How To String a Guitar: The Quick Start Guide

As a guitar player, you'll need to know how to maintain and adjust your guitar to meet your playing style and needs. Even the highest-quality guitar can sound less than pleasant when it's not set up quite right.

While you could take your guitar to a music shop or even a luthier (a professional guitar builder), there are quite a few adjustments you can make yourself at home, saving you a little cash and also giving you back that precious time you would have been without your instrument.

Here's how to string your guitar to give its sound a little more life again.

Why Should I Learn To Adjust My Guitar?

While it may sound more ideal to take your guitar to a professional to have it adjusted (especially if you're still learning how to even play the guitar), it's important to learn the skills for yourself so you can better understand your instrument.

While it's true that a luthier is the solution for major adjustments and repairs, a lot of changes to your guitar are quick and easy and will be based on your own preference in terms of feel and sound.

A guitar is a balancing act.

If the strings are too far away from the neck, it will become hard to play.

If the strings are too close to the neck, it will cause a buzz or vibration.

The tension of the strings pulls the wood of the neck, causing it to flex. If there's not enough flex, fret 12 will sit much closer than frets 1 or 22 and result in an inconsistent feel while playing; on the other hand, too much flex can cause the fretboard to arch like a bow.

Small changes, such as changing your guitar's string gauge or string material, can change the tension or pulling force against the neck, resulting in a need to adjust the truss rod in your guitar.

With time and practice, making these minor adjustments will help you get a better understanding of why your guitar sounds like it does, while also helping you learn how to adjust your guitar to get the sound and feel you want out of it.

How Often Should I Change My Guitar Strings?

There's no set interval or rule about when you should change your guitar strings --- the key thing to consider is wear.

You never want to play on worn-out strings. Sound is created from the string as it vibrates rapidly; the tighter the string is pulled, the faster it vibrates, creating a higher pitch.

A string pulled tight will eventually stretch over time. This stretching can change the characteristics of the string, ultimately changing the sound it produces.

Another form of wear with guitar strings are known as "flat spots" or a flat string. As you press and bend the string against a fret, it wears down the metal and eventually flattens the edge.

Other forms of wear you should watch for are deteriorating coatings, which is most often noticed on your fingertips after playing, or oxidation, which can appear as a green tint or even rust depending on the string material.

All of that said, if you're playing your guitar fairly regularly (a few times a week), we recommend you change your strings every two to four months.

What Tools Do I Need To Change My Guitar Strings?

Before you start tearing your guitar apart, you'll want to gather all the tools you need.

The absolute basics include:

● A stable, clean table or counter large enough to lay your guitar on
● New strings
● Guitar tuner
● Pair of wire cutters
● Pair of pliers or a bridge pin tool (for acoustics using bridge pin)

While these aren't directly related to replacing your guitar strings, it's a great time to have these handy:

● Microfiber towel
● Fretboard conditioner or light oil
● Guitar cleaner

How To String Your Guitar: Step by Step

Whenever taking your guitar apart, it's important to take your time, slowly reducing the tension of the old strings for removal and then slowly adding the tension back as you adjust your new strings.

Before replacing any part on your guitar, take the time to inspect each component while it's still attached and after you remove it. You should also check any parts that are brand new in a box before putting them on.

Check the body, neck, pickups, knobs, switches, and any other components for cracks and general looseness. This is the best time to tighten things up and make repairs.

Before stringing your guitar, lay your strings out organized from the largest gauge to the smallest to ensure they're in order.

Step 1: Loosen the Strings

With the guitar laying on a flat surface, go from string to string, loosening them until there isn't any tension --- they should be loose enough that you can no longer pluck the string. 

If you're unsure which way you're going, it helps to pluck the string to ensure you're turning in the right direction (the pitch should get lower and lower as the string gets looser).

This is also a great time to really look over the intricacies of your guitar if it's your first time changing strings --- take mental notes of how everything is put together and connected.

Step 2: Cut the Strings

You'll need wire cutters for any "through" style guitar, where the string is pulled through the body or through a rear mount, such as with a Bigsby.

While wire cutters aren't needed for acoustics with bridge pins, it makes the job more manageable.

Once the string is loose enough, cut the string near the sound hole or center pickups. You'll want to hold the long end of the string along the fretboard so it doesn't slide around and scratch the guitar face.

Step 3: Remove the Strings

Unwind the string from around the tuning posts, being cautious not to cut your hands with the sharp ends. Dispose of the long end of the string.

For acoustics using bridge pins, you'll need to use a pair of pliers or a pin tool to lift the pin straight up. Do not rotate or bend the pins.

For through-style strings, gently lift the rear of the guitar and allow the string to be pressed out of the back. Be cautious to ensure that small hardware, such as washers, don't fall out as you remove the string.

