Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello, my friends

This is probably a basic question but, when restringing do you replace one string at a time or do you remove all at once?
I've read both ways, some say there's no problem. Others say it might cause neck issues due to a lack of tension.

Until today I'm used to replace a string at a time but when it comes to clean and apply reconditioning oil it can be a bit boring. Removing all at once would be easier.

So, how do you do it?

Thanks in advance

Except in special cases, I replace all the strings at once.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

This should be posted in the 'myths' thread.

There are no concerns with removing all of the strings. I've done it every time I've ever changed strings. It won't cause any problems, and affords the opportunity to clean up the fretboard and such.

_________________
Jim Hansen

Unless you are restringing a floyd type trem, then it gets to be a PITA. Same can be said for restinging something like a jazz box with a floating bridge.

Wait, you're supposed to change the strings?

I really don't know if you're making fun of myself... or are you trying to be funny?

Please tell me so that I know how to react.

Anyway, another kind of answer would be much more constructive.

I never make fun of others, only myself. It was supposed to be funny, like "You mean you're supposed to clean the BBQ?"

Neither do I.
Sorry for my jump in conclusions.

FWIW, which ain't much,
I usually change one string at a time,
because it's easier for me to get back into rough tune.
Occaisionally,
every coupla years,
I take em all of to oil da fwetboawd.
Not making fun,
trying to be funny.
NOT!

As Roger pointed out Rui...
if you don't have a hardware issue then there is no problem.

If you were/are concerned with the neck having the tension released
it is not a problem. It will bend right back.

Should you change the string gauges it can have an effect.
Neck relief and intonation adjustments may be required.

It is a good time to oil, should the wood be dry. Also a good time just
to clean the fretboard and examine the frets.
Use oil sparingly.

I release tension off each string a little at a time- just my habit-and then
I cut them.

Agree there is no problem unless your talking a Steinie of Floyd type bridge fitted with a load counter spring....only ever one at a time off then and back up to tension or you will be really sorry you didn't listen to good advise...with an acoustic, I simply back off the tuners a little and cut the lot off all at once every time and there is no logical reason not do so.

Cheers

Kim

I never had any troubles with Floyd Rose or Kahler systems. Patience, and a good ear is all you need. It also helps to bring up any previously tuned strings back to pitch before starting on the next slackened string.
Thusly... your low E, then A, then back to the low E, then A, then D, then back to the low E, and so on ending with tuning the whole set all the way up to the treble E.
I used to do this pretty quick with a tuner droning away on E... it sounded like a kind of raga.
Had a couple clients who would ask to watch when I did my tuning ragas on a Floyd, they would applaud when I was done. I kept up a running conversation the whole time, too.

It was fun, but when you did this stuff a couple times a day in a busy music store you tended to get good at it.

_________________
"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Great how we can say much the same thing in so many different ways with our language.

It may all be cool and froody if you work with this type of bridge on a regular basis in a pro shop, then practice and a good ear can't help but follow. But that's not gonna help any time soon for most who visit a forum like this and then click on a topic called "Re-Stringing". My advice is more directed at them and to add weight to clarify why the OP, and many others out there, have heard the 'only one string at a time' warning...It seems many people, even some here on this forum, believe its either 'or' either, its one off at a time, or, its all off at a time. They seem to misunderstand why both methods can be correct.

Further to that, I can't possibly recall all the times I have heard people explain that the one off method is all about maintaining a straight neck....."don't take them all off at one time what ever you do or it will warp the neck man, its the wood dude, it gets all use to having all that load'n'stuff go'in one way, then ya suddenly take it all off at one time and bingo, it all twists up cause it don't know what to do anymore...Well you can throw 'that' neck away cause you won't be play'in it again" So with that it seems many of those that follow the practice religiously have no real clue why they are doing what they are doing, and that if its a standard strat, teli, etc...it makes no practical sense at all to bugger around with.

I have a mate who has played in bands for the best part of his 54 years. He's had the same standard strat now for around 30 years. I have sat him down and explained to him how the 'one at a time' fable came to be. I even took him out to the shed, pulled out an old flat sawn maple neck salvaged from a korean made stat copy, and put a straightedge on it so he could see it was all good and I got him to rifle it to see if he could detect any warp from the fret ends. He confirmed that it looked pretty good so I then tightened the tenon in a vice with urethane liners, grabbed the headstock bending it back and loading it to a silly degree, and releasing it from the tips of my fingers so it flicked violently forward and back in the vice with a daaaannnga, daannng, daanng, daang, dang...I repeated that another 6 or 8 times (but never 7 because then something really bad would happened to the fender fairy) and let the guy check it over for any wrapping or twisting...he confirmed he could not find anything wrong with it, nothing, not a thing.....Yes he 'still' only ever removes one sting at a time on his strat....you see what I failed to recognise was that the neck I had used for my demonstration was a 'korean' made maple neck....now we all know that it's only proper Fender with "real maple" necks that you need to worry about. It seems just like any thoroughbred, such a finely tuned machine can be a little temperamental if you don't treat them right...

Cheers

Kim

Many thanks for your replies.

It seems that, even if logic and evidences support the "all at once" string change, people tend to do what they have been doing for years.

In my case, the guitar is a Fender Jaguar Blacktop (closer bridge photo) so I believe it won't be a problem to remove all at once, as long as I can guarantee that the original setup is not changed during the operation.

I guess we should be more specific...unless you have a pivot post, locking 'tremolo' bridge, such as a Floyd Rose or one of its many clones like the KB's etc, then there is absolutely no point whatsoever to bother following the 'one at a time' process.

This is a FR locking trem...



Here is a link to an FR set up guide that's OK to give you an idea of 'why' 'one at a time' came to be...with these bridges the string tension is counteracted via spring to hold the guitar in tune when unlocked....you play your bit of 80's shred, and then when you re-lock the trem again there should be no difference change in pitch because the springs holds the balance...If you have a Steinberger or their "under licence" iterations..they only have a single heavy spring with rear adjustment lever.

This can be a good thing in a way because the entire bridge, including the pivot post, is then very stable as it is all self contained upon a single heavy base plate. Be careful though because some models only have 'alloy' pivot post and bridges fitted with those such as you find on a lot of 80's Korean made Kramers and some Gibson's such as their Epiphone X1000 can be a PIA because the post 'will' bend forward. When this happens, the player will keep loading the adjuster until its thread strips and renders the shredder unplayable.

New pivot post are no longer available form the manufacturer for these particular bridges so the only 'proper' fix is to order custom made replacement post. These replacement posts are made of 'tool steel' so its a permanent fix for a poor design...but it aint a cheap option...Just include this info because if anyone reads this who has such a bridge, I am certain they will be very grateful to know the answer.

Cheers

Kim



Cheers

Kim

This guitar is not the case. But, apart of the issues of "damaging" the neck, I also want to avoid a new setup (intonation, etc). I will use the same string diameters but I'm not sure if that's enough. Obviously, the most correct would be to de a setup but I don't want to spend money.

Like I just spent too long telling you too many times..you simply CANNOT damage the f&#king neck of a f&%king guitar by changing the f&$cking strings!!...where does this BS come from ???

Here it is again.......If its not a locking bloody termelo...just change the bloody things all at one time and move on with your life...If it is a locking trem, then change the blasted things one at a time...I mean really, its just not that bloody difficult. Guitar strings wear out OK. Anyone that has 'ever' built a guitar, including every single company that has ever opened its doors has been fully aware of that fact 'and' has been clever enough to allowed the strings to be changed safely and 'painlessly'!!! without ANY risk whatsoever to the stink'in axe.......Sheesh!! Think'in I need either a frontal lobotomy or a bottle in front of me about now to help with my tolerance...good thing the fridge is closer..

I know, I know...you've convinced me before. To make things clear, this is not an issue anymore.

I was mentioning my initial concerns when I started this thread. One was the neck "damage" (which we know is not an issue). The other, not mentioned before, was the need of a new setup.



The bottle is a better solution.

That it is...that it is....

No need to bother about the setup changing, if its good now then nothing will change when you change strings unless you increase or decrease string tension by changing the string gauge ....Sorry I got a tad grump...I went to a dentist today and that is never a good way to finish the day..

Here is a video...this is exactly how I change strings. Its a no nonsense way to get the job done without all the BS that people dream up in their minds about locking this and tying that.

If you follow this method you will live a long healthy life and at some stage Antonio de Torres will come to you in a dream and reveal the truth of how many guitars he built in Seville Spain between 1855 and 1870, and the location of the cave where he hid all 400+ of the undiscovered each being more perfect and detailed than great La Leona and all buried carefully wrapped in a posterboard like product coated in ear wax, cremonese varnish, olive oil and virgin tears...trust me,,this is true this thing I say..



Seriously, this is the way to change guitar strings...if you make more of a song and dance about it than this, then your just wasting your time.

Cheers

Kim

No problem....but in that case, you'll need a second bottle.



I'll see it tonight, it's blocked here. Thank you.

All I know is, It's a whole lot easier to clean and polish an instrument when all the strings are off.

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

It's done!
All strings removed, fretboard cleaned and "oiled". That intial turn to the string around the tuner posts needs practice.

Well done, I bet she sings sweeter than ever to..

Cheers

Kim

Well, I don't know yet...I just tunned it and put it in the case.
Today I will play it. Anyway, this is my son's guitar and he will play it today for sure 'cause he has a show tomorrow. I will ask his oppinion too.

One more question about "conditioning the fretboard. I'm using this and I needed at least 3 hours for it to dry. For how long is it usual to wait after applying the conditioner?

Its OK but uses silicone so that is not a good thing. Lemon oil works well as a wipe but do not flood any product onto a fretboard or you may swell the wood in the fret slots...that is OK when it is first done, but as the product dries and the the wood shrinks back, you can find you have loosened the fret tangs in the slots and that is never a good thing. My advice is to use any silicon free paste wax to buff the board between string changes. You cannot feed wood because it is dead and its been dead since the tree fell so when things look dull and manky, wipe the FB down with naphtha to remove all the old wax, give it a wipe with lemon oil to get it looking smart again, and then apply silicone free paste wax again to recommence the cycle...secret with 'anything' you put on a fretboard is that a little goes a long way...keep it, whatever 'it' is, away from the slots if you can because nothing ever goes there but 'it' and if you get enough 'it' into the fret slots, it will cause issues down the track.

Cheers

Kim