Licks & Tips: Stringing Your Guitar

[@johnstandefer]

There is always something new to learn about guitars. 2013 marks my 50th year with a guitar in my lap and it teaches me something new every day... JS

[@johnstandefer]

Thanks Rob. Yeah, Brooks and I are having a blast getting ready to unleash our duo onto the public soon. Keep pickin' up there! JS

[@kingbird56]

Thanks for this--I learn something new every time!

[@rrrrockin]

Thanx john great vid ,,,nifty little trick there on the winding ,,,lol,,,hope you are well and having fun with your duo ...cheers

[@johnstandefer]

Don - You are absolutely right. There are a few guitars where that is an issue. I change strings on f-hole guitars separately to keep the platform bridge from moving, and on biscuit type resonator guitars to keep pressure on the cone, etc. Good observation. I was just thinking of the plain acoustic guitar that I was stringing in the demo. So... everyone else: add this thought to the mix! JS

[@johnstandefer]

Steve - This is the twin sister to the Larrivee I won at Winfield (my son's guitar). The black tuners (ebony) were not stock but you can find ebony tuner knobs for Schaller tuners with a little internet research, or just get a whole new set. Another nice set is the Schertler ebony gears, which will be used on my new JS model Bertoncini that is in the works. Anyway, the ebony knobs look really nice on a Larrivee in my opinion. All the best... John

[@johnstandefer]

Thanks Richard. There are a lot of variations to stringing different types of guitars, of course, but I'm glad this was useful... JS

[@DonMitchell50]

One caveat, John: I've learned the hard way that if you have an under saddle transducer pickup--& especially if you've had any string balance issues--never take all the strings off such that the saddle can move. The slightest movement of that saddle may mess up your string balance on a tranducer that has individual crystals for each string (Takamines, for instance are like this). On my Takamine 132cs I always change one string at a time, working from the outside to the center.

[@dirtyfishole]

I thought I knew every trick there was to restringing. I was wrong. Thanks John!

[@johnstandefer]

Sounds like you're on the right track. Cheers... JS

[@Catman7442]

I've never had the peg thing explained to me (a la drawing, yanking it into place with loose peg) and had no idea for 40 years. Method books gloss right over it, or describe nylon strings, which is more obvious. Rest of the tips are great, too. Thx.

[@Softshoe_Racer]

Sure hope to see you at CAAS in July !

[@caniwim12]

Hi John, excellent post as usual, like the drill mount string winder, must sort one of those myself, I have a question for you, I have a Larrivee guitar as well, did you get yours with the black tuning heads, nice look, would like to get some myself (is that the Larrivee you won?) Thanks John and God bless Steve

[@johnstandefer]

Yeah, I know. The whammy bar thing adds a lot of complication and excitement to the process. And even the difference between various styles of whammy bars makes it more complicated. I'm also asked about stringing a nylon string guitar, which has another set of rules. At the moment I have some other 'licks & tips' videos that I plan to publish over the springtime, but I may eventually get to these other stringing videos. Meanwhile, send questions at 'ask john' at the site and I'll answer them.

[@jerrylovesann]

Great tips John. How about string changing on a whammy bar guitar?

[@HerbWalker]

I have used Lemon Oil on a T-shirt for many years!

[@HerbWalker]

So John, You are saying the GREEN STRINGS on my Stratocaster need to be changed?? LOL Great video !!