How to properly wind strings on a guitar. Learn how to properly string a guitar

To understand the principle string tension guitar, let's first look at the types of strings. They are metal and synthetic.

Metal ones are more stretched than synthetic ones and are used in guitars with reinforced construction (those with a truss rod). Putting them on a classical guitar is a thankless task and can result in damage to an expensive instrument, but they are louder than synthetic ones.

Synthetic ones are used for classical guitars. They are durable and very suitable for beginners because... After playing the guitar, my fingers don’t hurt as much as after playing the steel ones.

The first three strings are made of carbon or nylon. The rest are covered with copper or silver-plated windings. Carbon is more durable than nylon, but more expensive.

But as they say, closer to the body)

How to tension nylon strings?

To do this, you need to thread the string through the hole in the guitar stand and secure it according to the picture.

After this, you need to insert it into the hole of the peg you need, not too deep, so that it does not stick out. It was in the USSR that sticky strings were fashionable, but as practice shows, they give nothing but a torn cover.

Wind the rest of the string by hand around the peg clockwise - this is what most guitarists do.

For convenience, I provide a photo of the headstock so that you don’t get confused about which peg the string with which number should be pulled on

After you have placed the strings, you need to tune them using tuning mechanisms. I recommend installing all the strings first, tensioning them until they stop rattling. And then adjust each one separately. Otherwise, you will have to check the standard (for example, an online tuner or tuning fork) more times.

You don’t need to make very precise adjustments right away. nylon strings, because they tend to get very upset over quite a long time. So tune your guitar and let it sit for a couple of days. At the same time, adjust the instrument from time to time.

There is a way to quickly tune nylon strings. It consists in the fact that you pull them one and a half to two tones higher standard tuning, repeating this procedure after a couple of hours. But strings stretched in this way “live” less.

Another tip for installing new strings, many guitarists practice it. Before as pull on, they must be pulled out manually. You need to pull it from the top sill to the stand.

Pull the stringsfor electric guitar

First, install them in the electric guitar's tailpiece or stand, depending on the design of the guitar.

On Stratocaster guitars, the tailpiece is located at the back of the body. And, for example, on such models, the design of which is similar to the Gibson SG - it is located on the upper side of the body.

Stringing a guitar with locking action

(Such mechanics are often called Floyd Rose mechanics.)

To string a guitar with a Floyd, first fix the string on the stand, locking it using a screw mechanism. Next, thread its free end into the hole in the fixing sill.

Learn more about how to string a guitar with a locking action below.

1. Nip off the ball end using pliers.
2. Secure the string in the stand using an L-shaped wrench or some other tool depending on the guitar model.
3. Loosen the locking mechanism of the nut and pull the string through the resulting hole towards the pegs.
4. Use a peg to tighten the string to a height close to the pitch of the desired note. At the same time, tighten the adjustment screw on the stand to an intermediate position in which the string is not yet too tight.
5. Tighten the lock located on the top sill.
6. Bring the sound to the reference level using the adjustment screw.
7. Carry out the procedures described above for the remaining 5 strings.
8. Another important addition. If you change the strings to thinner ones- do not forget release the springs inside the housing. This is done in order to compensate for the reduced tension of thinner strings.

If you have unscrewed the adjustment screw all the way, release the lock on the top saddle, put the adjustment screw in an intermediate position, tighten the string with a peg and tighten the lock.

How to string a guitar with a regular tuning machine?

1. Secure the string in the stand and pull it towards the pegs. Without pulling, the string often does not fall into place and this can create extra work for you when tensioning it.
2. Thread it into the peg you need, leaving some slack (for strings with braid - 5 cm, without it - 10 cm).
3. Bend the string in the direction of rotation of the peg. Most often counterclockwise.
4. Pull the string with a peg, while holding it in tension with your free hand to wind the turns more tightly.
5. When it has tightened up a little, insert it into the slot in the top sill.
6. Stretch it as in the case with nylon guitar. When stretching, adjust the string again and again until you get it to stay in tune.
7. Use pliers to bite off the remaining piece of string.

How to replace and tighten guitar strings

When stringing a guitar, beginners usually have two problems. How to tension the strings so that they do not slip out of the holes in the rollers and how to secure the strings to the stand. As for nylon strings, the most questions arise about securing the strings to the stand.

