I bought new strings & I can't change them

Use a pair of pliers.

Works just the same. Damage? No, not if you are gentle.

It doesn't take much to pull the pin out anyway. Just wiggle as needed and pull up.

I just use pliers to take out the bridge pins on my Yamaha. They're plasic and easily replaceable so I don't worry about marring them up with tools. And after two years of string changes they still work, so whatever.

The Seagull is a different story, it's bridge pins don't really wedge in and I can remove them by hand.

Oh my God - pliers?

Guys, guys. Do yourself a favour. Slacken the strings right off. Put your hand inside the sound hole, and with something flat (a coin will do) push the pin out of the hole, using the flat part of the coin.

Only resort to pliers if all else fails. Trust me, this "hand in the soundhole" method really works .

Matt

pliers work fine, and if you wrap the end of the peg with a folded paper towel the pliers will not leave a mark.

I have to admit I, and most of my friends, use pliers. They barely scratch the pins up and the soundhole is very small and near the neck of the guitar.

I'd stick with the pegwinder to remove them myself. General consensus on the boards seems to be, by the way, that guitars sold in places like Bestbuy and Walmart are probably not your best bet.

lol this brings back fond memories of first couple times i changed my strings, wondering how to take the bridge pins out also. Mattguitar has the right idea, loosin the strings, or heck if your gonna throw them away take those pliers and cut the strings, put your hand in the soundhole and push them out. DOW

a plastic spoon works too.
alter it by cutting a groove so it can slip around the peg. then lever.
it works in a pinch, or when you cant fnd your big honking pliers, or...
I like that hand through the sound hole idea.

Using an old fork or something similar occured to me last night. I am still going to search for the winder because it has simply vanished. :? It should be with all of my other musical items.

I thought that it was best to change one string at a time to keep tension on the neck?

I've used wire cutters(dykes) for years. Just don't clamp down with them.

Using an old fork or something similar occured to me last night. I am still going to search for the winder because it has simply vanished. :? It should be with all of my other musical items.

I thought that it was best to change one string at a time to keep tension on the neck?

No, it's perfectly fine to change them all at once. The one string theory dates back to a time when guitars didn't have truss rods built into the neck to stablize them. Apparently some folks who have Floyd Rose tremolos find it simpler to change one at a time (I think).

Loosen them, take them off, clean and oil the fingerboard (easiest to do when the strings are all off), restring, retune, and play away!

I bought several sets of strings for my acoustics from http://www.stringsandbeyond.com They were the only site I found that carried already packaged Nashville Tuning sets. :D I wanted to change the strings tonight but I ran into a problem when I noticed the endpins in the lower bridge. I had no way to remove them. :( I went to the local music shop to look for a special tool to remove the endpins. They told me I could use one of those plastic tuning machine cranks because they have a groove in them for endpins. Of course I cannot find the one that I have. :?

Pretty soon I am going to start teaching two friends how to play the guitar. This will be a good experience for me. They both want to learn on acoustic guitars; they prefer the sound. :)

I was at Best Buy earlier this week and saw that they now carry guitars...along with Wal Mart and Sam Goody. I don't know what to think. :?:

Thanks,

Justin :wink:

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Do it like mattguitar said. Push the pins out from below. If they got pushed in too tight, a dime or other small coin over the end of your finger gives you a little help pushing them out.

Another vote for the coin thing: no tools, no scratches, very easy, etc.

Also, Tricounty - I'd hold back on telling anyone that one model was absolutely "The best" starter guitar. Every guitarist has different desires and needs as far as sound, feel and look to a guitar. Beyond that, at a lower price level, it's almost a given that you should play a guitar extensively before buying to check that it truly plays well and has no major problems. Especially with cheaper guitars, one model can vary a lot between individual instruments.