Restringing guitar

[superyob]

Greetings to all you talented musicians on this forum. I have but a simple question for the guitarists amongst us.

Does your restringing technique affect the way you play your guitar?

For example, I have always restrung my own guitars but recently I had my Seagull professionally set up and restrung. I thought, when I got the guitar back, that I sounded better than I usually do and of course the set up will have a big effect on that. But when I subsequently restrung my guitar, I found that I did not sound as good as before, which leads me to my question above...

[Express]

I restring my own but I’m not that good a player so paying a professional would be a waste.

[Stefan]

Did they use a different brand of string? Some are better than others and a well tuned ear will pick the difference.

Or it may just be like when my car has been washed it feels like it goes faster? ie you're just imagining it.

[superyob]

Stefan you may be right, but I am sure the guitar responded better to my inept fumbling before I changed the strings...

[blackf6]

He may have set the action up better. (Strings closer to the fret board) And used better quality strings. But new strings do sound better than the worn out strings they replace.

[LG17]

Originally Posted by Express

I restring my own but I’m not that good a player so paying a professional would be a waste.

Ditto!

[jimt3te50]

Originally Posted by DeJaVu GT

He may have set the action up better. (Strings closer to the fret board) And used better quality strings. But new strings do sound better than the worn out strings they replace.

I'm inclined to agree that he may have lowered the action or used a different string. Though another thing when restringing is to loosely fit the strings then start tuning from the centre out, similar to how you should alternate tensioning wheel nuts on a car- it keeps the fretboard from warping which can adverse effects on the action. Heavier or lighter gauge strings can require an adjustment of the truss rod which us mortals don't do but a luthier will just about always do to get it spot on.

I'm assuming it's acoustic but every string instrument would benefit the same way. I'm religious with how I string my bass (5 string with a 36" scale) because with a fretboard like a cricket bat and fencing wire for strings it becomes really evident if you string it badly

[russellw]

Most likely to be strings - I'm not going to buy into what are the 'best' strings because they are a personal choice but I use the Elixir Nanowebs because I don't particularly enjoy spending a whole day restringing the collection all that often and they have an excellent 'standing' life.

Cheers
Russ

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by russellw

Most likely to be strings - I'm not going to buy into what are the 'best' strings because they are a personal choice but I use the Elixir Nanowebs because I don't particularly enjoy spending a whole day restringing the collection all that often and they have an excellent 'standing' life.

Cheers
Russ

I was just about to post the same thing. Elixir strings are my go to and they always sound fantastic.

I actually have a set of Elixir's on my acoustic which I haven't restrung in probably 4 years......they still sound pretty good!

[superyob]

I am referring to the all round playability before and after the restring. Sound has never been a problem as it is a nice sounding guitar...

[Stefan]

OK so your playing "improved" with pro restring and "deteriorated" again with your own restring"?

I'm guessing nothing to do with set up as you would only restring the guitar the guitar not change the set up from the pro's set up.

But I know I would play better if my sound was better and most guitarists agree with that.

Only other thing is did you use different gauge strings?

Sounds to me like you need to hire a full time guitar tech so you play at your best at all times.

[Peuty]

What this guy said haha ^^^

[Express]

Well there’s your answer, turn Pro and you’ll have a full time tech on hand to give you that perfect sound.

[superyob]

Stefan and Express, I have a cunning plan. I will turn pro and have a full time pro pleb to restring my axe.

Gadzooks my genius precedes me...

Now where's my make up???

[b0son]

Originally Posted by superyob

For example, I have always restrung my own guitars but recently I had my Seagull professionally set up and restrung. I thought, when I got the guitar back, that I sounded better than I usually do and of course the set up will have a big effect on that. But when I subsequently restrung my guitar, I found that I did not sound as good as before, which leads me to my question above...

I can understand why the guitar may have sounded better and perhaps been easier to play after it was done by a pro. A setup isn't just a re-string, it will involved adjusting the action and neck relief, which itself involves adjusting the truss rod to change the amount of curvature in the fretboard/neck. This affects how low you can get the action and how much buzz you get when you bring the action down. They'd also have adjusted the intonation to suit (has to be redone whenever you change the action).

All of this makes the guitar easier to play. Being able to get away with a lighter touch makes the tuning more consistent across the length of the fretboard and makes the intonation truer the further up you go.

If you did a re-string yourself, and you didnt use identical strings, the neck tension will be different which will change the neck relief and therefore the action, changing the quality of the tuning up the neck and how easy it is to play.

[Evgeni]

To set up your bridge, assuming it is adjustable, set up the height of each saddle where you are comfortable and it doesn't buzz on other frets when you hold down a note.

Then the tone of the string must be the same from the nut to the 12th fret compared with from the 12th fret to the bridge. The length of the saddle needs to be adjusted to make these two tones equal.

[superyob]

Thanks for your replies guys. I did use the same gauge strings though...

[Boosted8]

It could be that when you re-string the axe yourself, you're not getting a tight enough bind on the machine head which is causing some slippage... that causes the guitar to wander out of tune often (which always makes it sound worse).

I've found that two "loops" around the post is usually more than enough, any more than that can cause the string to become unpredictable.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by superyob

Thanks for your replies guys. I did use the same gauge strings though...

Exactly the same strings though?

eg. D'addario EXL120 9-42's have slightly different tensions to EHR320 9-42's, despite the strings being the same gauge.

[superyob]

Not the same brand string b0son. Maybe I'll have to find out what they were...

[jimt3te50]

Can I ask what guitar it is?

[superyob]

Originally Posted by jimt3te50

Can I ask what guitar it is?

Seagull acoustic dreadnought...

[uniacidz]

Maybe the pro used a different gauge set of strings

[Stefan]

I think acoustics tend to benefit tonally from a good brand of strings, more so than electric were the sound is impacted / destroyed / improved by pick ups, amps and effects, each having tone controls. Acoustics it is what it is sound wise.

Personally, I love the bright twanginess of new string on acoustics, but actually prefer dull older strings on electrics.

I guess is the better maybe brighter sound increases your confidence in playing.

[CJR09]

Originally Posted by Boosted8

It could be that when you re-string the axe yourself, you're not getting a tight enough bind on the machine head which is causing some slippage... that causes the guitar to wander out of tune often (which always makes it sound worse).

I've found that two "loops" around the post is usually more than enough, any more than that can cause the string to become unpredictable.

I have always looped my strings to the top of the post hole first then to the under - and always aim to have at least 4 total winds on the post - this effectively 'locks' the string to prevent slippage and going flat

Different brands will certainly have a different sound and even different style of strings in the same gauge from the same manufacturer will have a different sound due to different composition - if you liked the sound after you had it restrung find out what the strings are and use em - its such a labourious and expensive task finding a great sounding string

Fwiw i have always used dean markley acoustic strings - vintage bronze, EB hybrid slinky's for electric

If i find time i'll take a pic of tuning post to show if needed.

[CJR09]

Gave me motivation to get it out of it's case!!

Cheers.