You need to tighten the strings on the guitar by securing them to the stand. To do this, there are holes in the stand into which the strings are threaded. The photo shows how the ends of the nylon strings are threaded and secured. The strings placed in this way are well fixed and do not slip out of the holes in the stand. This way the first, second and sometimes the third string are secured. For strings with gimp, there is no need to twist the string several times. The following pictures show all the strings. The ends of the strings, depending on which side the loop is made from, can be directed downward (as in the top photo) or upward as shown here.

After setting the string, use a little force to pull the string until it sits tightly and proceed to the next stage - fixing and winding the string onto the roller of the tuning mechanism. Nylon strings are very easy to attach to the roller and when winding, lightly hold the string right hand, giving it a certain tension. This way, the string will be wound onto the roller evenly.



Please note that each string must correspond to a specific roller of the tuning mechanism. If you do not follow this rule, the strings will interfere with each other when taut when tuning the instrument.

Let's move on to tensioning the strings on an electric guitar. Here we must take into account that the strings are metal, and the bolsters are recessed into the headstock on only one side. Such strings are easier to remove - just loosen the peg and the string will slide off easily without any long unwinding. The strings on an electric guitar also need to be tightened by fastening them. The strings of an electric guitar are held by the bridge, and this is where you should start stringing.

Having secured the string with the bridge, we thread the other end of the string into the hole in the roller located on the headstock. After threading the string through the hole (photo 1), turn the string around the roller in the opposite direction of winding the string (photo 2), pass the end of the string from below (photo 3) and wrap it around the string going into the hole of the roller (photo 4). When the mechanics begins to rotate the roller, the string is automatically blocked and does not slip out of the roller hole (photo 5-6). The blue arrow shows the direction of the string being tensioned. When you tension the string by rotating the peg with your left hand, be sure to hold the string with your right hand, creating some tension, so that the string will be wound onto the roller evenly and you can control the wound turns.

After putting all the strings on the guitar, tune all the strings at once; this will give an even tension to the bridge and then tuning them one by one will become much easier. New strings on a guitar tend to go out of tune quickly, especially with nylon strings. In order for the strings to stretch, you will need certain time. You can speed up this process a little if you stretch the tensioned and already tuned strings a little by hand along the entire length of the string, but this must be done with some caution. It is not advisable to tension the strings higher, since their service life will then be significantly reduced; it is better to give the strings time to stretch themselves by tuning the guitar from time to time. The “” section, which presents all the sounds of the guitar strings, will help you tune your guitar.

Now that the instrument is without strings, it’s time to make a marafet for our pegs. We turn the instrument over with the back side up, and if you have pegs of about the same type as mine, take a screwdriver and tighten all the screws until they stop. If the pegs are of a closed type, you first need to remove the cap and do the same.
On both acoustic and electric guitars, the tuning mechanisms, as well as other fastening parts, are always weakened by the resonance of the wood - this is normal. You can also immediately lubricate the rotating mechanisms with graphite paste or machine oil. Apply lubricant and rotate the peg ten times forward, then back, so that the entire worm mechanism is lubricated. Remove excess grease with a napkin.


Also, while there are no strings, you need to tidy up the neck and soundboard of the guitar, cleaning the surfaces from dirt and dust. Do not use alcohol to clean the fretboard; this should be done with special instrument care products. IN as a last resort do this with a dry cloth, because... working part The neck is lubricated with special oil at the factory (at least it should be)
Well, that's all you need to do before installing new strings.


Now we can install the strings.
String installation order: 3;4;2;5;1;6;
This installation order is required to avoid skewing the neck.
We take the string and place it on the tailpiece so that the string fits into the groove and rests with its barrel against the end of the tailpiece.


Then we insert the tailpiece along with the string into the hole and press it against the body, but not too hard so as not to break the guitar (I have heard of such a case)



Now that we have inserted the tailpiece into the body and have not broken the instrument, we thread the second edge of the string into the hole of the peg from the inside (between the rows of pegs)


We leave 8 centimeters of string at the exit and we can bite off the rest with wire cutters, or then remove the excess. We bend the short edge of the string, and holding the finger on the fingerboard under tension, we turn the peg until the string stops hanging from the fingerboard. There is no need to tighten too much just yet. I don’t tie any knots, (then it’s only more difficult to untangle them when replacing strings), I threaded the string into the hole, and underneath it down the remaining turns. The guitar will stay in tune normally, unless the pegs are broken, of course. There should be up to 4 turns on the tuner, there is no need for more, and there is no need to overlap the turns either, this will not make the guitar stay in tune better; on the contrary, you will then suffer with tuning.


