Using a capo to make string changes easier...

[Kris N]

(You could call this the "no slack method"!)

I'm a visual learner, so does anyone have a video of this process? I feel like I take forever changing strings, and I'd love a new technique to cut this time down!

[Phil Goodson]

I've used Matt's 'lock back' method for many years, but have used sblock's 'no slack' method for the past year or so. Both methods have worked very well for me, with no slips or breaking of strings. Unless you find problems with either method on your personal mandolin, I can't see a way to argue strongly against either method.

[Denny Gies]

Now that's creative.

[bratsche]

Been doing a variation on the "no-slack" method since forever. Only difference is that I stick the string end through the tuner post hole before beginning to wrap it around the post, not after. That's because I've wanted to have one winding above the hole and the remaining windings underneath it. Don't know if that helps lock the string in place any better, but I've just been doing it that way instinctively ever since I started. I wind the string around the post with my right hand until a couple fingers on my left are almost stuck between it and the fretboard, so I can just pull them out before I begin winding the tuner peg. Very quick method.

bratsche

[Br1ck]

This whole restringing struggle issue is, IMHO, strictly tied to your tailpiece. I remember having to tape my strings to the tail piece of my Eastman all the time, and never on my Allen or the tailpiece of my Midhael Kelly.

Trying to resist buying a James for my Arches kit.

[sblock]

This whole restringing struggle issue is, IMHO, strictly tied to your tailpiece. I remember having to tape my strings to the tail piece of my Eastman all the time, and never on my Allen or the tailpiece of my Midhael Kelly.

Trying to resist buying a James for my Arches kit.

Yes, tailpieces can make a difference in restringing, but mostly in ways that depend on the method you use to restring. If you use the "no slack" method described earlier, then there is very little difference from one tailpiece to the next. The reason is that in the "no slack" method, you apply steady hand tension to the loop from the moment it's passed around the peg in the tailpiece. So nothing slips off, and there's nothing to worry about: you don't have to reach for a capo or pegwinder or a bit of Bluetack or tape to hold things in place or under other forms of tension. It's completely unnecessary with the "no slack" method. That said, some tailpieces do make it a bit easier to gain access to the pegs for the loops. Among the easiest are the Allen and James tailpieces -- or the Gibson-style ones, provided that their cover is missing! Otherwise, these are more of a nuisance. The hardest ones, IMO, also include the Weber tailpiece, which requires you to thread the string under the tailpiece after fastening around the peg.

[ajh]

For a good visual start at 3:10 on the Stewmac episode titled "Guitar Repair Tips From Lark Street Music".

https://youtu.be/kyB66J2NhW8

[Paul Busman]

For a good visual start at 3:10 on the Stewmac episode titled "Guitar Repair Tips From Lark Street Music".

https://youtu.be/kyB66J2NhW8

Exactamundo! I knew there had to be a video out there somewhere. I was about to make one if none showed up but this one is a lot more professional than one I could make.
If anyone hasn't tried this yet, they owe it to themselves to give it a whirl. It's SO fast and easy. I never had to do it but I'd think this would be especially terrific if you had to replace a string in the middle of a jam/session or a gig.

[Caleb]

I use a capo for string changes. I attach loop end to tailpiece post, get some tension, and then clamp capo on 5th or 6th fret to hold it. Makes it a lot easier.

Speaking of tailpieces, I do wonder about how some designs are settled on. Take Collings, they have posts for the string loops but no teeth to hold anything in place. My old Eastman had a better tailpiece because it had some teeth. My son has a Paris Swing and it's worse than the Collings design, the posts being shorter and stubbier. It's almost like they want to make string changes harder than they have to be.

[Mark Wilson]

You could call this the "no slack method"

Changed strings yesterday and used this method for about half the strings. The awkward bit was holding tension on the wrapped coils while feeding the string thru and taking up the slack.. I'm assuming I was making it harder than it should be.

On the first try, the time to fiddle with the task above made both methods go about as quick. The old way is fine, but I want to learn this method for the rare time when I'm not sitting at home with my luthier's bench rest and a glass of Malbec.

