Buddy of mine saw me changing strings, and when I do, I cut them all off at once and he starts up with me "No no no no no no no no no no no no no, you're supposed to keep tension on the neck or you could warp it like that, you need to change one string at a time!"
Is there truth to this or is he filling me full of myths?
No need to worry. There's a truss rod in the neck. You can take all the strings off when changing them and the neck won't warp.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
What happens to a longbow, when you remove the string? It returns to its natural state - i.e. straight. A guitar neck will do the same. There is no magical force that warps a guitar neck, when you remove the strings.
The truss rod is a passive device. It only does something if the neck starts to bend under the stress of the strings. What does it do? It stops the neck from bending any further. There is only one way to make a truss rod "active" and that is to do what you should never do and that is to over-tighten the it so far that the middle of the neck is pushed forward into a convex bow.
Try this for an explanation of truss rods.
My Strat is currently sitting on its stand with no strings on it - hasn't had any for 3 days - and the neck is dead straight. It hasn't been visited by the dreaded Warp Devil.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
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Along these same lines, I'm going from Light D'Addario to Medium Dean Markley, I shouldn't really have to worry right? The only thing I was told was make sure the E string fits in at the nut. Is it that much of a difference?
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Along these same lines, I'm going from Light D'Addario to Medium Dean Markley, I shouldn't really have to worry right? The only thing I was told was make sure the E string fits in at the nut. Is it that much of a difference?
You're okay, and I mean that. :D
Most guitars are built in the first place to accomodate medium strings, whether acoustic or electric, where there is a significant different in string guages, the nuts are different too.
Yet folklore and myth still seems to come from the 'one person' who had a problem, or those who 'cry wolf' and then there's rumors, and rumors of rumors, and the thing just becomes a big rumor mill.
A major change in sting thicknesses from light to extra heavy may quite justifiably require you to re-size or file, opening up all string grooves in any given nut, accross the board, or from one side to the other, not just at the 6th E.
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Buddy of mine saw me changing strings, and when I do, I cut them all off at once and he starts up with me "No no no no no no no no no no no no no, you're supposed to keep tension on the neck or you could warp it like that, you need to change one string at a time!"
Is there truth to this or is he filling me full of myths?
The responses have been completely correct and for your benefit or enlightenment already IMO. :wink:
And I recognize that person who tells you to change one string at a time is trying to help also, not harm you.
Anyhow, how would we get all of our strings removed at once (with a cut as you say, but not while under tension of course - I like that - yes, git 'er done!)... and then go on to clean and oil the fretboard sans strings in the way, and polish up the other areas on top, under the strings, around the bridge, and maybe clean the headstock too, shine it all, etc.? 8)
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
I'm in agreement with the others about having no problems with the neck in changing all the strings at once. However, there are two other issues to think about. On some guitars the bridge and/or the saddle is held in place with the string tension and you need to be prepared for pieces to come loose or to change strings one at a time. Many Gibson (or Gibson-style) guitars are like this and so are a number of archtop guitars.
The second thing to be careful of is guitars with floating tremelos. If you change the strings all at once then the trem will go all the way back and you will end up having to pull the trem back up with the tuners meaning more wraps around the tuning posts as you do so. The tuning will take longer to settle in and might not end up as stable. In this case you need to block the bridge or change the strings one at a time.
Pop music is about stealing pocket money from children. - Ian Anderson
I change one at a time for routine changes, remove all when cleaning the board or doing work. It is just to keep parts in place and where I left them, that is the only reason. I have a lot of Les Pauls and Les Paul style instruments. The bridge and tail piece are held on by the strings so they will fall off and my action adjustment is free to spin at will. Thats why with board cleanings or work I need to do a complete setup after. Nothing to do with neck warp though.
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