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How Do You Restring a Gibson Les Paul Studio?


rjames1973

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I have a relatively new Gibson Les Paul Studio. I tried to restring it for the first time today after having it set up and restrung a couple of months ago by my local guitar tech. When I took the strings off, the stop bar tailpiece came out immediately. I put it back in when I went to restring the guitar, but when I started to tighten the low E string, the tailpiece came out again and will not go back in. Could someone please tell me how to restring this thing? It's a complete mystery to me. I've never owned a Gibson Les Paul before, so this is a learning experience for me. Does the fact that the tailpiece came out mean that the intonation is now messed up? Thanks for the help! [sad]

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Thanks, ajzwart. So, why is my tailpiece coming out and his isn't?

 

 

Mine comes out sometimes too. Its normal! Nothing to be afraid of. Just try putting in the high E and low E strings in at the same. It can be a little persnickety, but nothing to FRET over [biggrin][biggrin] [biggrin]

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In fact, over three years of owing epiphone les pauls, the tailpiece never came out. First time i change the strings on my Gibson when i got it, it fell right out! Scared me for a second, me actually. Next time I changed the strings on my Epi, the I pulled on the tailpiece, and sure enough, it came out. Seems like it is made to do that, so should be normal.

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.... So, why is my tailpiece coming out and his isn't?

 

Did you watch the video?

 

One string at a a time. . . . . Your tailpiece doesn't lock on. The tension (pull) of the strings holds it in place. If you removed all the strings, nothing is holding the tailpiece in place and it falls off the anchors and scratches your top.

 

Change strings one string at a time. If you want to clean you neck, clean it with the old strings on and then change strings - one string at a time.

 

In the situation you've got now, put the 2 E strings into the tailpiece; set the tailpiece on the anchors and then use a capo to clamp the strings in place on the fretboard, which in turn will hold the tailpiece in place while you put the strings ends into the tuning pegs. Once the strings are on the pegs, put some tension on the strings and you can remove the capo and put on the rest of the strings.

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ajzwart,

 

Thanks again for the help. I forgot to mention that I took ALL of the strings off at the same time, as I wanted to clean the frets and apply a little Guitar Honey. I know that is not the recommended method to restring the guitar, though. I'm terrible at these things, so I'm probably just going to take the guitar to my local guitar tech or GC tomorrow to have them restring it.

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BigKahune,

 

I guess I screwed up royally on my first Gibson Les Paul restringing, huh? I'm a Fender Strat owner, so this is completely new to me. I'll try the method you suggested, but I'll probably just take the guitar to my local guitar tech or GC tomorrow to have them restring it.

 

Did you watch the video?

 

One string at a a time. . . . . Your tailpiece doesn't lock on. The tension (pull) of the strings holds it in place. If you removed all the strings, nothing is holding the tailpiece in place and it falls off the anchors and scratches your top.

 

Change strings one string at a time. If you want to clean you neck, clean it with the old strings on and then change strings - one string at a time.

 

In the situation you've got now, put the 2 E strings into the tailpiece; set the tailpiece on the anchors and then use a capo to clamp the strings in place on the fretboard while you string the ends to the tuning pegs. Once the strings are on the pegs, put some tension on the strings and you can remove the capo and put on the rest of the strings.

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Did you watch the video?

 

One string at a a time. . . . . Your tailpiece doesn't lock on. The tension (pull) of the strings holds it in place. If you removed all the strings, nothing is holding the tailpiece in place and it falls off the anchors and scratches your top.

 

Change strings one string at a time. If you want to clean you neck, clean it with the old strings on and then change strings - one string at a time.

 

In the situation you've got now, put the 2 E strings into the tailpiece; set the tailpiece on the anchors and then use a capo to clamp the strings in place on the fretboard, which in turn will hold the tailpiece in place while you put the strings ends into the tuning pegs. Once the strings are on the pegs, put some tension on the strings and you can remove the capo and put on the rest of the strings.

 

Hi there

 

+1 - One string at a time. I believe it is also a good idea to tune up each string as it is replaced before moving on to the next one. The info in the following link is also somewhat helpful (for next time [smile] ). http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Support/TechSupport/Instrument%20Information%20Guide/Stringing%20your%20Guitar/

 

Nitefly

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I remember when I bought my first non trem guitar. It was an Epi SG. Same thing happened to me. Took all the strings off because I figured I'd give a good cleaning, then DING! The tailpiece falls. I freaked out and called my buddy that worked at our local repair shop. He had a good laugh at my expense. Built it up to be some major catastrophe, then leveled with me and told me it was no big deal and to keep the D and G string on while changing the other 4, then do those 2 last.

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All,

 

Thanks for all of the replies. I still haven't restrung the guitar after my minor fiasco over the weekend. Lesson learned. I'm probably just going to take the guitar to my local guitar tech and have him restring it this time. Is it alright to keep all of the strings off of the guitar for a few days? I wasn't sure if this would cause any issues with the neck tension or set up I had done on the guitar a few months ago.

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so you now know the tail stop can fall off.. no biggie.

 

just make sure when you take off all the strings your ready to grab the stop and put it aside before it scratches the top.

Clean the guitar

then start stringing..

only get the strings started which will hold the stop tail and bridge in place.

Then bring it up to tune.

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A quick tip:

 

Since I always change all my string at the same time and also clean my fretboard, I put a little masking tape on the tail piece and on the bridge thumb wheels to prevent movement. I can then clean the fretboard and install the new strings without changing any of my settings.

 

[thumbup]

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.

Removing all the strings at once - opinions vary on this.

 

From the other side of the coin - Most instructions you find contain a caution about removing all the strings at once. Removing all six strings at once dramatically changes the pressure exerted on the neck of the guitar. Relieving this pressure, and then adding this pressure back by putting on a new set of strings can cause some problems for your instrument. The most often heard reason for removing all the strings at once is cleaning. Clean the neck/fretboard with the old strings on, then change them one at a time. If you feel you must have all the strings off for a "good cleaning", reserve that for once a year, with an eye toward limiting the amount of time the guitar is unstrung during the change.

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A quick tip:

 

Since I always change all my string at the same time and also clean my fretboard, I put a little masking tape on the tail piece and on the bridge thumb wheels to prevent movement. I can then clean the fretboard and install the new strings without changing any of my settings.

 

[thumbup]

Good idea there.

 

Almost a "duh" thing-but truly, the thumbwheels for the bridge and the studs for the tailpiece can spin all over.

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  • 2 weeks later...

ajzwart,

 

.... I'm terrible at these things, so I'm probably just going to take the guitar to my local guitar tech or GC tomorrow to have them restring it.

Seriously? I'm sensing some sort of defeatist mindset. Do yourself a favor. Learn how to do your own string changes and setups. It's not rocket science plus it will save you money.

The only time I ever took my LP to a tech was when I had a replacement nut installed.

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