Which way to string guitar?

Dead,

Firstly there is an excellent article on restringing in the Beginners section of this site, including a link to a site with pictures. This is excellent, look it up!

Secondly you should never just re string one string, unless the strings are virtually new and you are replacing them with same brand / guage. From your comments you seem to be mixing brands, not a good idea. String sets are designed to complement each other, it won't sound the same if you change as you are describing.

If you follow the instructions on stringing closely, you should only have a couple of turns - and assuming you have an acoustic the string should come off the inside of the tuning peg,

Kind regards

Matt

It's common for the two thinnest strings to be silver, even in bronze sets - I use Martin SP+ strings on my acoustics, and the B and high E are plain steel, even though the sets are bronze.

You need to have the winding around the peghead in the direction you're going to twist the tuning key to tighten the string. If your peghead has three keys on each side (like most acoustics, Gibson electrics, etc.), the winding will go clockwise on the G, B, and high E, and counter-clockwise on the D, A, and low E. If your headstock places all keys on the same side (like Fender electrics), they'll all be clockwise. NOTE: these directions are for right-handed guitars! If your setup is left-handed, they may be reversed.

Changing a single string will give you one string with a very bright tone. Your chords won't sound right, because that one string will jump out at you, and lead runs that cross the new string will sound strange. There are only a couple situations where I've changed a single string:

1. When a string breaks while I'm mounting a new set, or within the first day I'm playing a new set

2. If a string breaks during the middle of a set in live performance - I'll change the one string, finish the set, and then change the other five during the break. I'll try to avoid notes on the new string as much as possible until I can change the others.

If your headstock places all keys on the same side (like Fender electrics), they'll all be clockwise. NOTE: these directions are for right-handed guitars! If your setup is left-handed, they may be reversed.

On a right handed Fender the strings are wound counter-clockwise.

whoops! (and I just restrung my Strat yesterday!) -- yep, they're counter-clockwise

I was looking around for an article about changing strings in here but since this forum doesn't use FAQ threads that are stuck at the top of each forum I couldn't find it.

Thanks for the tips, I just changed my string today and wound it and even tuned it, the only weird thing is that I had to turn the peg about 7 times for it to be solid enough that the string didn't rattle.

Im going to change the rest of the strings tommorow and tune them because when I play chords that new string sounds more "electric" than the rest. I also read that after you've strung your guitar you should let the strings rest overnight so they straighten out and are easier to tune.

How many times do you guys usually wind the tuning pegs on your electric guitars? Mine is a Strat.

You don't want so few that the string might pop loose, but you don't want so many that the windings overlap - if they do, you'll have a hard time staying in tune, because the tension will compress the 'bottom' windings, making the string go flat. I usually go for three times around the post.

Getting the right number of windings takes some practice. Here's what I do on my Strat:

1. Make sure the tuning peg hole is lined up with the neck
2. Pass the string straight through the hole - I start with the 6th string
3. Grab the end of the string on the peghead side of the tuning peg and pull it tight
4. Grip the string even with about the fourth string tuning peg.
5. Push the string back until the fingers grabbing the string hit the sixth string peg. When they do, bend the string tightly around the peg, and pass it underneath the part of the string going into the hole; still holding it tight, go up and over the string, and tightly back in the other direction. That two-peg distance seems to work well for my string gauge (I use Bullets, .009-.040 on my Strat - if you're using much heavier strings you may want to add a little distance)
6. Now get the string in approximate tension. That's the part that really takes a couple times to get the feel of it; you don't want it working loose, or the string length will change.

Repeat that with the other strings. When you get to the B and high E strings you won't have other pegs to measure against, so you'll have to approximate. Also, on these two strings, I get a full winding around the peghead before I put the string under the string tee - thinner strings will give you more windings for the same 'extra' distance beyond the peghead, and doing a bit of the winding first takes up some of that slack.

Then it's just a matter of tuning, stretching the strings, and retuning. Doing a string change and cleaning takes me about 30-40 minutes on the Strat, because my backplate has to come off - every time I do it, I think about grabbing a router and making the backplate hole a bit larger, but it's one of those things I haven't gotten to yet :)

Well, I've replaced some of the strings on my guitar but I've had to turn the knob about 7 times for it to be tight enough to tune, and I just cant get the hang of how to wind the string around the tuning peg, it keeps on unwinding.

Are you suppossed to tie a knot around it or what, I dont want to spend 20 bucks again to have the shop re-string it, one of my strings even snapped because I pulled it too hard to wind it around.

Frets.com has a how-to page with pictures: Restringing - Steel Strings

Thank you, I'll check it out, do you know where I can find on the web a sound file that shows how each chord should sound in standard tuning?

do you know where I can find on the web a sound file that shows how each chord should sound in standard tuning?
Try this one but there are many more out there including ones you can download so just do a search on "guitar tuning"

http://www.worldguitar.com/tuner.html

Here is a couple of downloadable tuners and a few other things.

Tuners

Ok thanks, 2 more questoins I've got for you. Taking in mind Im dealing with a Stratocaster.

1. Is it okay to tie the strings around the machine head?

2. Do you wind them around the machine head first and then thread it through the hole or do you first thread the srting through the hole and then wind it around.

3. Do you tune it when it is hooked up to an amp and it is turned on or do you have to have the guitar unplugged?

1. I'm not sure what you mean by 'tie around the machine head'. When a guitar is properly strung, the windings will sort of trap the end of the string against the peghead.

2. If you follow a string from the bridge up, the windings happen before the string goes into the peghead. Most people will put the string through the peghead and then use the tuning peg to create the winding... I have heard of people who do the winding first, but I think it makes it hard to keep the string from unravelling while you thread it through, and it makes it difficult to secure the end of the string by the windings.

3. You need to be able to hear the guitar while you tune, if you're doing it by ear, so plugged in is just fine. Don't use distortion or effects while you tune, though, or it will be harder to hear when it's right.

1. Oh, well obviously then Im not properly stringing my guitar.

2. I've done it both ways but it is always more difficult with the top 3 thicker strings, they unravel off the tuning peg even though this doesnt affect how tight they are.

3. I've never tried it with the amp so I guess I will now eventhough I've been tuning it unplugged and I almost got it right on about 4 of the 6 strings.