How to Change Guitar Strings

How to change the strings on your Fender Telecaster


So you made one of the smartest decisions of your life and got yourself a fender telecaster. You brought it home from the guitar store and you could immediately sense the increased attention from others. You felt stronger, wittier, sexier and more confident. Everything was better in your life until that fateful moment when you slammed down your most passionate E chord and in some horrible twist of fate all your strings exploded. All you could do was cry and “Sound of Silence” inexplicably played somewhere in the distance. “Hello darkness my old friend…”




Well maybe that’s not how it went down, maybe you broke a string plucking away at “Smoke on The Water” or, more likely, your shreds just don’t have that same crispness to them. Chances are you need a new set of strings, but how? Your guitar came set up with 6 strings from the factory but no manual on how to replace them. If you’ve never had to replace your strings the process can seem daunting. But fear not! I’m here to tell you that changing the string on you Tele is as easy as strumming out a Blink 182 chord progression.

1.     First you need some strings. This may seem obvious but you never know. There are plenty of resources online about how to pick a set of strings so I’m not going to get into it here. But I suggest trying about different brands and weights of strings until you find something that gives you the unique sound you’ve always dreamt of.


2.     Next your going to want to remove your old strings. My preferred method is merely unwinding the tuning pegs (the silver little doo-dads that adjust the tension in your strings) until they unlock and release your strings from their grasp. Then you can just feed them out through the back of your guitar. You might have to use wire cutters to cut off the mangled ends of the strings so they slide out more easily.


3.     Don’t be a dirtball! While your strings are off you might consider using a wood cleaner to wipe the potato chip grease off of your guitar neck to restore that factory shine!

4.     What the Heck Are These Things Anyway? A box of strings will usually come with 6 individual envelopes which each string inside a separate pocket. When your new to installing strings it is very important to keep your strings in the order they came out of the box in. You wouldn’t want to misplace your G-string (heyooo). But seriously it is important that the strings all go on in the correct order. All strings a have a numerical value known as the “Gauge.” An example gauge range could would be 10 through 52 (cool kids might just say “1052”). The number 10 refers to the string’s diameter, 0.010 inches. The lower number will be the “lowest” string, the one closest to your feet when you’re holding it in shredding position. The highest numbered gauge will be the string in the highest position.


5.     Get To Work! I like to start with the highest gauge, which is referred to as the Low E string (I know all this High/Low stuff is confusing but you’ll get it). First, you want to feed the string through the highest slot on the back of your guitar body. The string tip should easily pop out the front of your guitar in a region known as the bridge. Then you’ll bring the string up to its respective tuning peg. Feed the string through the hold in the peg that you removed the old string from, pull it taut and then begin to wind the peg until it locks the string in place. Finally, cut the excess string off. Don’t worry about tuning the string for now, that can wait until the end.




6.     Finish the Job! Continue this process for the rest of the five strings. Remember to slip your strings into the tiny saddles at the top end (headstock) of your guitar for maximum shred clarity.


Finally, tune up your strings and ROCK!

Hopefully this step-by-step guide helps you in your quest toward Rock and Roll godliness. If it didn’t, maybe this just wasn’t meant to be for you…just kidding you’ll be fine!



Comments

  1. Hi James,

    I want to begin by saying that your tutorial is very helpful. Although I don't know much about guitars nor have I ever played one, I at least now have a pretty good understanding on how guitar strings are replaced. However, the only suggestion I would make is to maybe insert several images of you demonstrating how to replace at least one string. For example, I think inserting frame by frame images of you "feeding the string through the highest slot" on the back of the guitar would be extremely helpful.

    Thanks, Omar.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This blog is very well-done. The writing is funny enough to make reading a pleasurable experience, but clear enough to ensure comprehensibility.

    In fact, while the images aren't professional quality, there were many times that I felt like I was reading a professionally produced text. So, I checked, and I found out where you plagiarized this from.

    Just kidding. Seriously though, not capitalizing "Fender Telecaster" is a big no-no.

    ReplyDelete

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