With a James TP, a Lynn Dudenbostel winder, and years of practice stringing up the conventional method in the I'm in 'old dog new trick' zone with this. I like to string instruments - it gives me time to reflect on how much I enjoy the look of them

I've used my shubb capo to hold down strings when I didn't have the James TP. TBH that worked well and saves the fuss of maintaining the loop on the post.

[ColdBeerGoCubs]

My technique, which is popular among many members of the MC, involves changing one string at a time

Hope you received a patent on this.

[Tobin]

Changed strings yesterday and used this method for about half the strings. The awkward bit was holding tension on the wrapped coils while feeding the string thru and taking up the slack.. I'm assuming I was making it harder than it should be.

Yeah, that's really the only tricky part about the no-slack method. After you do it enough times, you get the hang of it pretty easily.

On the larger wound strings, it's fairly simple to do the wraps and then pinch it with one hand around the post while feeding it through the hole with the other hand. Obviously, you need to turn the post in advance so that the holes are at a good angle for feeding the end through. Once the end is fed through and you can grab the free end, pull it taut. These larger strings will hold themselves pretty well until you crank the tuner a couple of times to get tension on the strings.

On the smaller plain strings, pinching them to the post after winding isn't as easy if you have larger fingers, but it can still be done. Where I tend to have problems is feeding the plain strings through and pulling them taut after wrapping them around the post. The small diameter and lack of outer winding makes them difficult to manipulate. So I use a set of small needle-nose pliers. And it helps to put on my cheater glasses to see those tiny wires into the holes of the posts. When I fish the wire through, I have to use some spare fingers on the hand that's pinching the post to hold the string from pulling back out of the hole while I get the pliers and grab that free end to pull it taut. Once it's taut, I continue to hold it with the pliers while my pinching hand turns the tuner button enough to put tension on it. It's a bit of an awkward set of movements, and you'll want to have your mandolin positioned just right in your lap to do it. But again, once you've done it a few times it gets smoother.

[mugbucket]

I've been using the method sblock describes for 8 years. It still amazes me that people have such troubles with string changes or have to resort to gadgetry. To each his own, though.

The small diameter and lack of outer winding makes them difficult to manipulate. So I use a set of small needle-nose pliers. And it helps to put on my cheater glasses to see those tiny wires into the holes of the posts. When I fish the wire through, I have to use some spare fingers on the hand that's pinching the post to hold the string from pulling back out of the hole while I get the pliers and grab that free end to pull it taut.

So, to recap: using a cheap spring actuated capo to maintain string to post tension and free up both hands during a string change amazes you, but using needle-nose pliers to maintain tension is perfectly normal.

Got it.

Whatever works is my motto.

[Tobin]

So, to recap: using a cheap spring actuated capo to maintain string to post tension and free up both hands during a string change amazes you, but using needle-nose pliers to maintain tension is perfectly normal.

The needle-nose pliers are what I use to trim the string ends anyway, since they have a wire-cutting center section. I'm pretty sure we all agree that this tool is part of a string change, no matter which method we use, yes?

But it's a fair point. I can do no-slack method without them; it just makes it more convenient to grab the string since my sweaty hands have a hard time holding onto a plain string.

[drbluegrass]

This, of course, depends very much on the string-changing technique you decide to use. I find it completely unnecessary. I also find it unnecessary to use a pegwinder, either. My technique, which is popular among many members of the MC, involves changing one string at a time, attaching the new string at the bridge under hand tension on the free end, and using that same hand tension to place the string into the appropriate notches on the bridge and nut, then wrapping the free end 3-4 times around the tuning post (depending in gauge), before passing it through the hole in the post. After that, it's a simple matter of a few turns of the tuner button to bring the string up to pitch, because it's already under mild tension from the outset! (You could call this the "no slack method"!) Finally, clip off the excess end. My strings never slip, never require paraphernalia to change, and are changed out just about as quickly as humanly possible. I'd encourage everyone to try it before reaching for capos or pegwinders! I changed to this technique a few years ago and have never looked back!

