Introduction: How to String a Guitar

I was surprised to find that there aren't any instructables on how to string a guitar. I figured i might as well do it!
I got some info about stringing guitars from taylorguitars.com. The last time i used that site was the last time i stringed my guitar, which was almost a year ago! and i play this thing everyday!

look at this picture so you can familiarize yourself with the parts of a guitar if you don't know them already!

Things you'll need:

@ Wire cutters
@ A string winder
@ A pack of guitar strings
@ A guitar tuner
@ A guitar

Step 8 should be step 7. i edited my instructable, and now i can't rearrange it for some reason!

Step 1: Loosen All the Strings

Start out by loosening ALL of the strings. If you strung them right in the first place, you should be turning the tuners for the bass strings (the three largest and closest strings to you) and the treble strings (the three thinner strings furthest away from you) to the right to loosen the strings.

If you don't have on already, string winders really come in handy!
when my parents bought me my first guitar, it came in the pack. They're only 25 cents to a dollar depending on where you go. It's a good investment if you break your strings a lot.

Step 2: Remove the Bridge Pins

Grab your wire cutters now. Gently grasp onto the base of the round part of the bridge pin. BE CAREFUL as they break easily...i've had bad experiences...i think they're pretty expensive too, especially for a teen like me.

Anyway, being careful to hold the pegs carefully, use the saddle to push down the handles of the wirecutters thereby raising the pegs up and out of the hole that they're in

do this for all of the pins and remove the strings while you're at it. be sure not to do it while the strings are still tense! BE CAREFUL!

think of it as what you'd do when using a crowbar.

be sure to avoid directly pulling it out if you can, they tend to break when you do that..and the wirecutters or pliers that you're using will dent the pins.

thanks to Laserage for this tip:
in the string winder, you might probably find a notch in the end that you can use to pull out the bridge pins and avoid breaking them! i didn't know what that notch in my spinner was until just now so thanks Laserage!

Step 3: Care for Your Guitar!

At this point, if you're like me and haven't restrung your guitar in over a year, you'll definitely notice that dust has accumulated. clean that up! according the the taylorguitars pdf, you can clean the fretboard with 0.0000 gauge steel wool and rub pretty hard without damaging it! Just be EXTRA sure that you don't touch the body and cover the sound hole before you do it.

If i owned a Taylor, i doubt i'd even consider rubbing steel wool on it...


and also, if you have a guitar wiht a high action, basically, the strings are way high off the fretboard, like my other guitar in the second picture. this makes it a bit more difficult to play the guitar especially in the higher frets.
to fix this, just simply sand it down in tiny increments. make sure you don't do too much, or the guitar strings might make a rattling sound! if you messed up or sanded down to much, simply cut small strips of paper and put them under the the saddle until it's at a height you like! easy peasy!

Step 4: Strings

Now get out your strings. The package usually has info on it about string sizes and color coordination and whatnot. save it if you must. i do.
If you threw it away, just arrange the strings from largest to smallest. i do this anyway just to keep them organized.

i don't know about you, but i prefer D'addario and Elixir strings. elixirs sound beautiful on Taylors ;-) <3

Step 5: Stringing the Guitar Part 1.

Now here's the part you've been waiting for! There's bunches of different ways to do the next few steps, this is just one. Give input if you have any better info!

I like to work from closest strings to farthest, 6th to 1st, Low E to high e, Largest to smallest. (they're all the same)

1.Begin by inserting the end with the metal ring into the closest hole where the bridgepins go. (see pictures for clarification) Insert it so that the groove in the bridgepin faces towards the headstock. rest it atop to the ring of the string.

2.Push down the bridgepin into the hole, it'll push the string into the hole as well. while doing that, pull the string up. Again, while pushing the bridgepin down, pull the string up.

Step 6: Stringing the Guitar Part 2: Bass Strings

Before you begin putting strings in, angle the holes in the tuning pegs so they are turned towards the center of the headstock at a 45 degree angle.

1.Pull the 6th string (the largest) across the headstock. It goes in the bottom left tuning peg. Holding the string taut, cut the string one tuning peg's distance away from the peg that the string will go in (see first picture for clarification).

2.Insert the string into the hole in the peg (see second picture for clarification). Tighten the strings by turning the tuning peg left. (Do this for all the BASS strings)

3. Insert pegs as shown in the previous step, and repeat numbers one and two for the 5th string (second largest string)

///
*FYI - You're going to be doing "stringing the guitar part 1" for all the strings before putting them in tuning pegs
///

4.Now the 4th string is where the confusion comes in. You'll notice that there's no peg for you to measure one tuning peg's distance! You need not fear, my friend, for all you have to do is hold the string right behind the tuning peg for the 4th string (third largest string) and while holding it in the same spot, move your hand to the 5th tuning peg. now you can use the 4th tuning peg to measure one tuning peg's distance! yay! (see pictures 3-5 for clarification)

///
*FOR ALL THE BASS STRINGS, YOU ARE GOING TO WANT TO HAVE 2-3 WRAPS AROUND THE TUNING PEG
///

Step 7: Tune Your Guitar

I'm pretty sure you know how to do this already, but before you do it, be sure to pull gently on each string to stretch it.



congrats you've just restrung your guitar!


///
If i was unclear at all, which i am sure, just click the link in the intro. it got me through no problem.
i was just not gifted with the art of explanation!

for any unclear parts, help me out and write a comment with something clearer than what i wrote!
(especially parts in step 6)
///

Step 8: Stringing Your Guitar Part 3: Treble Strings


5.We now come to yet another confusing peg: the 3rd tuning peg.
For the last three strings (the treble strings) rather than measuring one tuning peg's distance, you're going to want to measure 1.5 tuning peg's distance.
So for the 3rd tuning peg, do what you did in 4. of the last step, but rather than moving your hand to the 5th tuning peg, or in this case, the 2nd tuning peg, move your hand to the 1st tuning peg and measure 1.5 tuning peg's distance from there.
Tighten the TREBLE strings by turning the pegs AWAY from the top of the headstock, in other words, to the RIGHT.

Do the same with the next two strings.

AND FOR THE TREBLE STRINGS, YOU ARE GOING TO WANT 5-6 WRAPS AROUND THE TUNING PEGS (see last picture for clarification)
(People will have different opinions about this, so be sure to give input.)

Keep the bottom-most wraps of the treble strings below the edge of the tuner holes to avoid creating a kink, which could break the string.

The Instructables Book Contest

Participated in the
The Instructables Book Contest