iwalktheline Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Hey guys, I was just curious how you change your strings? I have always taken all the strings off at once and never really had a problem that I could tell, but I was recently talking to my brother in law who is a musician for almost 35 yrs and he said to take them off one at a time. He said it could do damage or affect the tuning later on. When I take them all off, I always clean the fret board and guitar before restringing. I felt that if done one at a time, you could not properly clean the fret board(opinion only). Just wanted some opinions.... Also, what fret board cleaners do you guys use? Thanks again fellas
BluesKing777 Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Since I had a Dobro where you were recommended to change strings one at a time, I have continued to do this for all my guitars. I use an old soft t-shirt to clean fretboard and wipe off guitars after playing - if done every time it works as good as all the smelly junk. My dog knows when I have finished playing by the sound of the rag going up and down the strings! What a cheapskate? BluesKing777.
blindboygrunt Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 yip. take them all off if you want to . i've been doing that for 25 years with all my different guitars with no problem
Versatile Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 All good advice... I've always taken them all off to allow access for cleaning Not so with my Reso, which can have bridge issues if all string tension is relieved at once.... V
retrorod Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Since I had a Dobro where you were recommended to change strings one at a time, I have continued to do this for all my guitars. I use an old soft t-shirt to clean fretboard and wipe off guitars after playing - if done every time it works as good as all the smelly junk. My dog knows when I have finished playing by the sound of the rag going up and down the strings! What a cheapskate? BluesKing777. I guess the reason for Dobro to recommend that would be so you don,t mis-align the biscuit bridge? Just curious. Oh, now I see that Versatile basically answered my question above....
EuroAussie Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 All at once for me, I find it much more efficient.
j45nick Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Depends on the guitar. If you've got one with a floating bridge, you're better off changing one or two at a time. On my flat-tops, I take'em all off at once so I can give the fretboard a good cleaning and a quick polish to the frets.
MissouriPicker Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 What's this "changing strings" thing?............When I do change strings (maybe once a year or whenever a string breaks or the rust is flaking-off onto my clothes), I usually just take them all off and put the new ones on. Never had a guitar problem due to taking the strings off all at once.
jdd707 Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 All at one time for me...to clean it well. But with my new J45, with the undersaddle pickup, I've noticed that the saddle doesn't fit tightly into the bridge slot. So I've been careful to see that the saddle is seated and settled as I restring. Does this loose fitting saddle seem like a problem to ya'll?
fortyearspickn Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Another vote for all at once! I figure the guitar neck would actually benefit from having a chance to rest, though of course, as with most things I believe - I have no proof. Although all at once I do, however, loosen them a bit at a time. If I know I'm going to change them tomorrow, I'll loosen them all a couple of steps down tonight and then again in the moring so that when I'm ready to actually do the hopey changy thingy, the tension has been slowly reduced already. Then, when tightening, I'll tune the six up half way, wait an hour or two and go up to D. I like to believe the new strings also appreciate a slower approach. Again, no rational reason for believing this. And, yes, I put some lemon oil on the fretboard when I change the strings, wash my hands before playing and slide a cotton teeshirt up under the strings over the fretboard after playing. And, no, I've not been diagnosed with OCD. YET.
iwalktheline Posted January 2, 2012 Author Posted January 2, 2012 Thanks guys, all great advice. Was just curious if there was some fact to what my brother in law said. It's not that I don't trust his opinion but when he said about giving damage to the guitar I worried a bit. Again, I never had any problems taking them all off, just wanted to make sure I wasn't causing a problem that I wasn't aware of. Thanks again guys
alanbakewell Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 And a little trick for guitars with stop bar tailpieces: after detensioning the strings, I cut them, so that the strings can pass easily through the stop bar, and I don't have to struggle or risk scratching the guitar by trying to get the squiggly post end of the strings through. Excellent advice. I've always done just that with my electrics as well. ( Can I mention electrics here? ) B) And always take all the strings off and give the fingerboard a jolly good wipe. Happy New Year. Cheers, Alan.
