So I tried to learn guitar back in September, but the strategy I had was not good, I would basically practice the A and D chords until I mastered them, and I quickly got bored and stopped playing shortly after.
Today, I did try to get back into playing the guitar by starting the lessons from the start again. However, I spent all of my time not doing that and instead struggling to retune my guitar.
I ended up breaking a string.
This wasn’t the first time I had a broken string, but the first time I took it to a professional, but now I’m not sure what to do.
You might try typing in string replacement into the search function here on this forum.
or same question to google. There are a lot of videos on how to do this on the www.
Hopefully you’ll find some info on how to replace a guitar string.
I’d give ya a link but last time I posted a link outside of JG it just got removed by the mods.
You’ll need whatever info ya can find for the future as you will be breaking a string or two or three over time.
It may depend on your guitar as to ‘how’ you replace your strings. Electrics will likely differ from acoustic.
I’d not broke a string for six months, then last week I broke 2 on two different guitars.
What kind of electric guitar? With what kind of tailpiece? ie, hard tail, string through the body, trapeze, vibrato, floyd rose would be differing kinds. Also, some tuners are different too, ie. pin lock vs regular put the string through the hole type. I’ve looked at you tube for varying ways of locking the sting at the tuner end of the sting so it don’t slip.
While I’m not a lefty, that shouldn’t make any difference.
Also, food for thought.
When I break a string, this is when I replace all strings, usually (your guitar will like all new strings). + I do a good clean of my guitar while the strings are off it, if I take all strings off. If you’ve got a non finished fret board, this is a good time to lemon oil the fret board too. Be aware, finished fret boards don’t need lemon oil if yours has a finish on it.
You also don’t have to replace all stings at once. I said I broke two last week. Well, I did. My electric got all strings removed and the above treatment I described. My acoustic 12 was the other I broke a string on, it just got the offending string replaced.
Most of the times I have broken steel strings has when I am turning the wrong tuner by accident. Make sure you are turning the right one for the string you are working on.
Do you have a friend around who plays guitar and could help you? A little guidance is good at the very beginning.
The first time I changed strings, I was not familiar enough to know what pitch to set the string to. I knew the note letter, used my tuner, but was off an octave, so broke the string trying to tune it too high. Maybe you did this?
Use the links Richard posted to compare (by ear) the video with your what you are tuning on your guitar to make sure you are not trying to tune a string higher than it should be.
Hi. I’d echo what others are saying here. Following a couple of YouTube videos on changing strings will serve you in the long run. It’s really not necessary to get a pro guitar tech to do it for you. Your first attempts may be sloppy and frustrating, but you’ll get there.
I’d definitely replace the whole set and buy a couple of spare sets to have to hand. You don’t need any fancy tools. You can coil the extra length and wind the tuners by hand. That said, a simple winder/cutter tool soon becomes indispensable!
I’d also replace them with the same gauge, rather than change to another, which would affect the guitar set up. That would probably be another trip to your tech friend!
As others said, changing the strings yourself is a skill well worth acquiring, if nothing else because strings break every now and then - and if they don’t, your probably still want to change them once a year, as they ge dull and don’t sound as good.
On the gauge: if your guitar is properly setup, a string that is “in tune” in the open position (fret zero) will still be in tune as you move down the neck, you can check with the tuner at the 12th fret (same note, one octave higher). Just pay attention that you don’t press too hard or bend the string when doing that.
Now, if you change the gauge (thickness) of the strings, the saddles may have to be adjusted to ensure if remains in tune as you move down the fretboard. To avoid that, replace the strings with ones of the same gauge - if you don’t know what you have, you may have to take the guitar to the shop when buying strings so they can look at it and tell you.
Then, either buy two sets at once (so you have spares), or keep the package after you replace them, so you know what to get next time.
I personally don’t feel comfortable changing my own strings yet, though I have heard it’s not overly difficult. Either way, I can’t speak factually about string changes, but in regards to tuning, I would suggest a digital tuner. There are quite a few out there. The one I ended up going with is the KLIQ UberTuner - Professional, which was only $24 and I love it. Makes tuning very easy. If the strings were older or damaged in some way, that may have accounted for the breaking, but it can also be overtuning. If you over tune them, they will snap. Having a digital tuner or another tuning aid will definitely help minimize this.
I got a friend to replace the strings for me today.
Now my focus is on getting a good practice routine. I know that what I did on my first attempt (practice just A & D) was not very beneficial. So I’m thinking of just watching the videos and also setting some time to practice what I’ve learned. Does that sound like it could work better?
Hi Sam, Have you seen the Module 1 Practice Routine that Justin offers? If not, have a look. And do be sure to watch the lesson on using the Practice Assistant. I’m currently in Grade 3, and used Justin’s suggested practice routines through Grades 1 and 2. (He encourages us to go off on our own a bit in Grade 3, but I still rely on his guidance.) Hopefully that will help you focus!
