joeymetro Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I have heard people say guitars were ruined by taking all the strings off at once. Recently I read in a guitar book that it was ok to take them all off. What is the truth? I have always taken one string at a time on and off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcwillow777 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 You can take them all off and it won't hurt the guitar. I usually just take one off a time when I restring, unless I'm doing it on my Dot with a Bigsby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickblues1 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Removing all the strings will ruin a neck - myth perpetrated by persons who have never seen a guitar before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I don't know the official word on this, and I've heard both sides. However..... I've always taken all the strings off my guitars when changing strings. I've also taken this opportunity to wax the guitar. The neck on my 69-70 Gibson ES-330 is as nice as the day I bought it, so I suppose for this caliber of a guitar, it's OK. Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerxst1281733995 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 If taking all the strings off a guitar will ruin it, I must have a bunch of RUINED guitars around here! Strictly speaking, it's best to maintain constant tension on the neck, so changing the strings one at a time isn't a bad idea... But the neck will not be damaged if all the strings are removed.. If you let it sit around without any strings for an extended period of time, the neck may shift and become convex (back bow), but that hardly ruins it.. A minor adjustment of the truss rod will fix that... Sometimes, all it takes is re-establishing tension on the neck to pull it back into relief.. Sometimes, you have to take all the strings off.. If you're cleaning/conditioning the fretboard, or doing work on the frets or the nut... When I change the strings on my Casino, I take all the strings off, because it's easier to deal with the tail-piece that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copper1281734000 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 It won't ruin a guitar or even damage it. I go to guitar stores and see techs changing strings and they take them all off at once. If you change pickups, bridges, tail piece, nut, fret work, neck condition and oiling, then how would that be done with ruining the guitar? The guitar will be alright, just don't leave like that for extended periods of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Plus, when most people ship a guitar via the mail, UPS or FedEx, they take the tension off the strings, which as far as the neck is concerned, is just like having no strings on it. Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwpete521281734008 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 "I have heard people say guitars were ruined by taking all the strings off at once." FALSE! I've been playing the guitar since before Kennedy was in the White House. I can tell you that is a myth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesPaul Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 The only damage I've observed in this case is due to brain fade more than taking off the strings. You take off the strings, remove the stop bar but forget to take the bridge off. Then you knock the bridge off the posts and it chips the top. I haven't done it myself (yet) but have seen 2 LPs that suffered from it. Be careful out there. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suho Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 "I have heard people say guitars were ruined by taking all the strings off at once." Yes, and you will go blind and/or get hairy knuckles if you... ;) Oh shucks. But seriously, if you have a floating bridge, you probably don't want to do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerxst1281733995 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 "I have heard people say guitars were ruined by taking all the strings off at once." Yes' date=' and you will go blind and/or get hairy knuckles if you... ;) Oh shucks. But seriously, if you have a floating bridge, you probably don't want to do that.[/quote'] Yeah, my Viola bass has a floating bridge... It's a pain to intonate... That's why McCartney gave up on the Hofner and started playing the Rickenbacker full time... The last time I changed the strings on the Viola, I had to take all the strings off because one of them was jammed in the tailpiece pretty good and I couldn't get it out without taking the tailpiece off.. I measured the position of the bridge before I took the strings off, so I would have a reference point for repositioning it, but getting everything back on without something falling off was a fiasco... I could've used a third hand for that job! Then once everything was back on with the strings and all, it was about an hour of nudging the bridge back and forth to get the intonation right.... Or close, anyway... At least I used the opportunity to give 'er a good wax and polish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpach10115 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Here's a good brain teaser: Drink 6 beers, then change every OTHER string. Try to remember where you left off.;)/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickblues1 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Lerxst - take a pencil and mark a line where the bridge is once the intonation is correct - that should save you about an hour next time. Anyone with a floating bridge should do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Svet Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I take em all off! How else are you supposed to treat the fretboard and give the guitar a good cleaning? Take em all off and just be ready to restring the guitar within the next year. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickblues1 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Brain teaser - when finishing a guitar do you hang it up do dry with it strung up.... Think..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I have heard people say guitars were ruined by taking all the strings off at once.Recently I read in a guitar book that it was ok to take them all off. What is the truth? I have always taken one string at a time on and off. Joey, If you have a guitar with a stop bar, it can fall off the studs and damage your guitar's top if you're not careful if you take off all the strings at once (as the string pressure is all that holds the stop bar in place on most guitars). This is one reason you may have been advised not to take off all the strings at once. Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickblues1 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 I usually have a small soft blanket that I rest the back end of my guitar on. I then use a wire cutters to cut the strings off. Bridge then falls on the blanket. Or lay the guitar flat. Place a soft cloth behind the bridge, then cut the strings - bridge fall on cloth. No damage either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Another myth : "Always loosen the string tension when you get through playing the guitar. Leaving it tuned to pitch will ruin the neck." False. My '79 Strat has been tuned to pitch in the case since '79 and the action is still like it was the last time I did a truss rod adjustment. I imagine that loosening the strings would allow the neck to warp if there was any tendency for it to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 When changing the strings on my Casino, I take them all of and then put an athletic sock over the tailpiece so it doesn't scratch the body of the guitar. I also put a couple of small marks on the "nuts" that adjust the string height at the bridge and I have a note in the case about how many rotations these take to get the string height where I want it. That way if I accidentally turn one while polishing the guitar, I can get it back to the same place again. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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