Changing strings!!!!

[somanyrhodes]

Who else has the worst time changing strings? It is the WORST!!!! Please help me find a better way. or link to a good tutorial. It takes me forever to change a set. either I have too much wound or not enough or it keeps slipping off the peg. HELP!

Thank you.

[JEStanek]

Nate. I really like using this method at Frets.com (http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Mandolin/MandoString/mandostring1.html) Step by step instructions and photos.

I also recomend getting a capo if you're struggling. For your Weber, thread the tuner end of the string under the tailpiece and hook onto the tailpiece post. Then clamp the string down with the capo. Now you have two hands to do the tuner peg business. It still takes me about 20-30 minutes to change them out. Do them one at a time.

Jamie

[somanyrhodes]

Jamie,
Thanks for the link and tips. this is the only thing
I hate about playing and if I can make changing easier then it will be a beautiful thing.

Thank you!

[auteq]

It ain't great, but who cares if you do take 30 min...multi-task. I usually change them during baseball or football games ...where I have no attachment to either team, (as a Skins fan I call that time the playoffs)
...or a movie I have seen many times. Anything with Tim Robbins seems to be on all times on cable. (Bull D., Shaw S., etc.)

[JEStanek]

Nate, if you really hate it, there's no shame in having someone do it for you at a shop... If you got the money and the time... This is why I like the JazzMando strings or TIs they last so long...

Jamie

[woodwizard]

I change them one at a time starting with the G string.

1.Take the old one off and stick the new one through the peg pin, slip the loop on the tang at the tail. Pull the slack out and make sure the string is in the bridge slot and nut slot. While the slack is pulled out bend a right angle on the string about 1-1/4 past the peg post.

2. Next (and this is just a little tricky but pretty easy when you get use to it)... unhook the loop off the tang and while holding your finger on the "right angle bend against the peg pin with right angle pointing up" wrap the string clockwise on the G & D's and counterclockwise on the A & E's ... one time, pull the slack out and re-attach loop on tang. Keep the slack out by lifting up the string with your thumb and at the time pressing down on the string with your index finger. While doing this make sure the string is still in the slots. Wind her up with a string winder. Repeat

It's harder to discribe than it it is to do. I can change strings in less than 15 minutes if I want but I usually take my time. Tuning and stretching as I go. I don't think anyone really enjoys changing strings. It's just part of it.

[Mike Bunting]

Practice makes perfect.

[SincereCorgi]

This might be obvious to people who have done it a lot, but having a decent platform makes a huge difference. I'm used to stringing guitars at work by setting them on a waist-high counter with a soft pad on it (standing up makes you more mobile, now that I think about it). This is so convenient that I kind of hate to do it at home now. Maybe spread a towel on the kitchen table and see if it speeds things up?

[Randi Gormley]

I kinda like changing strings; i pretend it's a zen moment or something and just take my time. I just hate poking my finger with the wire. But if it really is more effort than it's worth, and you find yourself playing with dead strings just because you don't want to mess with restringing, find someone to do it for you -- really. My teacher was surprised that I change my own strings. Most of his other female students get all hissy and he does it for them!

[AlanN]

Count me in the 'Enjoy changing strings' camp. Gives a chance to 'get under the hood' a bit, inspect/clean up certain areas, make sure everything is working as it should. It doesn't take me long, but it ain't a race, either.

[Bertram Henze]

I like changing strings every 3 months. But then I have an OM and ball-end strings, i.e. no loops unhooking and only one pair of plain strings... :grin:
But I use the frets.com method for the plain strings - fix it with a back loop at the post, because more windings around the post hardly increase friction.

[JeffD]

I have made a whole "thang" out of it. I put up a pot of coffee, put out needle nose pliers, wire cutters, string winders, intelli-tuner, and the band-aids and peroxide, invite over my mandolin/guitar duet partner, and we spread blankets on the dining room table, put on some music, and we change strings together, usually getting 3 or 4 mandolins and or guitars done.

Almost something to look forward to. Almost.

[jmcardle]

There's a really great video on Youtube that takes you through the whole process. Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Hk34p2OBA

Like this guy, I also like to change the strings one at a time.

[Rick Schmidlin]

Five years later, no problem and a pleasent exsperance:)

[Steve Ostrander]

I do it while watching a Red Wings hockey game. Makes it more pleasurable for me. Kind of a ritual.

[un5trung]

I like the video jmcardle submitted -- I'll bookmark it! Here's another which, because it's from a guitar store, also features advertisements for D'Addario products. But if you can ignore the product placements it's still an instructional bit:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/LMS/Viewer.aspx?vid=118351

[Perry Babasin]

Capo!!!! OMG I love it!! Sometimes genius is astounding in it's simplicity...

Thanks............ Perry

[John Durkan]

I'm the designated string changer in the group i play with and I enjoy doing it, unless it's at a gig and needs to be done quickly.

[JEStanek]

I got the capo idea from a number of folks here. It's a third hand for string changes!

Jamie

[Ancient]

to string changing add a little Zen. It works.

[mandroid]

One string at a time , , sometimes I just change the 4 wound ones, as they sound dead first,

Bronze is softer than the frets underneath them , and will change shape fretting..