ksdaddy Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 I picked up a 1978 Kiso Suzuki classical a couple weeks back. The seller had put some unknown ball end nylon strings on it. D'Addario Pro Arte hard tension is what I prefer, and I take pleasure in tying off the string ends neatly. It can take me a solid hour but I like doing it. I also like taking my time with the windings on the tuner post; I like it neat. Trust me, I am a slob in every other avenue of life but this. I got to the high E string and the tuner was making a creaking noise. I had already put a drop of oil on the friction surfaces of the tuners and couldn't figure out what that noise was. It got to the point where I was comically cranking the string crank back and forth, trying to work the noise out. It sounded exactly like the opening noise in Monster Mash and it was not subsiding. sigh.... So the G, B, and E strings came off. At least I used a capo so my saddle ties stayed. I took the treble side tuner strip off and of course it didn't make any noise. It did come out some wicked hard though. That's when I saw there was a big glob of varnish that had dribbled down into the tuner hole. How that guitar went 44 years without driving someone bat sh__,.... I took a drill bit that was the size of the tuner hole and spun it in the hole, and sure enough, 3 or 4 little shavings of varnish wafted to the floor. Reinstalled the tuners and Bob's yer uncle. That was a first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitefang Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 Y'know, all those years seeing nylon stringed instruments with those nylon strings TIED by some method was one factor in my not obtaining one of those guitars over the years. Given my lack of success in tying sinkers and lures on fishing line very neatly, I didn't wish to desecrate a fine musical instrument in that way. Looked too tedious for my fumble-fingers. Whitefang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 25, 2022 Author Share Posted March 25, 2022 Fear not. They have ball end nylon strings that are just as legit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 I didn't know there were ball end nylons. I do find all string changes tedious. For nylon strings its tedious x 4. I always have to check the knots against a reference sketch. I still have the odd problem putting on a fresh set of anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 (edited) HA! Slotted headstocks, tying off both ends, what more fun could you ask for!!! nylon strings, thankfully last a long time, so the pain one endures to change them, is not as frequent. Ball ends are for wimps.. 🙃😁 I've taken a shining to Savarez Strings, the 520F sets.. these come with a wound G which really helps to get rid of that funky string intonation crapola that the plain Gs seem to have. Edited March 25, 2022 by kidblast 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 25, 2022 Author Share Posted March 25, 2022 And nylons usually sound like crap for the first month anyway. My little Seresta has had the same set since 2014. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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