How to Restring an Acoustic Guitar

IntroductionThese days’ guitars are built to last ages. Older guitars are actually considered more valuable than newer ones for their vintage sound. While the guitars themselves can outlive the type of trees they were made from, like everything they require constant maintenance and replacements of parts that have a shorter lifespan. For an acoustic guitar the only things that needs to be replaced somewhat frequently are the strings. Whether they get dirty or simply just break every guitar player knows it’s always good to have an extra set of strings lying around for these very reasons. Once you play guitar enough you can probably figure out the most basic way of doing this with little instruction or guide. In this instruction set I will show you the proper way of restringing a guitar along with tips that will allow your strings to last longer and sound better.

Figure 1: Items need for restringing.Materials

● Guitar cleaning fluid and cloth● Wire cutters● 6 new strings (E, A, D, G, B, e)● Tuner● Nut driver of particular size● Plastic peg wrench

Steps

1. Loosen your old strings with the peg wrench: Do this by pulling up on the strings first and loosen so that they all have plenty of slack so that they will not have tension when you release them.

Figure 2: Using peg wrench to loosen strings2. Pull out the back pegs: Now that your old strings have plenty of slack pull out the back pegs using your peg wrench again.

Figure 3: Using peg wrench to pull out string pegsCAUTION : If the pegs become difficult to remove avoid pulling on them too hard as this might break them

3. String detachment: Unwind the strings from the pegs on the head so that the strings are completely apart from the guitar.

Figure 4: Detached old strings

4. Clean the guitar fretboard and body: Spray some of your cleaning fluid onto your cloth and then use it to clean/polish your guitar where it needs it.

Figure 5: Cleaning the fretboard/body with rag.Tip: Be sure to clean the dirty marks in between frets really well.

5. Tighten the tuner posts: Using your nut driver gently tighten the tuner posts so that none are loose. Depending on your guitar and the last time you performed this step you may not have to do this as they might already be tight or you may not have tuner posts to tighten.

Figure 6: Tightening of tuner posts.Tip: If you have them and are not sure if they need to be tightened simply touch a tuner post to see if it is loose, and if it is then tighten it.

6. Restring: Take out your strings one at a time so as not to be confused starting with your lowest string E. Place the end of the sting with a small metal ring on it into the back peg hole and then secure it by putting the peg back into the hole.

Figure 7: Installing new stringsTip: You can put all your strings into their back peg holes at once, but just make sure they are all in their correct place and order.

7. Cutting the strings to size: Pull the string up the tuning peg ABOVE the tuning peg you are installing into. Cut the string at this point. This is all the same unless you have a tuning peg that does not have one above it. For these cases either try

to imagine a tuning post above it, or loop the string around its tuning post and bring to the one behind it. Clip the end of the string to this point.

Figure 8: Measuring strings to next post

Figure 9: Cutting excess stringNote: Giving your strings extra slack is a step that can be skipped if you have accidentally cut your strings too short. However, this step will add longevity to your strings as it keeps them from breaking as easily.

8. Preparing for installation: Put your string end through the tuning post’s hole and bend the very end of it around it.

Figure 10: Bending strings around postsTip: make sure that your strings do not cross over another one or touch another tuner post. This may sound crazy but it beats having to unwind your string and do it over again.

9. Installation of the string: With the end of the string bent around the hole of its designated tuning post begin tightening the string using your peg wrench.

Figure 11: Strings wound around tuner postsTip: To ensure that the string winds around the post correctly, pull on the string with a little tension so that the string wraps around the post going from top to bottom without crossing over another layer. Also make sure the string falls into its correct grooves on the neck.

10. Tuning your strings: Once your strings are tightly wound into your key posts and grooves use your tuner to tune your strings to their correct key.

Figure 12: Tuning set upTip: If you do not know how to use the tuner consult its manual or just remember standard tuning is E, A, D, G, B, E descending from the thickest string.

CAUTION: Make sure your tuner is working properly before you start tuning so that you do not end up tightening you strings too tight and break them.

11. Stretching your strings: After you tune your strings for the first-time grab hold of each individual string and pull up on them. After all their slack has been pulled out tune them again. This step may require being performed a few times to get all the slack out.

Figure 13: Stretching of the strings

12. Clipping the excess strings: Now that your strings are in tune and you’ve used all the string you need, cut the little pieces of string that still might stick out from the tuning posts.

Figure 14: Tuning posts after clippingTip: This step may be skipped, but if you do decide to do it, use smaller wire cutters so that you do not accidentally cut another string.

DANGER: This step is done so that the sharp ends of the strings don’t stick out and cut you when tuning. It is also wise to watch where the ends the strings or excess strings go after being clipped as these can become painful splinters if stepped on.