I'm a little slow sometimes so explain about wrapping the string, under light tension, around the post 3-4 times...and then you poke the free (sharp/cut) end of the string through the hole in the peg? Why is it even necessary to poke the remaining string through the peg hole? Does the small bit of string that's poked through the peg hole eventually tension itself? Intuitively for me, it seems the loose bit of string would not tension itself at all, therefore making the passing of the string through the peg hole unnecessary. The 3-4 wraps would have already tension-ed themselves enough that poking the free end through the hole would have no use. OTOH, maybe I'm making this much more complex than it needs to be?

[sblock]

I'm a little slow sometimes so explain about wrapping the string, under light tension, around the post 3-4 times...and then you poke the free (sharp/cut) end of the string through the hole in the peg? Why is it even necessary to poke the remaining string through the peg hole? Does the small bit of string that's poked through the peg hole eventually tension itself? Intuitively for me, it seems the loose bit of string would not tension itself at all, therefore making the passing of the string through the peg hole unnecessary. The 3-4 wraps would have already tension-ed themselves enough that poking the free end through the hole would have no use. OTOH, maybe I'm making this much more complex than it needs to be?

You need to realize that the hole is there in the tuning post for a reason! Wraps alone can slip, although each additional wrap generates additional friction that resists slippage. The string is bent into a right angle when it's passed through the hole in the post. That means that any minor slippage of the wraps (should this occur) happens in a direction that is perpendicular to the string going through the hole. So this minor slippage simply jams the side of the string against the side of the hole, blocking any further slippage from that point. (The only way it could manage to slip from there would be to start unbending the kink in the string, which would require extraordinary force). Put another way, the 90-degree bend in the string at the position of the post hole anchors the string.

Nearly all tuning posts and pegs on stringed instruments have holes in them for just this reason, so that the string gets passed through the hole and bent into a right angle before wrapping. Violin pegs do this (as do all violin-family instruments). Pianos do this (and all piano-family instruments, like harpsichord, clavichord -- and even zithers and hammered dulcimers). Guitars, basses, you-name-it all do it that way. Because it works!

[Bertram Henze]

The 3-4 wraps would have already tension-ed themselves enough that poking the free end through the hole would have no use.

What sblock said.
What can happen if the hole is not used: strings are elastic - if the end of the string comes loose, the whole coil of wraps can unfold from there and expand into a slightly larger coil that has no contact with the post in its center - sudden failure of friction, of tension.

[Dagger Gordon]

I have to admit that I'd never heard of using a capo to help change a string.

I'm pretty primitive. I take off two mandolin strings at a time, put on two new ones, tighten them up and move on to the next lot.

[Bertram Henze]

What can happen if the hole is not used: strings are elastic - if the end of the string comes loose, the whole coil of wraps can unfold from there and expand into a slightly larger coil that has no contact with the post in its center - sudden failure of friction, of tension.

P.S. you may have experienced the effect when stepping out of the shower with a towel wrapped around you, unsecured.

[V70416]

Old dog here;been doing it the hard way(locking then winding)for a long time. Will certainly try the "no slack" way next change.
Thanks for posting what seems to be common knowledge among many. I like making things easier when possible.

Please allow me to add a bit of OCD to the process. When time allows,I never allow a new string to be pressed against a fret(like the capo method does) until it has had time to be good and stretched out;not wanting to deform the string at that tension then deforming it again by playing/fretting after it has stretched.
May not be a problem with nylon strings;may not be a problem at all. I think I read about Reischman or somebody making sure the strings are not fretted until after sufficient time for them to be all stretched out.

I don't nip the string ends off as close as possible to the string post, I leave about 1/4" or less and use surgical needle-holders as my needle-nose pliers
to curl the ends of the strings tightly;so,no pokey ends. Kind of a pain/extra step when de-stringing.

I try to never be rushed when doing string changes;a luxury some cannot afford.

[greg_tsam]

The needle-nose pliers are what I use to trim the string ends anyway, since they have a wire-cutting center section. I'm pretty sure we all agree that this tool is part of a string change, no matter which method we use, yes?

Nope.I haven't cut my strings for years. I take a hard edge (like my keys) and run my strings over them turning them into curly ribbons. I can't stand piercing myself with short bits of wire..