That's all for installing the strings. As you can see, nothing complicated.
I wish you success!!!

Beginning guitarists will sooner or later encounter real life, in which you have to change the strings on an acoustic guitar. Most often, of course, this happens at home and with a lamp, but sometimes you have to do it in the field. So, if you just decided yesterday to become famous musician, then it’s better to find out a little in advance about how to change strings correctly and how often.

What are there

Strings are divided into two types: metal and synthetic. The first ones are made of steel and have a winding, which, in turn, is made of various alloys and wound on a core different ways. And the latter are in most cases nylon.

To put it roughly, they are purposefully made for specific strings. And this is connected with tension. For example, in metal it is much stronger than in nylon. Consequently, steel-string guitars have a reinforced neck and a rigid body. Of course, you can stretch nylon onto such an instrument, but it is unlikely to surprise you with its sound, since it is much softer than metal. But the reverse situation is when steel strings placed on a classical guitar intended for synthetics, it is better not to try it in practice, unless, of course, the goal is to damage the instrument. Strong tension can simply move the bar that is not intended for this purpose and tear out the lower nut.

Distinguishing one guitar from another is easy. You need to carefully examine the nut and neck. The nylon is attached to a special stringer, and the steel strings are in the body of the guitar with additional reinforcement inside the instrument.

Remember that all the strings are changed at once, even if only one fails.

Changing metal strings

So, if, after the previous point, you have determined that you are holding an instrument in your hands for which metal consumables are suitable and you note their complete or partial absence, then you should go through the following stages of installing the strings.

Changing nylon strings

And if you have determined that you have a classical guitar with a complete or partial absence of strings, then in order to be able to play it again, you should take the following steps.

1. As in the previous case, it all starts with the purchase of strings. Here you can read about how to choose the right synthetics.
2. As soon as you have new consumables, you can start. First you need to remove the strings from acoustic guitar. Gently unscrew the pegs until you reach the tip. There is, of course, a more radical way - simply cutting the strings. But such an approach can not only damage the instrument, but also slightly correct the musician. Or rather, cut your hands and possibly other parts of the body. So it is better to choose a slower but safer method.
3. After unwinding, we move to the lower nut and untie the knots, freeing the strings.
4. We clean the tool from dust. You need to wipe everything down, both the neck and the body.
5. Now we thread one end of the string into the nut and secure it with a knot. You're lucky if your set of consumables is equipped with special balls at the ends. Then everything is simple - the seal will not allow the string to leave the instrument. But if not, you will have to practice a little in tying the right knots.
6. When you have achieved success in the previous point, move to the other end of the string. It must be inserted into the hole in the peg. And then stretch and carry out similar processes with other strings. Don't forget to trim off the protruding ends at the very end.
7. In the case of nylon, you can not follow the rule of not over-tightening, but even contradict it. Synthetic is several times softer than metal, and it can be painlessly stretched a little more than required.

String shrinkage

Once installed, new strings tend to become detuned, meaning the tension is loosened and they need to be tightened every day until the process stops. For example, nylon strings can shrink for up to a week, so it’s not a big deal to retighten them.

Guitar tuning

After the strings have been installed on the instrument, the latter should be properly tuned. If you are confident in your 100% hearing, then you can try to do this without using additional devices. But if you don't trust yourself or want to be sure that C sounds like C, then you just need to use a tuner. Technology has reached the point where such gadgets have appeared in online versions. Just find an application or a special website and configure your tool through it. Unless, of course, you have a material tuner.

How often should you change strings?

You need to change it depending on how often you play the instrument. Those musicians who do this often and do not take care of consumables at all, change them approximately once every one to two weeks. And others, from the category that it’s good if you unpack your guitars every weekend, can go through several months with one set. But it’s better not to experiment with the latter. Metal tends to rust and nylon tends to fray and turn into ropes. And in any case, the old strings on the instrument can break and damage the musician.

