at once, the neck might bend or warp. It might not, but why risk it?
¹for a college physics project I calculated the tension on an electric guitar neck by using the frequency of the open string, the length of the string from nut to bridge, and the density of each string. 200 pounds for light guage electric.
posted by plinth at 4:57 PM on December 1, 2005

What fire&wings said. They may also be able to point you toward a decent guitar teacher who will come to your home and teach you how to play.
posted by caddis at 5:05 PM on December 1, 2005

If this is for you, (meaning you want to learn to play and learn about the guitar) take it to a shop and have them show you how in person.

If you don't really care that much and just want the job done, get some strings and and restring it starting with the broken one. (You'll need the others for reference.)

Look at how the existing strings are set up. Check these: Where does the ball-end stop? What holes and notches do they go through? Do the hole and notch part.

Then, run the string through the tuning peg. Pull it all the way through and then back out about two or three inches. (You will have some slack now so that you can move the string into the notches as it gets tighter.)

Hold the string there with one hand while turning the peg with the other. Check to make sure it is winding around the peg in the same way as a corrosponding string/peg.

You probably can't tune the thing, so make sure that the string is about as taught as one next to it.

Now you'll find that you have extra string at the peg. Clip it off around a 1/4 inch from the peg. If you don't have tools, finger nail clippers work in a pinch.

BTW, you really can't mess up the guitar much by changing strings. I would suggest though, that if you want to do it right, get a cheap electronic tuner when you get your strings.
posted by snsranch at 5:15 PM on December 1, 2005

Ahh, you don't need an electronic tuner if you have a microphone attached to your computer. I use this freeware program, which does the exact same thing and works the exact same way. There are lots of other programs that may be better, but they all work well enough.
posted by Hildago at 5:15 PM on December 1, 2005

From my point of view, I'd strongly advise against popping all the strings at once.

Yeah. Just change them one or two at a time.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:15 PM on December 1, 2005

On preview, I've reiterated much of what others have already said. But I forgot the "thrash metal" part! Go have some fun with your guitar!
posted by snsranch at 5:17 PM on December 1, 2005

Hildago: You don't even need to have a microphone for an electric guitar, you can just put the volume down on your guitar and plug it into the mic input on your computer. Useless of course for recording but fine for getting the signal in there.

Does anyone know whether a missing string is a significant issue for warping after all that time (assuming it broke relatively shortly after being put away)?
posted by abcde at 7:38 PM on December 1, 2005

Does anyone know whether a missing string is a significant issue for warping after all that time (assuming it broke relatively shortly after being put away)?

Even if a string weren't missing, a guitar stored in a closet and forgotten about for a significant length of time is likely to warp due to changes in temperature and humidity. Having one string missing probably doesn't make that much of a difference.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:35 PM on December 1, 2005

An issue after that time? Well, you're looking at a drop of 14-18% of total tension, plus the natural loss in tension of the rest of the strings. This gets even more complicated with a whammy bar bridge as the overall tension drops more because of the change in length of the balancing springs (ut tensio sic vis, y'all). If it had been years, you might look into a little maintenance to check the nack angle and get appropriate adjustments.
posted by plinth at 8:37 PM on December 1, 2005

Lots of good answers here, but I'll throw in a useful link for you: this handy guitar tuner link also has a video on how to re-string an electric guitar.
posted by baphomet at 11:42 PM on December 1, 2005