Dougefresh91 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 So I broke a string on the SG I recently bought and I'm wondering what the proper way of re-stringing would be? I've changed strings on my Strat before, but that has a Floyd Rose so its not really the same. First, do all the strings need to be taken off at once? Some tutorials say not to ever do this, but I'm under the impression that it's unavoidable in this case. Is this correct? My second question is how should I run the strings through the tailpiece? They came on the guitar going straight out towards the neck, but some tutorials were saying to string them back out the other way and wrap them over the tailpiece. Not sure the difference and whether or not it really matters. Suggestions? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trewblue Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 check out this video. the only thing you DONT have to do is remove the stop bar. just do one string at a time. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The.Traffic.Lights Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 So I broke a string on the SG I recently bought and I'm wondering what the proper way of re-stringing would be? I've changed strings on my Strat before, but that has a Floyd Rose so its not really the same. First, do all the strings need to be taken off at once? Some tutorials say not to ever do this, but I'm under the impression that it's unavoidable in this case. Is this correct? My second question is how should I run the strings through the tailpiece? They came on the guitar going straight out towards the neck, but some tutorials were saying to string them back out the other way and wrap them over the tailpiece. Not sure the difference and whether or not it really matters. Suggestions? Thanks. Well, you don't really NEED to take off all the strings, but I recommend doing so because a new complete set of strings always sounds better. Besides, stock Epi strings aren't really good (I was amazed with the difference when I changed the stocks to Rotos on my LP). The way you put them in the tailpiece is your preference. Wraparound way decreases the angle over the bridge which removes some stress from that point of the string, but you may scratch the plating on the tailpiece and some say it reduces sustain. Here's a thread EXACTLY about this alternative method: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/61976-wrap-around-stop-bar/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat-o-steve Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Taking all the strings off at once won't hurt the guitar in any way, but isn't required. Just be careful the tailpiece (stop bar) and the bridge don't fall off and dent the guitar! As for how to run strings through the stop bar, that is just a preference thing. If you like your guitar now, there would be no reason to change it. If you do wrap the new strings over, you may have to adjust the posts on your stop bar to get good angle over the saddles to prevent rattles and strings popping off the saddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougefresh91 Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 Ah, good deal. Thanks, guys. I understand what's going on now. I was thinking it was more complex than it actually is. Also explains why the people in the videos I watched keep cutting the strings. I got Ernie Ball regular slinkies and I'll just do them one at a time the way I learned. I'll do this tomorrow night and just grudgingly play my Strat with it's too-high action for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I usually change my strings one at a time. it prevents all the metal bits falling off, or tremolo's springing back too far etc, unless i need to do repair work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Ah, good deal. Thanks, guys. I understand what's going on now. I was thinking it was more complex than it actually is. Also explains why the people in the videos I watched keep cutting the strings. I got Ernie Ball regular slinkies and I'll just do them one at a time the way I learned. I'll do this tomorrow night and just grudgingly play my Strat with it's too-high action for now. why is your Strats action too high? Strats are fine guitars that can easily have "rock bottom" action and be a joy to play, just like a well set up Epi or Gibson..... if the action is higher than you like, that can be remedied by any decent guitar tech for a minimal fee, or, Fender has a "Setup" page on their website that gives step by step instructions, with all the necessary measurements, to set it up yourself like a pro-tech. good luck and happy playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanbeastie Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 As for actual string preference i have these http://store.daddario.com/category/145800/EXL115_BluesJazz_Rock_11-49 on my SG just now and like them a lot. I have flatwound chromes on my telecaster for a more mellow sound though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadedbat Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Ah, good deal. Thanks, guys. I understand what's going on now. I was