So keep an eye on the service life of your consumables and replace them in a timely manner. And we hope that we have explained everything in sufficient detail so that every beginning musician can cope with this matter in half an hour.

After several months of active play, the nylon guitar strings fall into disrepair. The sound becomes poor, the strings themselves become harsher, and the feeling when playing becomes unpleasant. It's time to replace the strings with classical guitar.

Preparation

There are two types of classical guitar strings: regular (tie-on) and with tips (ball-end). There is no global difference between them, except that strings with tips are easier to install. Below we will look at the installation process for both types of strings.

While in a music store, pick up a high-quality set of nylon strings of normal tension. Excellent kits are produced by D’Addario, Rotosound, and Mr. Musician.

ATTENTION!

Never buy a set of strings for an acoustic guitar! The tension on the metal strings is too high for a classical guitar neck that does not have a reinforcement truss rod. With 100% probability, such strings will ruin the instrument.

After purchasing a new set, remove the old strings. You can use wire cutters, or you can just twist the old set. If you decide to twist the strings, purchase a special machine that will make the winding process easier.

Installing strings in the bridge (tailpiece)

If the strings are tipped

If the new set is equipped with special tips, then changing the strings on a classical guitar will be a simple task. Pass each string through the hole in the tailpiece, and then proceed to secure the strings in the pegs.

If the strings are without tips

Replacing strings from a set without tips is more difficult. Insert the string into the hole in the bridge (tailpiece) and leave a margin of 3-5 cm at the end. Such tails will be needed to tie a knot that will hold the string.

Take your time and insert the strings one at a time. Trying to insert all six strings at once will complicate the replacement: the strings will get in the way and become tangled with each other.

Wrapping

Take the remaining tail and wrap the string around itself as if making a knot. Look at the image to see what needs to be done.

Weaving

Wrap the string around itself three to four times to create a distinctive braid. Do not braid the entire string allowance - we will still need a small free tail.

Securing the strings in the bridge using a knot

Bass strings

Press the string onto the soundboard as shown in the image. Grasp the tail and the rest of the string, and carefully tighten the knot.

Make sure the knot is tight before tightening other strings. A knot that is not strong enough will come undone when the strings are tensioned.

First three strings (melodic strings, treble)

Since the upper strings are smooth, make 2-3 more turns when braiding. This way you will protect yourself from the strings slipping while winding.

String tails

If you don't want changing strings on a classical guitar to become torture, don't do everything right. The remaining tails of the strings will protect us during tension. Without them, knots can come undone and strings can pop out.

Attaching strings to pegs

Bass strings

After all the strings have taken their places in the bridge, we will begin attaching them to the tuning mechanism. Insert each string into the special holes. Wrap it around the peg and thread it through the hole again. The resulting knot will securely hold the string.

Follow the order in which the strings are installed. Each of them has its own place in the tuning mechanism: strings 1 and 6 are located closer to the fingerboard, 2 and 5 in the middle, 3 and 4 closer to the edge of the headstock.

Slowly wind the strings using a machine. Make sure that the turns are spaced evenly.

Upper strings

The holes for the strings in the tuning mechanism are the same. Therefore, to secure the top three strings, you need to thread them twice, unlike the bass strings.

Most likely, you can make a double knot without problems for 1-2 strings, but the third string will have to be secured in the same way as the bass strings. It all depends on the diameter of the strings.

Guitar tuning and string stretching

This completes the replacement of strings on a classical guitar. All that remains is to configure the instrument.

Stretching and tuning a new set on a classical guitar involves one important caveat - the nylon strings continue to stretch for several days after being stretched. For this reason, the guitar will constantly be out of tune.

You can minimize instrument upset by pulling back the strings. To do this, tune the string and then pull it away from the fingerboard as shown in the figure. After holding the string in this state for 5-10 seconds, release it and tune again.

This simple operation will speed up the stretching of the strings. However, don't expect to get your new kit running smoothly in just a few hours.

Final stage

Once the strings are stretched and the guitar is in tune confidently, get rid of the excess string ends at the bridge and tuning pegs. Now that you know how to change strings on a classical guitar. Although the process is different, after a few times changing strings on a classical guitar will become a simple task.