How to change strings to keep the guitar in tune

juanpmoran

juanpmoran

Inspired
So lately i´ve been having tuning issues. Reading the Yngwie´s autobiography "Relentless", he states that he had developed back in the 80´s a way to change strings that he will keep to himself.

Malmsteen is well known for his mysticism, so i think we wont be able to access his "sacred knowledge", so im wondering how people change strings in the forum.
 
Hey Juan,

Yo lo que suelo hacer es cambiar una cuerda cada vez para mantener la estabilidad de la guitarra y no tener que ajustar el Alma, a no ser que vaya a hacer una limpieza del diapasón, en cuyo caso quito todas las cuerdas, limpio bien el mástil, el diapasón y el cuerpo de la guitarra y cambio las cuerdas. Si quitas todas las cuerdas es importante revisar el quintado una vez hayas puesto las nuevas.

Si la guitarra ha estado en otra habitación o vengo de la calle, la dejo en el estuche unos minutos antes de sacarla para que se adapte a la temperatura de la habitación en la que estoy y luego comienzo con el cambio de cuerdas. Una vez cambiadas, afino a pitch y toco unos acordes con cierta intensidad, hago bends en todas las cuerdas y vuelvo a afinar. por último las estiro un poco y afinación final...

El problema de estabilidad en la afinación es más un problema de set-up de la guitarra que de "como las cambias". Unos buenos locking-tuners, un buen puente (sobretodo si es flotante) y su seteo es muy importante para la estabilidad.

En guitarras con Locking-Tuners, es importante no dejar cuerda sobrante en el afinador. Giro los afinadores para que el agujero esté en dirección por donde va a entrar la cuerda (agujeros mirando al mástil), la inserto y la estiro al máximo. Mientras está bien estirada cierro el bloqueo del afinador. Una vez cerrado, hago un pequeño ángulo (menor de 90º) en la cuerda y la corto lo más cercana al afinador.

Si la guitarra no tiene locking-tuners pero sí puente flotante suelo poner las cuerdas "al revés", es decir con la bola en los afinadores en vez de cortarla para encajarla en el puente flotante. Luego, con el agujero del afinador en dirección al mástil estiro la cuerda y la corto unos centímetros pasado el agujero de la setilla donde se inserta la cuerda en el puente. Cuidado no te quedes corto al cortar la cuerda...
Ese pequeño truco junto con la Locking-nut hace maravillas para la estabilidad.

Si la guitarra no tiene ni Locking-Tuners ni es de puente flotante, uso la misma técnica que el vídeo que ha posteado @GibsonLesPaul

En todos los casos, una vez cambiadas y afinadas las cuerdas, las estiro desde la mitad del mástil más o menos una a una y vuelvo a afinar hasta que con el último estirón no cambia la afinación. Nunca estires muy fuerte, con un leve estirón cada vez es suficiente.

Aún con todo, el mayor problema de la estabilidad en la afinación es la temperatura. Ahora en Otoño/Invierno es normal que la guitarra pase de temperaturas muy frías a cálidas en muy poco tiempo (de casa al coche, del coche al local de ensayo, etc...) lo que provoca que el mástil se curve por el cambio de temperatura y debas afinarla al llegar al destino. En esos casos, al pasar de una temperatura fría a cálida (o viceversa) es imprescindible dejar a la guitarra unos minutos en un stand para que se adapte a la temperatura de la sala antes de afinar, sino afinarás y mientras tocas, el mástil se irá adaptando a la temperatura y tendrás problemas de afinación.

Estoy seguro que la mayoría de lo que cuento ya lo sabes, pero en realidad no hay mucho misterio en el cambio de cuerdas.

Un saludo!
 
Last edited:
Less string around the tuner -- less slippage -- locking tuners even better as you need barely no string around the locking tuner.
 
Honestly most of my tuning stability comes from a nice solid bridge, and strong stable necks on my instruments.
Though i have always been a minimalist for electrics and steel strings. General 1 over 2 under for the winding on the post, and clockwise underneath and then fold over the string, for the knot. The knot is most needed for the high strings i find, otherwise they will slip.

Depending on the strings being used I will also stretch them in by grabbing them once they are at tension and rotating them around while stretching them in a circular motion, this can take one or two times depend on the strings. This generally results in tuning stability for the show. Only thing that tends to effect this is the wood starts expanding and contracting from temp changes. Theres not really anything you can do about this on some guitars.

Side note, I have recently found that using D'addraio NYXL strings generally doesn't require me to really even stretch them in sometimes before they are stable tuning wise.
 
