Guitars Archives - Beckwith Strings

If They Ain’t Broke, Why Change?

Old and worn strings have a dull sound and do not stay in tune. Additionally, the instrument becomes more difficult (and painful) to play. I usually play three-hour length gigs. If the strings are near their end-of-life, my fingertips really ached at the end of the night – a problem I don’t experience with new strings. However, I’ve learned it’s usually time to buy new strings when the guitar’s tuning starts to slip on any of all of the treble (three thinnest) strings.

On the rare occasion, old strings may even start to buzz. As an aside, two weeks ago, a customer brought a guitar to my shop with an “A” string buzzing at the only at the 9th fret. I checked to see if any of the adjacent frets were high and causing the buzzing – they were not. I surmised the root cause was the string, changed it voila, the buzz was gone. As stated above, it’s rare but it does happen.

How Often Should I change my strings?

Most of us don’t realize how dull guitar strings sound until they’re replaced with a new set. If you experience any of the symptoms described above, change the strings. Note that that the “sore finger” guideline is only for seasoned players with built up callouses on their fingertips. I play minimum of ten hours/week and I change the strings about every four weeks. So they’re changed after approximately forty hours of playing time. String life will vary between the size (mediums, lights, extra-lights) of the string and by manufacturer.

One String At-a-Time or All-at-Once?

Years ago, I used to change one string at a time. This allowed me to use the remaining five strings as a reference to tune the new string. The advent of inexpensive microphone and later, clip-on vibration based tuners, made the one-at-a-time method was no longer necessary.

Either method (all at once or one-at-a-time) is ok, but my recommendation would be to change them all at once. Removing all of the strings gives you an opportunity to clean the body directly below the strings and the headstock around the tuners.

Either method (all at once or one-at-a-time) will work, but I recommend “all at once” this gives you an opportunity to more easily clean the body directly below the strings and the headstock around the tuners.

The one exception is a guitar with a floating bridge (usually found on archtop guitars). In this case change the strings one-at-a-time as string tension is holding the bridge in place. In this case, consider changing one-at-a-time or changing the four inner-strings and then the two outer (low-E and high-E) strings. This will ensure the bridge will stay in place and not impact the instrument’s intonation.

MYTH: Some players believe removing all the strings at once will impact the neck. This belief is is incorrect. The neck will “relax” with all the strings removed but it will go back to position once it is restrung and tuned.

Getting Down to Business

To properly string a guitar, we’ll will focus on three areas: inserting and pinning the ball-end of the string (acoustic), determining the correct length of string and wrapping the string on the tuning peg.

Pinning the String

Okay, the strings are off and you’ve cleaned the instrument. On an acoustic guitar, the first step is to put a slight bend (fig. 1) in the ball-end of the string where it leaves the bridge-pin hole. This is usually where the core (wrap) of the string ends. This bend will give your guitar it’s best volume (you may not be able to discern this increase in volume, but it is “technically” true). Next, insert the string into the bridge-pin hole, then insert the bridge pin so the slot in the pin is lined up with the string (fig. 2.) Finally, give a gentle, upward tug on the string so the ball catches at the end of the bridge-pin (fig. 3).

Figure 1. The ball end with a slight bend just ahead of the over-wrap of the string. — **Figure 1.** The ball end with a slight bend just ahead of the over-wrap of the string.

**Figure 2.** Insert string into bridge hole and align the bridge pin so the string fit’s inside its slot.

**Figure 3.** Press the bridge pin down as far as it will go. Then hold it in place with one finger than pull upwards so the ball of the string lodges against the underside of the guitar top. Here I use one hand as the other was holding the camera. It’s easier with two hands…

Once the string has been pinned, run the opposite end through the tuning post (fig. 4). Next take four fingers and put them under the string at the 14^th fret of the fingerboard (fig. 5) and pull the string taut (fig 6.). Next, bend the string as it exits the tuner towards the center of the neck head (fig. 7).

Figure 4. Line the tuner hole so the string will make a straight line from the bridge. — **Figure 4.** Line the tuner hole so the string will make a straight line from the bridge.

Figure 5. With four fingers of one hand under the string at either the 14th fret or where the neck meets the body, pull the string taut. — **Figure 5.** With four fingers of one hand under the string at either the 14th fret or where the neck meets the body, pull the string taut.

Figure 6. Turn the string towards the center of the headstock. On the bass strings, this is to the right, the treble strings go to the left. — **Figure 6.** Turn the string towards the center of the headstock. On the bass strings, this is to the right, the treble strings go to the left.

The Wrap

Once that bend has been made, bring it back around and under the string (between the nut and the tuner poster) then fold the string OVER towards the center of the headstock (figures 7 and 8). Start winding the string on the peg by turning the tuner button in the direction that the string Hold the string in one hand while pinning the excess string length with the index finger of that hand. Begin turning the tuner in the direction that will wind the string on the tuning post so it is on the inside of the tuner. Keep winding until taut. Proceed to installing the next string.

Figure 7. Take the excess string under the rest of the string where it enters the tuning post hole. — **Figure 7.** Take the excess string under the rest of the string where it enters the tuning post hole.

