What a Difference New Strings Make!

And wait till you try changing strings on a classical guitar...

OMG , i do it all myself ..all six of them. :oops: (but at the end i am pretty happy)

Rahul

It's really no big deal once you've done it a few times, and fortunatley, strings are relatively cheap, so if you screw up, backto the start. It probably only takes me about 20 min to change the strings on my 12 string.

Just changed my DAddario custom lights to Martin mediums... The guitar is somewhat unplayable - hate thoes Martins (meduims anyway...) The action is way too high and the strings kill the fingers. Most would say just change my setup, but I'm just goning to go get another set of the DAddarios tomorrow...

When I changed them the first time I had nobody to show me how. I just looked at pictures on the net about how to wrap the string through the peg to get it to overlap the slack end when you tighten it. It took me a a while to do the first time, but after that it was cake.

Hey, neat thread. Great place for I bunch of Noobie questions I hope.

I actually have only changed my guitar string once. But that's cause some were broken (guitar was from my twelth birthday or something) and havn't changed them for about three month. Even though the guitar sounds fine to me, I might head out soon to get sone new strings.

ANYWHO, I noticed the strings come in different color packages, the Ernie Ball ones, and the ones I play with now are the pink ones, super slinky. Basically the choice of super slinky came out of the desire of saying Super Slinky out loud, and they've worked well for me, but I was wondering the difference between it and the other ones.

thanks :D

Just changed my DAddario custom lights to Martin mediums... The guitar is somewhat unplayable - hate thoes Martins (meduims anyway...) The action is way too high and the strings kill the fingers. Most would say just change my setup, but I'm just goning to go get another set of the DAddarios tomorrow...

I think since you are a beginner you are going to find the action due to new strings high.Just keep at them !

*hum, hum* "what a difference new strings make - simply 6 tiny wires" *hum, hum*

- that's a Dinah Washington tune isn't it?

Couldn't help it ;)
Lars

Well, put on DAddario lights on... The guitar is about 10xs easier to play... I like to do a lot of string bending, so we'll see how long they hold up... Might have to go back to the custom lights... With my setup, thoese Martin mediums felt like close hangers...

Quick question. I just put new strings on my acoustic and I've got this nasty little buzz that shows up from time to time on the low E. I bought a new pack and tried again and the buzz is still there, only now it only comes out when I hit the string real hard. Is there anything I could have done in this process to cause this? It certainly wasn't there with my factory strings. It seems as if the low E is now vibrating more back and forth than it did previously...

Quick question. I just put new strings on my acoustic and I've got this nasty little buzz that shows up from time to time on the low E. I bought a new pack and tried again and the buzz is still there, only now it only comes out when I hit the string real hard. Is there anything I could have done in this process to cause this? It certainly wasn't there with my factory strings. It seems as if the low E is now vibrating more back and forth than it did previously...

That vibration could be due in part to the newness and shininess of the string. I notice it a lot more when I change strings.

The buzz might be due to changing string gauge if you went to a thicker string that could make the string closer to the frets being as it's thicker. On the other hand if you went thinner, you might have dug the string into the nut or bridge further than the original string.

Other than those ideas I don't know what else it might be.

Hope it goes away for you or you find the problem and it's easily fixable.

The gauge stayed the same I believe. I did use Martin Silk & Steel folk strings this time though. Could that have anything to do with it? I would imagine they are less rigid than regular phosphor bronze strings?

The gauge stayed the same I believe. I did use Martin Silk & Steel folk strings this time though. Could that have anything to do with it? I would imagine they are less rigid than regular phosphor bronze strings?
Yes, those are much lower tension than typical strings. Your neck is probably flatter than it was before, or even bowed slightly backward. You'll likely need to adjust the truss rod.

Would changing out the silk and steel to higher tension strings get rid of my problem, you think? I really don't want to touch my truss rod after all the horror stories I've heard. I did put my capo on the first fret and held down the 14th fret, and at the 6th fret my low E seems to be evenly distributed in height, slightly above the fret but not touching on either side...

Anybody who's posted/told/repeated horror stories about truss rod adjustment is an ignoramus.

Truss rod adjustment isn't rocket science, any more than stringing your guitar or adjusting the intonation is. A guitar player needs to know how to do this basic setup stuff. Read up on how to do it right, think before you start doing it, and don't force anything.

You know, there's a reason new guitars come with a wrench to adjust their truss rods. It's a user adjustment, not something that should have to go to a shop. Of course, there are players who take their guitar to the shop to get strings changed. There are players who take their guitars to the store to get them tuned...
:roll: