How To String A Guitar

This article will cover how to change guitar strings for acoustic and classical guitars. You know it’s time to change your guitar strings when they break, sound dead or look corroded.

To make it easier, I suggest purchasing a string winder and for steel strings, a pair of wire cutters. If you would like to clean the fingerboard, very fine wool steel works great for that. It can remove gunk and dirt from your guitar’s fretboard.

Using a string winder, remove the string from the head of the acoustic guitar. You can unwind it by hand, but the string winder will save you time.

At the bridge, use the string winder to pop off the peg. See the photo in this article. Remove the string.

Steel strings have a little ball at the end of the guitar string. Bend the end and place it carefully inside the bridge hole. Push in the peg while pulling lightly on the string. When the peg is securely fitted, thread the other end of the string through the hole in the head. Wind it up and clip the end with wire cutters.

Here’s a video showing how to change a guitar string for an acoustic guitar.

Like the acoustic guitar, remove the string with a string winder from the head of your guitar. There is no bridge in a classical guitar, so just unwrap it at the bridge of the instrument.

Classical guitars use nylon strings for the basses and plastic string for the trebles. The nylon is wound with steel, where steel strings are a steel core wrapped in steel. It can be confusing because nylon strings look similar to steel strings on the outside.

If you compare them side-by-side, you see that the nylon strings are much more flexible in your hand. They are also much easier to play than steel strings. I recommend that beginner guitar students start with a nylon string guitar. They are just easier for your fingers to hold down than most steel strings.

Because it’s a softer string, it also takes a little longer for them to stay in tune. They stretch easier than solid steel strings.

At the bridge of the guitar, thread one end of the new nylon string. To secure it, you’ll need to wrap the string on its own weight. The string needs to also be wrapped just over the edge of the bridge. See the picture in this article.

Thread the other end of the string through the head. You also need to make sure it is secured on itself by wrapping the string at least once around itself. It’s probably easier for you to just see this. Watch the video below to see all the steps in changing the strings of a classical guitar.

I wish you many years of enjoyment playing your guitar!