Figure 8. Fold the excess string back over on itself as shown above. Once the fold has been made, keep it pinned with your index finger and begin turning tuner to wind the string on the tuning peg so the string is on the inside of the tuner. — **Figure 8.** Fold the excess string back over on itself as shown above. Once the fold has been made, keep it pinned with your index finger and begin turning tuner to wind the string on the tuning peg so the string is on the inside of the tuner.

Tuning the Guitar

The next step is to bring the instrument up to concert pitch. We will use standard tuning (EADGBE) and a tuner. At this point, I recommend using a tuning instrument or have a piano handy to give you a reference tone. I prefer clip on tuners as pianos will not fit in my guitar case. Tune the Low E string first and proceed to the remaining five strings. Now you’re going to find that none of the strings are in tune and you have to go back and do it again

However, this time bring the low-E string slightly above the target tone and give the string a gentle tug by running two or three fingers under the entire length of the string (Figure 9). Once you’ve finished stretching the string. Check the tuning and tune again to the final pitch. Repeat this step of the remaining five strings.

Figure 9. Stretching the string. — **Figure 9.** Stretching the string.

New strings stretch and lose pitch until they reach their final length. This usually takes a few days. The stretching process described above greatly reduces the settling time to about the time it takes to play a few songs.

The final step is to use a pair of dykes (wire cutters) to trim the excess string from the tunings post(s). You can do this after each string is added, however I prefer this to be the last step in the process.

Figure 10 is of a well-strung instrument. Note each string only has two or three wraps on their respective posts. In contrast, Figures 11 and 12 illustrate some stringing which could lead to the problems described at the beginning of this text.

**Figure 10.** A clean stringing job. A few wraps around the tuning post and the excess strings

Figure 11. This guitar lose string ends that can rattle around, stick you in the finger. The bass strings seem to have the proper number of wraps while the treble strings have to many... — **Figure 11.** This guitar lose string ends that can rattle around, stick you in the finger. The bass strings seem to have the proper number of wraps while the treble strings have to many…

Figure 12. This guitar has to much string wrapped around the tuning posts. — **Figure 12.** This guitar has to much string wrapped around the tuning posts.

Keep Playing!

– Steve

A guitar set-up – what is it and why should I care?

In short, it’s the height of the strings above the frets along the entire fingerboard. The string height is a matter of individual preference. When properly set, it can be the difference between a struggle and pleasure when playing your guitar.

This discussion intended to explain a proper set-up and how to accomplish it. It is not intended as a set-up tutorial. Additionally, it is limited to an acoustic guitar set-up but the concepts are the same for an electric guitar.

There are three areas of concern in a guitar set-up: (1) neck relief (straightness of the neck) and the string height at both the (2) lower and (3) upper frets regions of the neck.

Neck relief is the first item to be checked before any other adjustments are made. If needed, a twist of the truss rod will correct any straightness issue. However, don’t try doing this yourself before talking to a guitar tech. Cranking on the truss-rod may seem to work, but using it as a method to set-up a guitar will cause playing problems (buzzing, etc.) further down the road.

In some cases, the neck relief is so far out of alignment, no amount of adjusting the truss rod will correct it and the neck will need a “reset”. Depending on construction of the guitar, this can be an expensive proposition. However, this is fairly rare and is usually only required on older instruments.

Once the neck relief has been checked and adjusted. The next step is to measure the height of the strings from the top of the 12^th fret to the bottom of each string. An “average” set-up height is 0.125 (8/64) inches on the low-E string. The remaining five strings are progressively lower.

Figure 1. Measuring the string height from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the low-E string. — **Figure 1.** Measuring the string height from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the low-E string.

When I first started building, I set-up my guitars with this specification – expecting it to address all playing styles and then do another adjustment when it was sold if the customer preferred a higher or lower string height. This didn’t last long. To a person, the feedback on my guitars were “great sound, but the action is high”. Soon, I began setting the action of new instruments to 6.5~7/64 of an inch. Now the feedback is they sound great and are easy to play.

Setting the action at the 12^th fret is accomplished by lowering (or raising) the height of the saddle. In an acoustic guitar this is done by carefully removing material from the saddle. This is tricky business, in the event too much material is removed, string buzz will occur at the upper frets and a new bridge will have to be fabricated (some techs will “shim” the bridge, but a shim may not transfer string energy to the guitar top as efficiently as solid bone). Once the height at the 12^th fret is satisfactory. The action at the lower frets can be adjusted.

Figure 2. Measuring the string height at the first fret with a custom micrometer. A ruler with 1/64-inch increments (Figure 1) or a feeler gauge will work just as well. — **Figure 2.** Measuring the string height at the first fret with a custom micrometer. A ruler with 1/64-inch increments (Figure 1) or a feeler gauge will work just as well.

First, the string height over the 1^st fret is measured. I look for a string height of 0.015 to 0.020 inches from the bottom of the low E string to the top of the 1^st fret. The other two bass strings have similar parameters while the three treble strings have a lower height.

If the string height at the 1^st fret is to high on a particular string, then the nut slot in which the string sits, needs to be carefully filed down so the string sits lower in the nut. It is to low (the string buzzes when unfretted), then the slot needs to be raised.

Once all adjustments have been made, I perform a final check on the guitar by simply playing it at various neck positions and also checking for buzzing by fretting each string up the neck and return the instrument back to the happy customer.

Keep playing!

-Steve

Next Monthly Jam: November 3rd 2024, 12pm-3pm

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