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Topic: Stringing Guitars |
Jeff Strouse
From:
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2003 7:11 pm |
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Although the finished product is worth the effort, does anyone else out there hate stringing guitars as much as I do? 
Here's a website I found with a "how to" on stringing.
http://209-239-165-10.oak.inreach.net/FRETSPages/Musician/Guita r/Setup/SteelStrings/Stringing/ststringing1.html
I'm curious if there are varied and preferred methods that steel guitarists use to string their instruments.
My guitars are all non-slotted head stocks, and I was taught to wrap the string around the post a couple of times before actually stringing it through the hole. On the bass strings though, trying to manuver and curve that thicker string around the small post and not have it pop back can be difficult. But, I try to wrap them alteast once before sticking the string through.
Anyone have any tricks to the trade that they have developed over the years?
[This message was edited by Jeff Strouse on 26 November 2003 at 07:15 PM.] |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 26 Nov 2003 7:39 pm
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THIS will likely serve only a limited number of Forumites however: On the Rick Bakelites,
the first and sixth strings make a sharp angled bend from the nut to the tuning post.
It was suggested to me and I like the idea, simply feed the string from the nut directly to the tuning peg and then turn the knobbie in whatever direction necessary, in order to keep the string in as near a straight line as possible. This often means you have to turn the knob in a direction opposite/not conforming with the others but it provides a better/less stressful means of cinching up the first and sixth strings.?? |
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Rick Aiello
From:
Berryville, VA USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2003 7:45 pm
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I agree with both of you guys ... I hate to re-string and I wind the 6th and 1st string opposite.
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www.horseshoemagnets.com |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 27 Nov 2003 4:44 am
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I hate stringing guitars so much (especially on a Dobro) that I'll play a set of strings long after most people would have changed 'em - sometimes years. Eventually, I'll have to ackonwledge that they must be changed. Here's what I do:
1. pull the string through the peg hole and clip it about 11/4" past the peg.
2. pull the string back so only about 1/8" is sticking out and then make a sharp bend in the string at the side with the long length of string. I'll sometimes loop the string once around the post then bend it over itself to lock it.
3. Left side tuners turn toward the headstock. Right side tuners turn toward the tailpiece.
4. When the guitar is first tuned up to pitch, I'll grab the strings from the middle of the guitar and pull hard to stretch them, then I'll re-tune. This helps the guitar stay in better tune once the strings have been stretched.
5. Last year, Rick Aiello showed me that I had been tuning incorrectly for years.
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/003684.html
Unfortunately, like winnie-the-Pooh, much of my brain is filled with fluff. I use lazy man's just intonation ... i.e. tune the high E ET with the tuner and then tune the rest by ear matching unisons or octaves. Playing in a band last year with a consistently out-of-tune fiddle player showed me that it didn't much matter how well I tuned - it still sounded bad. [This message was edited by Andy Volk on 27 November 2003 at 04:51 AM.] |
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Don Walters
From:
Saskatchewan Canada
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Posted 27 Nov 2003 6:31 am
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Here's an interesting article on re-stringing a resonator.
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Nov 2003 1:42 am
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I always push the string through the tuning shaft so that it sticks out about 1/8" to 3/16" than on the long end, make a sharp bend and begin winding. on the plain strings, I let the string wrap around the post on one side of the protruding end, each turn closer the the string-end, and then as I continue winding, I allow the long-end to cross over to the other side of the protruding string. With the wound strings, I only wrap one (1) turn on one side and then cross over. This proceedure tends to lock the string in and avoid slippage! P.S. I usually cut the string about two (2) key-posts past the intended key or approx. 2 1/4" longer.
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“Big John” Bechtel
http://community.webtv.net/KeoniNui/BigJohnBechtels
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Christer Fredriksen
From:
Kristiansand, Norway
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John Kavanagh
From:
Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada * R.I.P.
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Posted 4 Dec 2003 9:50 am
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| This strikes me as falling into the category of "solutions without a problem." |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 5 Dec 2003 9:37 am
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| Jazz guitarist Phil Upchurch brought one of those things over to my studio a while back and it ALMOST worked.You still had to touch up and fine tune the guitar by hand. |
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Jeff Strouse
From:
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
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Posted 5 Dec 2003 5:09 pm
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For me it's not the winding, but getting manuvered in the hole and around the peg that's the chore. The Keyless option is intriguing to me. I hear they are a breeze since there's no peg to wind around.
Since there are no steel guitar shops down here to see them in action, would an electric keyless "standard" guitar at least give me a good comparison of how quickly one can re-tune for different tunings? |
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