Changing Strings on the Acoustic Guitar

My Cort CJ 10X acoustic guitar needed some fresh strings, the old ones have gone a bit stale now. So this is how I did it..................

• Loosen up the strings by turning the tuning machine head in the opposite direction.  Unwind them enough so that you can get your hand into the soundhole without any hassle

• Use an Euro Coin and carefully push the pegs from inside the soundbox back up and out of the bridge

                                                                         

•  Remove all the bridge pins and then pull the ends of the strings, one-by-one out.  Then also unwind the strings from around the tuning machine head and disconnect them.  Be careful not to get the end of the string (especially the 1st or 2nd string) stuck into your finger, it is painful!

• Use a cloth to wipe your guitar down, especially on surfaces usually covered by the strings.  Alternatively one could use a fancy cleaning agent like the Dunlop Forumula 65 Guitar Polish and Cleaner.

• Open a pack of the good old D'Addario Acoustic Guitar strings.  Make sure you have the correct gauge (thickness) for your guitar - it's usually a personal preference.

• Push the ball ends of each string into their correct holes on the saddle. Push the pin into the hole, keeping the string in place. Once all the pins have been inserted, slowly pull each string towards you to get rid of excess play.

 

 

 

• Push the opposite end of the string through the hole on the tuning machine head.  Give the string a slight bend as you wrap it around the tuning machine head.  Remember, the thickest string, the 6th string is always closest to you (holding the guitar in the playing position) and the thinnest string, the 1st string is always the furthest away from you.  Hope that makes sense!

• Once all the strings have been connected to the tuning machine head, you can slowly start tightening the strings - preferably adding a little bit of tension at a time to each string, so that the neck tensions up evenly.  There will lots of wirey bits of string sticking from the head stock of the guitar, be careful not to get any of it in your eyes.

• Grab your guitar tuner and start tuning your strings.  I use the Qwik Tune Tuner, it is a simple and reliable gadget. It even has a 'jack input' if there is too much noise around when you want to tune up.   Stretch each string (by lifting it like you see in the picture) after you've tuned it, giving each string a good pull away from the soundhole.  Do this a couple of times, it really helps to get the string into 'tuning mode'. You will have to stretch those string daily for the next two days or so.

• Now, trim the string ends that are sticking out over at the headstock area, using something like a side cutter pliers.

 

 Happy Acoustic Vibes!!!!

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