thinking it was more complex than it actually is. Also explains why the people in the videos I watched keep cutting the strings. I got Ernie Ball regular slinkies and I'll just do them one at a time the way I learned. I'll do this tomorrow night and just grudgingly play my Strat with it's too-high action for now. Get yer strat setup by a pro if you aren't comfy doing it. Dig around locally for a good luthier. $50-$75 will put that guitar in shape. And remember that a little higher action on a strat = greater sustain and better bends if ya like blues. I think some folks are obsessed with having crazy low action... really comes down to a personal taste and your goal on the guitar. If yer wanting to shred the high action will drive you nuts :) Take her to a pro. The guitar deserves it as do you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougefresh91 Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 Thanks for the advice, guys. The Stratocaster is my first guitar, and to be honest I didn't realize how high the action was on it until I got the SG. I quite literally can't play some bar chords on the Strat because my fat fingers can't bend enough to not dead certain strings. For example I can play a B chord, but as soon as I start moving that shape up the neck(or is it down the neck?) I hit a point where I'm deading the high E sting, and there's nothing I can do to change that, unless I figure out another way to play that chord shape. But yeah, I've read alot about how to fix the action, and I know which two screws to turn on the bridge, but I'm kind of nervous about doing it. I'll check out Fender's site, but I'm not sure that will give me more confidence to try this just yet. Plus, I'm afraid that the neck may need adjusting, and that's a can of worms I'm not ready to open. I'll take some photos of it when I get off work (yeah, I'm slacking) and post them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougefresh91 Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Not sure how helpful this actually is... http://img690.imageshack.us/f/img7760v.jpg/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Not sure how helpful this actually is... http://img690.imageshack.us/f/img7760v.jpg/ yep, definitely time for a setup. good pics btw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougefresh91 Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Thanks for confirming that. The person I showed it to in person hates Fenders, told me they're all like that, and to sell the pos. I think it's a really nice guitar, it just needs to be fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Thanks for confirming that. The person I showed it to in person hates Fenders, told me they're all like that, and to sell the pos. I think it's a really nice guitar, it just needs to be fixed. That person is a goose, Fenders are very easy to setup with low action, they are probably the easiest guitars of all to setup, period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Lots of folks hate Fenders, lots of folks hate Gibsons too........I like and own both. Whoever told you that "most" Fenders are like that, is simply wrong and obviously biased...consider how many albums have been made by Strat wielding artists. So, definitely put some good strings on the SG, and have the Strat set up correctly, and you'll have 2 great guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I've read alot about how to fix the action, and I know which two screws to turn on the bridge, but I'm kind of nervous about doing it. I'll check out Fender's site, but I'm not sure that will give me more confidence to try this just yet. Plus, I'm afraid that the neck may need adjusting, and that's a can of worms I'm not ready to open. I'll take some photos of it when I get off work (yeah, I'm slacking) and post them. I find this almost impossible to understand, whenever I buy anything (and I mean anything), I have to pull it apart to see how it works. Guitars are so easy to work on, but you have to have a certain level of confidence (and competence) doing so, the more nervous you are, the more likely to make mistakes, so calm down and approach the work calmly. A reasonable beater guitar can be had for 50-100 dollars, an excellent way to learn this kind of work without the guilt and nerves taking over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougefresh91 Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 I find this almost impossible to understand, whenever I buy anything (and I mean anything), I have to pull it apart to see how it works. Guitars are so easy to work on, but you have to have a certain level of confidence (and competence) doing so, the more nervous you are, the more likely to make mistakes, so calm down and approach the work calmly. A reasonable beater guitar can be had for 50-100 dollars, an excellent way to learn this kind of work without the guilt and nerves taking over. I'm new to guitars and not 100% certain I know what I'm doing. And I think the Floyd Rose makes it more complicated, at least in my mind. I checked the Fender site and that somewhat boosts my confidence. Let me ask you this: what's the worst that can happen? I've