Changing Strings on Electric Guitar

Hey guys, I need to change the strings on my electric guitar (ESP M10 model I think), and I have absolutely NO clue how to do it!

For one, what type of strings do I get? The guy who broke the string in the first place said I should get Black Diamonds. Hmmm...okay...and there are apparently different types too.

Then, when I have the strings...do I change the lot or only the one that broke?

And then finally, HOW?!

Thanks guys,
L_S

 

lol, black diamonds.

My dad used to tell me to get those, personally I hate them. I like good ol Ernie Ball Slinkies and Dean Markely Blue Steels.

Anyway, they are like headlights - change them all at once, even if only one broke. Unless the other 5 are very new...

How to do it depends alot on the bridge on the guitar. Looks like the M10 has string-thru body style, so yay! thats the easiest to work with. Simply loosen them at the tuner, cut or remove them however you see fit (always loosen them first though) then feed them through the back.

Observing the mechanics of taking them off will show you hot to put the new ones on - feed then through the hole in the body, lay them over the bridge saddles so they they sit in the groove, do the same at the nut, thread through the hole in the tuning peg, and tighten.

I reccomend a string winder to make it all a bit easier.

 

Everything Kama said is correct, follow it =]

 

Thanks guys! Will try that when I actually get off my ass to buy strings

 

Its best if you change one string at a time. I am not contradicting Kama - he is right that if one string breaks you should just replace them all - but rather than taking ALL the old strings off your guitar then putting ALL the new ones on, you should just take one string out, replace it with the new one, then do the same with the rest. That way your neck won't get warped.

 

This is totally not true man. The neck wont warp if there are not strings on it... Maybe, IF you have a very tight truss rod, and you left it sitting without strings for like MONTHS, maybe it would bend the neck a bit.

A normal setup, where the truss rod isnt putting tension on the neck so much as keeping it in place when string tension is on it, will never warp simply from not having tension on it.

Ive been playing guitars for like 25 years, setting them up/selling/buying/fixing them for the last 20. I have stored geets without strings for YEARS at a time with no ill effects. The only things you must watch out for are humidity and heat, and that applies whether there are strings or not.

Now, it IS true that going from fully tensioned to no tension in short time is bad, like if you were to, say... cut all the strings to replace them without having loosened them at the tuning peg first, that would be bad and could potentially damage the neck. I think people have taken this piece of knowledge and turned it into "dont take all the strings off at once!" but I assure you, there is no problem or potential damage from taking all the strings off of an otherwise normal guitar if you loosen them first.

Besides, if you dont take all the strings off at once, how are you going to effectively clean/oil the fretboard?

:cheers2:

 

Well thats about 15 more years than I've got under my belt, so I'll trust your judgment on this one. I know I've heard about the one string at a time thing from more than one source, but to be honest I can't remember what those sources were.

To be even more honest, I almost always forget my own advice and take off all the strings before replacing them all . I always assumed it was one of those things that you should do if you were like a serious performing guitarist who used the guitar you were going to play with for live shows, and that otherwise it didn't make a big enough difference to matter that much - still, I thought it might be a good piece of advice to pass on.

 

Not trying to out piss anyone, but I have played electric guitar for over 40 yrs.
Definitely always replace all your strings with a new set.
When I was performing heavily, I would put on a new set of Super Slinky's before every show. ( I have very acidic sweat)

I use side cutters to clip the strings off...at full tension!

It's the funnest part of changing your strings!
See how fast you can clip them off.
Twong! Twang! Twern! Twing! Tang! Ting!
(Warning, you could put an eye out...)
Don't worry, Electric guitars are sturdy bastards, it won't hurt them one bit.

Now, when I change the strings on my classical guitar, I want to keep the tension in the sound board as much as I can. If tension is released for too long, it takes forever to settle back in, so I carefully replace them all one at a time, cleaning the fret board as best I can, as I go.

I'd say for solid body electric guitars, do it however you want.


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