Step 4: Clean the Guitar

With all strings removed, it's the perfect time to clean your guitar. Before using any oils or sprays on your guitar, check the label for the cleaner's intended surface materials.

Some cleaners are specific to wood materials for the fretboard, while others are designed for gloss or matte finishes. If you have gold-plated pickups or accents, use extreme caution, as many cleaners can strip or dull the coating.

With any cleaner, spot-check first on a small area on the back of the guitar. This will give you a chance to test the cleaner and ensure it's not altering your finish.

Step 5: Install the New Strings

One at a time, insert your new strings through the body or into the bridge pins.

If you're using bridge pins, press the string through the hole and insert the pin with the opening facing the fretboard. Firmly press the pin down while gently pulling the string up.

If you're inserting the string through the guitar, pull the string straight out the top, avoiding dragging it along the side of the hole.

Step 6: Pull String Through the Right Tuning Peg

Pull the string up to the correct tuning peg.

On an H-style headstock, the low E string will go to the peg closest to the nut on the left, and on stacked tuner-style headstocks, the low E string will go to the peg furthest to the left.

If you're stringing a left-handed guitar, these will be the opposite.

Step 7: Check Your Winding Direction

When installing new strings, you'll want the windings around the tuning peg to leave the string in the straightest, most comfortable position between the bridge nut and the tuning peg.

Extreme angles could cause the string to jump or pop out of the string nut.

For many guitars, the string comes from the center and wraps up and around the nut. Your guitar may be different, though, so take the time to check.

Step 8: Cut the Right String Length

Rotate the tuning peg until the through hole aligns down the neck of the guitar.

Insert the string and pull it through, tight past the head.

Find a point that is four to six inches past the tuning peg, and pinch that point between your fingers. Slide this point back to the tuning peg and bend it around the peg. This will ensure the string doesn't slip out.

Once you have this bend, use the wire cutters to cut away some of the excess string length. You should still leave at least a couple of extra inches at this point.

Step 9: Wrap Your String

While some resources state you should crisscross the string as you wind it, and others state to overlap the string, this isn't really necessary. The bend you've added at the end of the string paired with the physical pressure once it's tightened will ensure the string doesn't move or loosen.

What is essential is ensuring you have two or three full twists around the peg before the string is at tension. This means larger strings, such as your low E string, will need a slightly longer length than thinner strings, such as your high E string.

As you tighten the tuning nut, watch the string wrap around the peg, ensuring the wraps are tight and stacked cleanly. If you have slight overlapping, this could later shift and affect tension, so a clean wrap is best.

Tighten each string until it's snug, ensuring it falls into the correct slot along the nut. Don't tighten the string to tune yet --- just until it's snug.

Step 10: Tune the Guitar

Once all the strings have been replaced and are tightened to be snug, you can begin tightening the strings to tune.

It's the perfect time to take advantage of the Rocksmith+ Connect Guitar Tuner. This easy-to-use professional grade tuner offers over 30 easy tuning presets, so you can easily tune your guitar whether you're setting it back to E Standard Tuning or you're going for bluesy Open G Tuning --- best of all, it's free.

As you tune the guitar one string at a time, it's not uncommon for tuned strings to go slightly out of tune as other strings are tightened. This is due to that balance of tension we talked about earlier.

New strings also often fall out of tune as they rest or relax on the guitar. This usually happens in the first few minutes --- this is normal, so plan to re-tune the guitar shortly after you've finished changing strings and have tuned it the first time.

Once the guitar is in tune, you can go back through each string and trim the end near the peg a bit shorter. It's not required, but many players prefer a cleaner look without flappy tails.

Play a Song, Hear the Difference

Now that your guitar is re-strung with new strings, it's time to start playing your favorite songs and enjoying how fresh your guitar sounds.

If you're trying new strings, it can be helpful to take notes about the things you like or dislike about the new set, especially when it comes to preferences around sound and feel as you play familiar songs. Finding the perfect string is a personal preference, and can take time, so don't feel discouraged if these new strings aren't quite what you thought they'd be.

As you explore your new strings, Rocksmith+ has new songs for you to try them out with. With more than 6,000 songs that you can play at different difficulties ranging from 1 to 100, Rocksmith+ is the most advanced interactive learning platform to guide you toward your guitar-playing goals. Playing at 100% difficulty means you'll be playing note for note, just like the original artist --- our difficulty system allows you to work your way up to performance-level skills.

Your strings are strung, tuned, and ready to go, so pick a song and get to playing!

Sources:

What is a Guitar Luthier and How to Become One? | Musicians Institute

Longitudinal Waves and Guitar Strings | The Physics Classroom