read that you can mess up the intonation if you don't know what you're doing. Is this something that can always be fixed by a guitar tech, or is it possible to ruin a guitar? My plan until someone tells me otherwise is to adjust the two bridge screws, and possibly straighten out the neck a bit as it's slightly tilted forward. But again, idk if its supposed to be like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I'm new to guitars and not 100% certain I know what I'm doing. And I think the Floyd Rose makes it more complicated, at least in my mind. I checked the Fender site and that somewhat boosts my confidence. Let me ask you this: what's the worst that can happen? I've read that you can mess up the intonation if you don't know what you're doing. Is this something that can always be fixed by a guitar tech, or is it possible to ruin a guitar? My plan until someone tells me otherwise is to adjust the two bridge screws, and possibly straighten out the neck a bit as it's slightly tilted forward. But again, idk if its supposed to be like that. your plan to adjust the two bridge screws is perfect. The intonation is an easy fix too, so if it does need adjusted, no problem. But hold off on the neck adjustment until you have done the other stuff first, it might be just fine as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I'm new to guitars and not 100% certain I know what I'm doing. And I think the Floyd Rose makes it more complicated, at least in my mind. I checked the Fender site and that somewhat boosts my confidence. Let me ask you this: what's the worst that can happen? I've read that you can mess up the intonation if you don't know what you're doing. Is this something that can always be fixed by a guitar tech, or is it possible to ruin a guitar? My plan until someone tells me otherwise is to adjust the two bridge screws, and possibly straighten out the neck a bit as it's slightly tilted forward. But again, idk if its supposed to be like that. Whenever the action is altered by adjusting the neck or the bridge, or both, it's always a good idea to check the intonation anyway, it's very easy to do. The full instructions on how to perform each of these tasks is in the DO-IT-YOURSELF thread pinned to the top of the Epiphone Lounge section of the forum. I would approach it in this order. 1/ Adjust Neck, only make small adjustments each time and wait an hour or two between tweaks, I like mine flat/straight without string tension, so when the strings are tensioned the neck has about a credit card thickness worth of relief at the 12th fret. 2/ Adjust Bridge/Saddle Height, using a De-tune/Adjust/Re-tune/Test routine, I'll drop the height until I just start getting string buzz and then raise 1/4 to 1/2 turn, I start on the bass side and work towards the treble side. 3/ Check Intonation, comparing the tunings of a 12th fretted note against a 12th harmonic note until both are the same pitch, I, again, start on the bass side and work towards the treble side. The most time consuming part is setting the neck, adjusting the bridge/saddle height and intonation should only take about 30mins each, once you've done it you'll be surprised how easy it was to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Oops, we seem to have given conflicting advice on the order of things. Rastus, I apologise for muscling in on you Does the Neck definitely need adjusted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Oops, we seem to have given conflicting advice on the order of things. Rastus, I apologise for muscling in on you Does the Neck definitely need adjusted? No worries, I probably should have mentioned that step 1 was optional, depending on the straightness of the neck, but by the description given by DF91 of the extremely high action, it seemed more probable than not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougefresh91 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Whenever the action is altered by adjusting the neck or the bridge, or both, it's always a good idea to check the intonation anyway, it's very easy to do. The full instructions on how to perform each of these tasks is in the DO-IT-YOURSELF thread pinned to the top of the Epiphone Lounge section of the forum. I would approach it in this order. 1/ Adjust Neck, only make small adjustments each time and wait an hour or two between tweaks, I like mine flat/straight without string tension, so when the strings are tensioned the neck has about a credit card thickness worth of relief at the 12th fret. 2/ Adjust Bridge/Saddle Height, using a De-tune/Adjust/Re-tune/Test routine, I'll drop the height until I just start getting string buzz and then raise 1/4 to 1/2 turn, I start on the bass side and work towards the treble side. 3/ Check Intonation, comparing the tunings of a 12th fretted note against a 12th harmonic note until both are the same pitch, I, again, start on the bass side and work towards the treble side. The most time consuming part is setting the neck, adjusting the bridge/saddle height and intonation should only take about 30mins each, once you've done it you'll be surprised how easy it was to do. Thanks again for the help, first off. I believe that the neck does need to be adjusted. At least compared to my SG and Ukulele, it looks like it's slightly tweaked forward. I feel like if I adjust it a bit it will drop the action, though probably not enough. This, however, conflicts with stuff I've read elsewhere, which states not to adjust the neck to raise/lower the action. So is there a technical way of telling if the neck is straight? Or do you just eyeball it, in which case I say it's not straight. (EDIT: just saw this which answers my first question, only I don't have a feeler gauge) Also, when you say adjust the neck, do you mean like this or to adjust the truss rod? Sorry for all the questions, but I'd like to go into this knowing what I'm doing. Even if I really don't. Ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I believe that the neck does need to be adjusted. At least compared to my SG and Ukulele, it looks like it's slightly tweaked forward. I feel like if I adjust it a bit it will drop the action, though probably not enough. This, however, conflicts with stuff I've read elsewhere, which states not to adjust the neck to raise/lower the action. So is there a technical way of telling if the neck is straight? Or do you just eyeball it, in which case I say it's not straight. (EDIT: just saw this which answers my first question, only I don't have a feeler gauge) Also, when you say adjust the neck, do you mean like this or to adjust the truss rod? Sorry for all the questions, but I'd like to go into this knowing what I'm doing. Even if I really don't. Ha. By adjusting the neck I mean the truss rod. To check the neck for straightness you'll need an 18"/45cm steel rule to lay the edge on top of the frets and check for gaps. It's true that you don't adjust the neck to change the action, you adjust the saddles/bridge, but it's useless doing that if the neck's crooked to start with. The processes I mentioned are the 3 main processes you perform to do a basic "setup". EDIT: I don't need feeler gauges because I adjust my necks flat/straight and rely on the string tension to give the neck a little relief, using feeler gauges are only needed if you don't want to adjust it straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougefresh91 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 By adjusting the neck I mean the truss rod. To check the neck for straightness you'll need an 18"/45cm steel rule to lay the edge on top of the frets and check for gaps. It's true that you don't adjust the neck to change the action, you adjust the saddles/bridge, but it's useless doing that if the neck's crooked to start with. The processes I mentioned are the 3 main processes you perform to do a basic "setup". EDIT: I don't need feeler gauges because I adjust my necks flat/straight and rely on the string tension to give the neck a little relief, using feeler gauges are only needed if you don't want to adjust it straight. I was watching a video about truss rod adjustment and I realize that I misunderstood how that works. When we were talking about the neck being straight I was reffering to the necks straightness in relation to the body(its tilted forward a bit). You were taking about the neck being bowed, right? In that case I think the neck is straight. I laid a straight edge on the fret board and it looks good. However my ruler is only 12" so idk if thats long enough to tell. what do you suggest next? Adjust the neck via the plate on the back, or just adjust the bridge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I was just setting out the series of steps used to do a basic set-up, more advanced set-ups could include fret levelling, fret dressing and custom fitting a nut, but that is far too advanced for your situation. If your happy with the straightness of the neck you can ignore that step, adjusting the string height on a Fender is child's play, there a 2 grub screws on each saddle, 1 either side of the string where it passes over the saddle, using an allen key simply back the screws off (ccw) to drop the height, work one side then the other so that it remains reasonably level as you are making the adjustments, re-tune before testing with a firm picking. As mentioned in a previous post, I like to drop mine till I just start to get fret buzz, then I de-tune and screw them back in (cw) about 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn each to raise it slightly, making sure the saddle sits level when finished, then it's simply a matter of re-tuning and running a final test. Test by using a firm picking action and fretting up and down the fretboard to make sure you don't have a problem with buzzing etc on any of the fretted notes, you may have to make minor tweaks to get all the fretted notes buzz free, this depends a lot on the condition and straightness of the frets, that's why I recommended checking the neck first. Remember, when raising the height of a saddle, de-tune the string first because raising it adds more tension. And I always start on the low E (6th string) and work my way towards the treble strings, just seems logical to me, though not necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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