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How I change my acoustic guitar strings (from start to finish)

Lesson #239 • May 19, 2019

Video Overview

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Editor’s notes

Hey friends! I recently needed to restring my guitar — and thought it may be helpful to record the entire process, from beginning to end. To be clear, I don’t pretend to be an expert when it comes to changing strings or guitar maintenance. Likewise, this isn’t a “tutorial” per se. Instead, it’s meant to be an honest depiction of what the process looks like for me. Unlike other videos I’ve made, this one is done in a single unedited take – to help portray how long this really takes.

Here’s the timestamps for this video:

  • 0:00 Overview
  • 1:36 Getting Comfortable
  • 3:01 Supplies & new strings I’m using
  • 7:30 Removing old strings & pegs
  • 13:44 Cleaning the guitar
  • 17:16 Putting on the new strings
  • 40:50 Tuning the new strings, 1st time
  • 45:34 Tuning the new strings, 2nd time
  • 47:12 Tuning the new strings, 3rd time
  • 50:17 Wrapping up & farewell

My request: if you are any kind of expert when it comes to restringing or guitar maintenance, feel free to send any feedback you have! I’m always looking to learn and improve. Thanks!

The restringing diagrams I reference in the video

Here’s the string tying approach I take in the video:

A proper tutorial on changing your strings

If you’re looking for specific best practices by someone who knows a lot more than me, I recommend this video from Justin Sandercoe:

Best of luck!

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