Happy Friday friends! So today I wanted to share with you a few tips that I learned on guitar maintenance! 1) if your guitar strings are rusty, its time to change them. 2) if your guitar is dusty, clean it up. 3) if you want to protect your guitar, invest in a case that will do the job. (Craigslist, pawn shops, musiciansfriend) 4) know your fingers, if you have sensitive fingers or if you are new at playing and you have not built callouses then use light strings or extra light. You may be sacrificing sound quality a bit, however you may practice more if your fingers dont get too beat up. 5) play with different string brands, find something within your budget and go for it. I personally have used Martin & Co, Ddarios, fender, and I have settled on Elixirs as my go to brand. 6) use guitar oil, or a gentle wood cleaner to spruce up your guitar, NEVER spray cleaner directly at your guitar, rather use the cloth and wipe your instrument down with it. 7) some people are hard core about this... Remove and replace one string at a time, it was explained to me that by doing so you retain the tension on the neck. I cant confirm or deny how much it affects the tension, but since I lead taught to do it this way, this is how I normally do it. Today I wanted to clean the neck really well, so I removed three at a time.Thank you Jonathan Gordon 8) remember which way to wind the strings, my first time, I admit I wound the top strings the wrong way and had to fix it. The top 3 strings (E A D) go counter clockwise to tighten and sharpen, clockwise to make the sound go flat. The bottom three strings (G B E) will go the opposite way. 9) loosen the strings and then remove the strings, once you relieve the tension and take the string off the tuning peg. leave the hole on the tuning peg facing the strings so it is easier to put it through. Then pull the pin with your fingers, if it is too tight, simply push the string into the hole, that should loosen the pin. (Thank you Jeremy Moss) 10) clean the neck, clean around the sound hole, also known as Macarena. 11) its time to put in your string into the hole of the base aka bridge, replace the bridge pin, and push it down. Once in place pull up on the string to secure it, if the pin comes up some, press it down again. 12) pull the other end of the string through the tuning peg hole, then pull it around and under the rest of the string. This is tricky, it took several failures and a few dozen youtube videos before I learned how to do it. I have seen a few different methods, so I encourage you to find something that works for you! Some people tie the end of the string before they start winding it up. Next, as you guessed it, wind the string. I learned to pull the tension as you wind it, so it does not slip. I prefer to leave a small amount of slack of string on the tuning peg, enough for it to twist around the peg twice on the top three strings, and up to 4-5 times around the smaller ones, because it has slipped on me in the past creating a real problem if you precut the loose ends. 13) once you finish all 6 strings, stop, take a break, get something to drink, and pat yourself on the back because youre almost done. 13.2) get back to work, now you must tune the guitar. I have a handheld tuner that can be used to plug the guitar into it and make it very accurate, but not all guitars are acoustic/electric, most of the time I use an app on my phone or tablet. An important step is to retune the next day, because the new strings are tighter and they will take some time to settle in. If you need to play it right away, to hear what it sounds like and rock out some sweet tunes, then simply stretch the strings by hand. Place your hand near the 12th fret of the guitar (basically in the middle of it) and carefully give each individual string a tug, pull it up and then down in a firm but gentle motion. Keep in mind that your strings are already tight, so be gentle, dont pull it up too hard or too much because they will break. Again thank you @jonathan. Ps, you may now cut the excess string, some people like to like to curl the ends and leave them hanging on their guitar, I personally think it looks tacky on my guitar, so I use a needle nose pliers to cut them. I cut mine as close as possible to avoid unwanted pokes from it. (I know there are winding tools that can turn the tuning peg and cut the excess string, I promise I will buy one soon) 14) after stretching the strings out, tune once again, you will see that the strings went flat, tune them until your heart is content. 15) you are finished, find the person closest to you and high five them! Then play until your fingers hurt, wait a few hours and repeat. 15.2) Im sorry #10 was a joke, the sounds hole is not know as Macarena. 16) I almost forgot, save the new strings box, if you end up loving your new strings you will need to remember the exact model and brand you are using. I have been stuck playing strings that didnt suit me because I forgot to do this. At the very least take a picture of it on your phone and save it for next time. In all seriousness, worship God, love your neighbor! TGIF, -Mario
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 19:51:42 +0000