QuestionMark Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Au contraire... Strings should indeed be taken off/replaced one at a time to preserve the neck tension and present truss rod adjustment (set up) on the guitar. Removing all the strings at once dramatically changes the guitar's existing neck tension...which means when the strings are all put back on it may or may not put the neck's bow in exactly the angle it was in. The reason, for example, Martin Guitar strings come grouped in two in an envelope is for this same reason. ie. one envelope has the 1st and 4th string in it. Changing those strings in either order, helps preserve the balance tension on the neck. Same with the other two combinations in their packages. Now...cleaning the neck is a different thang. And, removing all the strings to occasionally clean the neck is, of course, occasionally necessary. But, in my opinion that should be reserved for when one is willing to potentially do a set up. Naturally, if one does there own set ups...none of this is a hassle. But, for those who take their instruments to others to do set ups or are satisfied with their set ups...taking all the strings off at once puts the set up at risk. The lighter gauge strings one uses, the less tension there is on a neck...so, the less change of the set up changing with all the strings removed. But, most acoustics guitars use 13s or 12s, and potentially will have a significant impact on the neck tension if all removed at once. Hope this helps. QM (aka Jazzman Jeff)
BigKahune Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Au contraire... Strings should indeed be taken off/replaced one at a time to preserve the neck tension and present truss rod adjustment (set up) on the guitar. .... +1 I'm a "one at a time" changer. I prefer to limit neck movement so only occasionally I remove all the strings at once to deep clean the fretboard, vacuum the inside and change a battery. This is definitely not an old wive's tale as many pundits recommend "one at a time", including the folks responsible for the Gibson Guitar Manuel (for electrics). Here's a quote from pg 25: "When changing strings, we recommend changing one string at a time in order to maintain tension on the neck and bridge. The pressure of the strings holds the bridge and saddles in place, and removing all the strings could necessitate a new setup." It's certainly possible to have no problems from years of changing strings all at once, but I play it safe. . B) .
Clayfingers Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 I used to do my telecasters all at once, then got my first decent acoustic - '05 Roy Smeck - and tried it and the cut through bridge shifted, took me a while to figure out why all the action had changed and was buzzing like crazy. I' now squarely in the one at a time camp. I occasionally loosen the strings, and place them down the sides of the neck to give it a clean.
blindboygrunt Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 I used to do my telecasters all at once, then got my first decent acoustic - '05 Roy Smeck - and tried it and the cut through bridge shifted, took me a while to figure out why all the action had changed and was buzzing like crazy. I' now squarely in the one at a time camp. I occasionally loosen the strings, and place them down the sides of the neck to give it a clean. so .... cant take em all off to change them , but can loosen them all at once ?
Jerry K Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 If you are going to play a gig or do some recording tonight, I would change the strings one at a time. Because taking them all off at once relieves the neck of a lot of tension and the shape of the neck changes as it relaxes. When you put the strings back on it's going to go through some changes as it accepts the tension again and assumes its previous shape. So if you have a gig you are better off not flexing the neck just before. You will get more stable tuning with one by one. Taking them all off doesn't harm the guitar but it can cause your tuning to go off for a while and conceivably require a tweak to the truss rod.
QuestionMark Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 Interesting Martin says that's their reason. Always assumed otherwise. Still sticking with the Gibson line of thought on the subject as it makes both logical and practical sense from my experience. QM aka Jazzman Jeff
retrorod Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 And a little trick for guitars with stop bar tailpieces: after detensioning the strings, I cut them, so that the strings can pass easily through the stop bar, and I don't have to struggle or risk scratching the guitar by trying to get the squiggly post end of the strings through. Yep, my method also
retrorod Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 This is one of them "politics questions"....To each his own, apparently! I have been playing and into guitars for 45 years. I have never(that I knew of) had tuning /adjustment issues from taking all the strings off at once. It has been standard practice for me, forever! If I had an adjustment issue(otherwise) on ANY guitar, I tried to take care of it. As far as I am concerned, the biggest issue that players face, is changing the string guage on a guitar...in which case you would have to adjust the nut slots and bridge intonation, otherwise you may have tuning problems. Just my 2 cent worth, RRod
JOESTONE Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 I change one at a time. Just makes sense to me not to disturb the tension if not necessary. Heard it doesn't matter though and maybe it doesn't. Happy New Year!
retrorod Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 My link whats a 'stop bar ' ? Dis'....[http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/gibson-tailpiece-stop-bar"]My link[/url]
j45nick Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 This is one of them "politics questions"....To each his own, apparently! I have been playing and into guitars for 45 years. I have never(that I knew of) had tuning /adjustment issues from taking all the strings off at once. It has been standard practice for me, forever! If I had an adjustment issue(otherwise) on ANY guitar, I tried to take care of it. As far as I am concerned, the biggest issue that players face, is changing the string guage on a guitar...in which case you would have to adjust the nut slots and bridge intonation, otherwise you may have tuning problems. Just my 2 cent worth, RRod Rod, This may freak you out, but I agree with you completely (except for floating bridge archtops, where I try to maintain the bridge position) -Nick
Clayfingers Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Yes, I don't loosen them right off, keep some tension in the 2 E's, works for me.
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