Electric Guitars

[crashclc]

Unwind with a string winder, then cut the wound ends off so they pass through the bridge easily.

This :thu:

[pinkvoid]

LOOSEN first.. OMG what if it jumps right into my eye?!? On a similar topic.. to you cut/restring each string at a time or cut all of them, then restring?

[bluesnapper]

One of these is a must...

[Blackface]

A friends dad told us tales of his bass player boiling his strings back in the day to "renew" them and save some dough. Haven't tried it myself but apparently it works.

I've heard of bass players doing that also. I even think I've seen it in a book about guitar maintance.

[FarToMany]

I've heard of bass players doing that also. I even think I've seen it in a book about guitar maintance.

Works great if you still like dull sounding strings that are now clean. Yes, I have tried it with bass and guitar strings too.

Anyways, back to the OP question, I now loosen then cut. I cut mine above the nut. Years ago I used to just wack them off, but quickly realized with locking trems that it slams it into the back of the body. I stopped doing it after that.

[pinkvoid]

How long does it take you do change strings? it always takes me longer that i think it would.. usually about 10-15 mins.

[bluesnapper]

How long does it take you do change strings? it always takes me longer that i think it would.. usually about 10-15 mins.

Not too long... 5 minutes, then a couple more to stretch them in. I've got pretty quick at it - I've taken the back plate off my Strat for easy access. I can easily change a broken string mid-set as long as someone else in the band has got a good joke to fill the space.

[lz4005]

Works great if you still like dull sounding strings that are now clean.

It can help old strings intonate a little better by cleaning out the finger grunge from between the windings. But not really enough to bother with. Won't do a damn thing for plain strings.

[caveman]

Loosen the tension a bit and undo the thumb wheel.

[ExiledCrow]

Unwind a bit and then snip, snip.

[J-E-M]

My wife hates when I leave the remains of guitar strings laying around the house. She especially hates it when they are embedded in the carpet waiting to puncture a bare foot. I personally loosen, then cut them near the end where they are all bent from the post. I throw out the "ends", and then coil the rest of the string tightly so they don't come unwound in the trash can and stick through the side of the bag. It's a skill only a guitar player could appreciate.

This.
Also, I change one string at a time, with the guitar still tuned. I feel this keeps the tuning, intonation, relief, etc relatively unaffected.

[noisebloom]

I unwind the strings, then cut the coiled ends after I remove them.

[Help!I'maRock!]

One of these is a must...

why not just use the pair of wire cutters you've had for 20 years and buy the $2 winder instead?

[brandass]

I cut one at a time, with safety glasses on to save my corneas.

[DaveAronow]

I usually just keep tuning up till they finally break.

Am I doing it wrong?

[bubkus_jones]

why not just use the pair of wire cutters you've had for 20 years and buy the $2 winder instead?

Those cheap $2 winders always fell apart on me quite quickly, and wire cutters might be needed elsewhere. One of these will last you quite a while and can be kept either in your case or with the rest of your guitar-specific tools. As far as the original question, I detune to take the tension off, then snip close to the nut. Leaves a long enough length to tie up and make it neat when you toss them, and leaves a long enough piece that you can easily take it out of the machine head.

[Weiner_Bomb]

^^ when I was working at an auto shop installing hitches I had asked if I could get a pair of side cutters to aid in some wire snipping. Not one person out of probably ten knew what side cutters were..

In my upbringing, they were always referred to as 'dykes', 'wire cutters' etc. I never heard the term 'side cutters' until I took a tech class.


I guess our 'tech' in question never had enough eye injuries to make a lasting impression..

[Canadian Jeff]

I give my strings last rights and a final meal before cutting them off. No, wait, I just cut them with my right hand, above the neck pickup, while my left hand holds the strings down (to keep them from flying about) near the 15th fret.

[jimash]

I take them off in one piece. Either one at a time, or for deep cleaning , all get loosened and then removed after they are all loose .
Cutting them so they snap is mildly dangerous and makes for too fast a tension change.
And as hard as it is to disengage the G-String from the machine head, the way I lock them, it is better to fight with it than have string ends all over the place.

[BeanoBoy]

Unwind.