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How the Hell do you Wind Guitar Strings?
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wordJamaica Plain, MARegistered User regular
wordJamaica Plain, MARegistered User regular
This is an embarrassing question for me to ask, as I have played the guitar for about seven years, but I cannot fucking figure out how to wind strings on an electric (or any steel string, for that matter) guitar. It's easy on nylon/classical guitars, because you can actually tie them. However on steel it seems like you're supposed to be able to just twist it a whole bunch and have it magically stay. The method I've been using as long as I've had my electric is to thread it through the nub, wind it around a few times, loop the string under itself, wind it a few more times and just hope it stays. That's worked for a while, but I just ruined a new pack of strings doing that. Is there an actual right way to do it? Diagrams would help.
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You don't just magically wind them, you put a loop in them so that the first turn comes over on the string and the tension holds the string in place. Simple, works wonders.
The basic idea is this: Put the string in the hole in the body of the guitar and put the pin in to lock it. Aim the tuner about 10 degrees away from the top of the guitar (so there's a very slight outward angle) and thread the string all the way through. Then, push back through some slack (in general, the right amount of slack is the distance from one tuning head to another). Then, thread the string toward the INSIDE of the neck, loop it under itself between the nut and the tuning knob, and then pull it straight up so it's coming up off the guitar at a 90 degree angle.
Then, tune up. You'll notice that the string holds itself to the tuner because you're going over that first little twist you made. You still have to pull both ends taut when you're tuning up until you get it tight enough, of course.
I have done this for years--wrap the thick stings (6, 5 & 4) three or four times around the peg and then thread the end through the hole. Wrap the thin strings (3, 2 & 1) five or six times around the peg before threading. This ensures there's some room for the string to stretch and bend--it will not affect tuning out of the ordinary.
Threading the string through the hole causes a kink, and therefore a weak point. By wrapping the string around the peg first, you are giving some play between that weak point and the neck. Otherwise, the string will break as soon as tension is applied to it.
First you thread the string through the machines, but you're going to need a fair bit of slack. The way I was taught to get this slack is to place your hand on the fret board, under the string, pinky against the board about halfway down the neck (sort of like you were trying to karate chop your guitar. Now take your hand out from under the string and you'll notice you have a lot of slack. Now place your thumb on top of the string about half an inch to an inch away from the machine you're using. Now you simply turn the tuning peg. Make sure you're applying a lot of force to the string with your thumb or else the string won't wind properly. If you do it right the string should wind under where the hole in the machine, not on top.
That probably doesn't make any sense at all to you.
Oops, that's what I meant. Just thread once.
Ensure that as you're turning the machine heads that the winds are all made underneath each other. - ie you want the winds to be stacked from top to bottom. Leave a little more slack on the G and B strings, as relatively speaking these are the lowest tension strings and the extra wind helps keep them tuned.
oh and cut those damn loose ends off .