Need help on guitar stringing

  • Thread starter Thread starter DMB35
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DMB35

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I've been playing guitar for about 6 years now, and I've always takin my guitar to the local music store, because he strung them free. So im looking to do it myself now.

I have an acoustic Epiphone PR 350s with the little knobs at the bottom of the strings, and I wanted to know how to get them off. I was thinking about using needle nose pliars, but im affriad to damage something.

Thanks, Gare
 
Hey Gare, I had to read your post twice to figure out what you meant, but I think I understand. The things you need to remove are called bridge pins, the strings have little balls on the ends (these are what I thought you wanted to remove first) that anchor under the bridge, and the bridge pins hold them down.

The tool you need to get is called a string winder. It is sort of a lever with a box at the end that fits around your tuners. It should also have a slot in it that will fit around the bridge pin so that you can get some leverage and lift it out. Loosen the string up before you remove the bridge pin. When you put the new string on, the string winder fits on the tuner so you can wind the string more smoothly and evenly. I think www.frets.com has some good tutorials about re-stringing and tuning.

I wouldn't use pliers because it is very easy to ding the soft woods of the top and bridge, and also to damage the bridge pins.

Good luck, and I hope this helps. Dont worry, re-stringing a guitar isn't that hard once you get the hang of it.
 
i've always used needle nose pliers....or wire pliers. never damaged anything so far
 
You could also use the white trash method of removing bridge pins :D , take an ordinary kitchen fork with tongs wide enough to fit the pins. You may want to poke the fork through an old sock so that the fulcrum of the lever/the portion of the fork that pries against the body doesn't damage the finish of the guitar. If you're worried about damaging the bridge pin itself, just throw a piece of electrical tape or something similar around it (sticky side facing out and smooth side against the pin so you don't get any adhesive on the pin) and pop it out.
 
The pin will come out more easily if you first push the string back into the body of the guitar a little bit. Getting past the widest part of the string relieves the tension placed on the pin by the string.


Twist
 
another good one is to give it a small, dry hit from below with something like the plastic end of a small screwdriver. That'l help.
 
Or you can use the Arab Oil Sheik method - every time your strings get old, go buy a new guitar!

:D

foo
 
I didn't know people went so long playing without ever restringing their own axes. That's one of the first things I learned how to do.
 
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