Gibson’s Guide to Guitar Setup and Maintenance

[Dave F]

 

[Peter Z]

But I‘m an all-six-at-once-guy and to old to switch to a three-and-three-guy.
Did anyone ever cause a problem on guitars by changing all strings at once?

[kidblast]

9 hours ago, Peter Z said:

Did anyone ever cause a problem on guitars by changing all strings at once?

nope...  never..

[Paul14]

9 hours ago, Peter Z said:

But I‘m an all-six-at-once-guy and to old to switch to a three-and-three-guy.
Did anyone ever cause a problem on guitars by changing all strings at once?

Never had a problem. 6 off, 6 on.  Makes it easier to clean the fretboard

[QuestionMark]

This has been discussed on the forum in the past.  I’ve always been as advocate of keeping enough strings on on the neck at all times to keep adequate tension on the neck, to keep the neck’s bow in place to avoid the need for repeated setup adjustments on the guitar.    Removing all the strings at once relaxes all of the tension on the neck (and the top) and then putting them all back on at once puts all the tension back on all at once, possibly enabling some things on the guitar to have inadvertently slightly shifted as they had been slightly held in place by the ongoing tension.  When all of the string tension has been removed at once there have  been reports of players unexpectedly finding that a new set up then is needed.   I personally limit my string changes to one or two strings at a time before I move to change the next one or two strings during a sitting, etc.  The only time I will loosen all strings is if I am taking a guitar on an airplane to intentionally lose all of the tension on the guitar as the guitar could get thrown around in baggage and keeping lead tension on it if that occurs seems prudent or if I am storing the guitar unplayed for a lengthy extended period of time.   If I once is awhile need to clean the fretboard , I clean small sections at a time under a removed string or two.

Just my approach.

 

QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

 

[kidblast]

There's no right or wrong way fellas.  you got 6 strings to replace, one at a time, three at a time, all at once... 

I'm an all at once guy,  and a 50+ years player, never had any adverse side effects from doing so.

Really what ever makes it feel "right" for you, is what you do.

 

[Brucebubs]

The only guitar owners manual that recommends changing strings one-at-time to keep some tension on the neck is .... my Rickenbacker bass.

 

[Twang Gang]

I think his point in the video was directed toward guitars with an under saddle pickup.  He mentions that the saddle could shift with no tension at all on it and in turn cause the under saddle to wrinkle or shift which could be a problem.  I sort of got accustomed to doing one at a time because I had many different guitars with tune-o-matic bridges and if you take all the string off and accidentally brush up against the knobs you inadvertently change the bridge height and now your doing a partial set-up instead of just a quick string change.  I do like to take all 6 off for cleaning the fingerboard purposes, but I have 2 acoustics with under saddle pickups now so I may adopt the 3 at a time approach.

I did like how he made a point of cautioning about unwrapping the new strings and not getting poked in the eye, but then he let a string whack up against the guitar finish 😱   

[E-minor7]

Well, , , here we have an example of how some people want to make science out of pretty fundamental things. That's generally where culture is at right now.                                                                                              I'm not blaming this good fellow - but wonder what types like him will tell us in 10-15 years time. 

Problems with the old 6-off-6-on ❓ Never since the X-mas of 1973. 

[Dave F]

I tend to change them in the order they break

 

 

[Pete'67]

Unfortunately no close-ups from the tuning posts. Guess this is the first method he described.

I keep it pretty simple. I also take off all strings at once.

 

[Hall]

Hey, Dave!   Was that tongue in cheek?

[Boyd]

I usually do one at a time, so it's close to being in-tune when I'm done. Maybe once a year I take them all off to clean the fretboard. But on my 1965 J-50 ADJ, I think it really is better to only do one at a time. If you remove them all, then the rosewood saddle makes a lot of creaks and pops when I tighten the strings.

[zombywoof]

I consider it a success when the B string does not draw blood or the octave G on a 12 string does not break.

I always slightly bend the ball  end of the string to ensure it is seated against the bridge plate.  

 

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by zombywoof

[Dave F]

1 hour ago, Hall said:

Hey, Dave!   Was that tongue in cheek?

yea. I usually change them all at once except for the ones with floating bridges.

 

Edited October 10, 2020 by Dave F

[Hall]

3 hours ago, Dave F said:

yea. I usually change them all at once except for the ones with floating bridges.

 

I actually meant was the initial post tongue in cheek!💣

Edited October 10, 2020 by Hall
insert the word, actually

[Dave F]

1 hour ago, Hall said:

I actually meant was the initial post tongue in cheek!💣

I really didn't even watch it before I posted it. Just thought it would get some conversation going.

[Jinder]

On 10/10/2020 at 6:37 PM, zombywoof said:

I always slightly bend the ball  end of the string to ensure it is seated against the bridge plate.  

 

 

 

I always do the same. I like to clean the frets and board every third string change or so (more often in the summer when humid outdoor/festival gigs happen or things get a little sweaty!), so will remove all six for that, but usually change them one by one so as to keep everything nicely seated and under tension.

There's no right or wrong way though, really. It's just personal preference.

Capstan windings wise, I like to have one loop above the protruding string and the rest below. This was taught to me by a bandmate many, many years ago, he called it the "Carolina Pinch", but that may have been something he made up for humorous ends!!

[BluesKing777]

 

I change one string at a time - old habit from playing resophonic guitars and archtops where the cones and bridges move without strings holding them all down!

I change the strings sitting where I play in my music room with all supplies and tools on my music stand. I also clean and lube as I go. The whole thing takes forever!

My luthier uses the 'Martin method' for strings attaching to the posts - the string version of 'a round turn and 2 half hitches' rope knot with an extra twist after to lock the string and flummox said guitarist..... on the 1 and 2 strings, I have to get my magnifying glass as well as my reading glasses and undo the string hook with tweezers to avoid the dreaded impaling.

I just put a kink in both ends of the strings, haven't had one slip ever, and it is a breeze to take them off! And I use Elixir PB mediums to last forever!

BluesKing777.

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by BluesKing777