Most tuning problems(once your strings are stretched tight) come from the strings sticking in the nut(locking tuner will not help this). If the nut slots are too tight(cut for lighter gauge strings), they need to be recut(widened). Guitars with a headstock angle(Gibson) tend to get stuck strings easier because of the angle. On some of my Gibson guitars, I wind the strings from the tuning machine above the hole which makes the angle less. A nut lubricant can help but nut slots still need to be the right cut for your strings. Other issues include too many winds(no more than 3). I never use string trees on Fender guitars(nut slot has to be cut at the correct angle to avoid nut buzz) as they can add to the problem. If you pull the non wound strings too hard in stretching them out(this can also happen with a lot of bending), they slowly start slipping at the ball end(that's why Ernie Ball sells reinforced strings and Fender has Bullets). There are nuts that have a natural lubricant(+) and nuts that have rollers or lock(don't recommend) to help solve this problem also.
 
GibsonLesPaul said:


After I used this technique to lock the strings, never had tuning issues anymore
Click to expand...

I used to do like this - and I hated it - The strings would stay in tune fine, but it took long time to mount the strings and also to remove them - I also always found that I was scratching my headstock with the end of the string.

Then I found this method, which is much faster, does not scratch the headstock and stays in tune equally well
 
jakbur said:
Most tuning problems(once your strings are stretched tight) come from the strings sticking in the nut(locking tuner will not help this).
Click to expand...

If you turn the tuning pegs and you hear a 'ping', while the tuning goes really sharp or really flat, the strings are definitely binding at the nut. You can use Big Bends Nut Sauce, as suggested, to lubricate the slots. You can also use a pencil to lubricate the slots. Pencil 'leads' are made with graphite, which is a good lubricant.

Most guitars are shipped from the factory with .009 strings, so if you've installed thicker strings, like .010's (which is what I use), then you most likely need to widen the nut slots. A simple, inexpensive way to do it, is to use a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Just fold it and use the folded edge to sand the slots. Make sure you slightly angle the slot down towards the neck head. You want the strings to rest on a single point, on the neck side of the slot. To check the width of the slots, cut off about 6 inches from the bridge end of an old set of strings (makes it easier to hold on to) and use them as a measuring gauge for each respective slot. Of course, if you want to spend a bit of money, buy yourself a set of nut files for the gauge of strings you use. The sand paper/old strings works great though, that's what I do.

Either way, take your time and keep checking the width of the slot with the string ends. You can always sand/file a bit more, but if you go too far, you have to install a new nut.
 
When changing on a floating Floyd rose (or any floating system) you change one string at a time, stretching and tuning back to pitch before moving to the next string. (with same brand and gauge)

with a scalloped neck, I'm sure the truss rod requires more tension since there's less fret board to hold the neck straight. So the above method could benefit that situation also. If you take all strings off at once everything has to re-compress and settle.

Van Halen said he wrapped his strings from the post hole up toward the top of the post, so less tension was pulling across the nut, you just have to be careful not to pop the string out of the nut slot which takes practice
 
Also, the angle from the nut to the tuner is important, if the angle is steep, it causes more friction between the tuner and nut resulting in slippage. The ideal is basically no angle all the way for the strings to the bridge unless the strings are hooked to a block underneath. I also started to lubricate the angle in the bridge connection with Strat-type floating guitars.
 
The absolute biggest thing is fully stretching your strings. IF your guitar is setup properly, that will take care of it. I LOVE my floyd guitars as every time I take them out of the case, they are still in tune...gotta love a locking nut!
 
I lock my strings in a similar manner to the above posts but stretching is very important. As I stretch them by pulling up at the 12th fret I can literally see the string become more in tune each stretch. Minimal on high E, B, and G moving to quite a bit of stretching on the low E string.
YMMV...
 
I read many posts about stretching here above. And have seen people doing it.
But when i change strings it's not necessary at all. If properly mounted it stays in tune from day 1.
I never understood the need for stretching. I even wonder if stretching partly sucks the life out of the strings.
 
I stretch carefully most of the string brands except the hand-made ones like DR Strings, that says explicitly to not stretch their strings.
I use Ernie Ball Strings and DR strings mostly.

If you do it carefully it's like doing bends over the strings, but more efficent and quick.
 
GibsonLesPaul said:
I read many posts about stretching here above. And have seen people doing it.
But when i change strings it's not necessary at all. If properly mounted it stays in tune from day 1.
I never understood the need for stretching. I even wonder if stretching partly sucks the life out of the strings.
Click to expand...

Its partly a materials sciences thing. Depending on how the strings are manufactured, and treated, there is a point where the metal reaches a point that it returns to its previous state correctly. Some strings are pulled closer to that point during manufacturing than others. There is a line between things springing back and hitting a point that they become brittle and then tear/fracture.

The other reason can be due to the instrument itself. Depending on how much the instrument changes shape during loading and unloading of tension. Cheap instruments off suffer from this more than higher end ones. Though a poorly maintained instrument can also be prone to exhibit these problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom