How to String an Acoustic Guitar Without Breaking a String or Losing Your Evening

Before You Start

Restringing is one of those jobs that looks fiddly the first time and takes ten minutes by the fifth. The difference is almost entirely about a few small habits: how the ball end seats under the bridge pin, how many wraps go on the post, and whether you stretch the strings before you start playing.

Get the set you want first. Gauge changes the feel of the guitar more than most beginners expect, and if you are not sure what you are using now, our explanation of string gauges is worth five minutes before you open a new pack.

You need very little. A string winder is not essential, but it saves a lot of wrist turning. Wire cutters trim the ends cleanly. A cloth under the headstock and something soft under the body keep the finish safe while the guitar lies flat.

• A new set of strings in the gauge you want
• Wire cutters or a winder with a built-in cutter
• A string winder, optional but helpful
• A soft cloth, and a tuner

Removing the Old Strings

Loosen every string until it is slack. Some players worry about removing all the tension at once. On a normal acoustic with a truss rod, taking all the strings off for the few minutes it takes to change them is fine, and it gives you a chance to clean the fingerboard.

Unwind each string from its tuning post, then pull the bridge pins. This is where people chip bridges. Do not lever the pins out with a screwdriver against the wood. Many winders have a notch designed to lift bridge pins. If a pin is stuck, push the string slightly into the body first, which unseats the ball end, and the pin usually comes free.

Keep the pins in order if they differ slightly in size, or at least keep them in a cup so they do not roll under the sofa. Losing a bridge pin mid-restring is a classic way to end an evening.

Seating the Ball End at the Bridge

Drop the ball end of the new string into the bridge hole and push the pin in with its groove facing the string, toward the neck. The groove gives the string a channel so the pin does not pinch it.

Now the step that prevents most problems. Hold the pin down with one thumb and pull the string gently up toward the soundhole with the other hand. You should feel the ball end slide up and lock against the underside of the bridge plate. If you skip this, the ball end can sit on the tip of the pin, and when you tune up the pin pops out or the string slowly slips flat.

Work from the low E string to the high E, or from the middle out, whichever you prefer. The order matters less than seating each one properly.

Winding at the Tuning Post

Pull the string through the hole in the post, then back it off to leave some slack. A common rule of thumb is to leave about two to three inches of extra string past the post for the wound strings, and a little more for the thin plain strings, so you end up with roughly two to three wraps on the heavier strings and a few more on the thinnest ones.

Too few wraps and the string can slip, especially the plain G, B and high E. Too many and the wraps pile on top of each other, which makes tuning unstable. The goal is neat wraps going downward on the post, each one below the last, so the string leaves the post low and puts a good angle over the nut.

Put a small bend in the string where it exits the post before you start winding, and keep light tension on the string with your other hand as you turn. On the plain strings, some players tuck the end under the first wrap to lock it. That is optional but it helps with slipping.

Tune, Stretch, Tune Again

Bring each string up to pitch with a tuner. New strings stretch, and they will keep going flat for a while if you leave it there. The fix is to stretch them deliberately.

With the string at pitch, hold it near the middle and pull it gently away from the fingerboard, moving along the length of the string. Do not yank it. Retune, stretch again, and repeat two or three times. You will notice each round needs less correction. Our online guitar tuner works from your microphone if you do not have a clip-on handy.

Only once the strings hold pitch should you trim the ends at the post. Leave a short stub rather than cutting flush, and point it away from your fingers.

Mistakes That Make New Strings Misbehave

Most restringing problems trace back to a handful of causes. If your guitar will not stay in tune after new strings, it is almost always one of these, and you can read more in our guide on why a guitar won't stay in tune.

• Ball end not locked under the bridge plate, so the string creeps
• Too few wraps on the plain strings, so they slip at the post
• Wraps overlapping on the post instead of going neatly downward
• Skipping the stretch, so the strings keep sagging flat for days
• Levering bridge pins out against the wood and chipping the bridge

How Often to Do This

There is no fixed schedule. It depends on how much you play, how much your hands sweat, and whether you wipe the strings after playing. Dull tone, a gritty feel and tuning that will not settle are the practical signs.

We covered the different factors in detail in how often you should change acoustic guitar strings. The short version: if the strings sound dead and look discoloured, it is time, whatever the calendar says.