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Tech question – Changing guitar strings
When changing strings, do you remove all of them before putting on new ones? I was taught to remove and replace them one at a time. This was to maintain tension on the neck, and not release the tension all at once. I guess that could result in the neck warping?
I once watched a guitar player take wire cutters to her strings and just snip snip. She said that was how she always did it? I gasped. I do not cut them. I unwind them.
Am I being a little OCD about the process, or better yet, maybe my guitar teacher was a little OCD, I mean ocd. Perhaps I have carried on his neurotic behavior for far too long,
JP
New strings Low E to high E, or high to low?
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2 Replies
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Hi JP!
It depends. When I feel like the fretboard is becoming a biohazard I will take off all the strings to give the fretboard a good clean and oiling. Sometimes I’ll do it like you said and replace them one at a time, especially when I’m changing strings on something with a Bigsby or floating bridges (like my Gretsch) and don’t want the pieces to go flying everywhere.But then, under the tremolo and around the bridge is also where a lot of dust settles that is hard to get rid of without destringing completely.
I’d say for me it’s probably 50:50.
Oh and if I cut the strings with a wire cutter, I ALWAYS loosen them first. Cutting them under tension is terrible for the guitar and potentially even more terrible for your eyeballs 😉 -
Very helpful response, Lisa. Thank you. Brian
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