If you play a classical or flamenco guitar with nylon strings, it’s important to learn how to string your guitar. Changing nylon guitar strings can seem intimidating or complex, but I assure you
There’s many other step-by-step and how-to guides out there for changing strings. However, some of them provide too many steps to easily remember. Not helpful! Others go into great detail, but don’t provide clear enough images or examples to understand the process thoroughly.
My goal here is to strike a balance of easy steps, and clear images. We’ll cover the basic things to know about changing classical guitar strings in a 5 easy step process.
How To Change The Strings On Your Classical Guitar?
Ultimately, after reading this guide you should feel more comfortable restringing your nylon string guitar! Feel free to review the mostly optional materials in the introduction, or skip straight to step 1.
Introduction – Getting Started 1. Tune down and remove all the old strings 2. Tie and secure the nylon treble strings at the bridge 3. Secure the string to the tuner peg (same process for bass and treble) 4. Tie and secure the nylon bass strings at the bridge 5. Trim the excess string
Do you have any questions or comments about the guitar restringing process? If so, please feel free to comment on this post or contact me directly!
Classical Guitar Restring Tutorial
If you know that your guitar strings haven’t been changed in at least six months, then it’s definitely time to replace them. Due to tension, over time your strings will get stiff, brittle, and frail. This happens even if you don’t play your guitar at all!
Sometimes you can even hear that the strings are losing their vibrancy. If your tone sounds dull or the strings don’t vibrate for long, it’s time to get new ones.
One visual way you can tell it’s time to change your guitar strings is if you see that parts of the guitar strings have lost their shine. You can tell the difference by looking at the color of the strings on the first couple of frets compared to further up the neck past the twelfth fret (where the guitar is played less frequently).
Guitar Maintenance Guide: How To Change Your Classical Guitar Strings
Notice the greenish worn color of the bass strings between the sound hole and the bridge. That area of the strings is much darker than the low E string over the fretboard!
If you play an hour or two daily, you probably only need to change your classical guitar strings once every 2-3 months.
But before jumping into the step by step string changing process, there’s a few household supplies you can use to improve the string changing process. There’s many preferences and opinions about the perfect string changing resources out there.
When To Change Classical Guitar Strings
It sounds obvious, but in order to string your classical guitar you’ll need new strings! I like using D’Addario EJ46 Hard Tension, Augustine Regal Blues, or a mix of both.
You can always start off with Normal tension to see if you like the feeling more. Regardless, you’ll need to have some new nylon guitar strings in hand before restringing your guitar!
Lastly, please keep in mind that steel string acoustic guitar strings should never be used on a classical guitar! Oftentimes steel strings won’t be the proper size, but more importantly if used they will actually damage the classical guitar itself.
How To Change Your Guitar Strings
While optional, I strongly recommend you have a pair of nail clippers or small scissors handy for the guitar stringing process. You’ll want to use one of these tools to clip both ends of the guitar strings once they’re fully wrapped.
Because the angle of the excess guitar strings can be awkward to access especially at the bridge, having a small tool like nail clippers is very helpful. Small scissors like those used for trimming a mustache are also useful as long as the blades are sharp enough to cut through the bass strings.
Although this is also optional, I recommend you have a soft cloth handy for cleaning the guitar fretboard and body. You’ll want to do this when you remove the old strings and before you put the new ones on. A simple microfiber cloth will do, or you can even use a soft rag or old sock!
How To Restring A Guitar Classical (with Pictures & Video)
Once the strings are removed, you can also apply lemon oil on the fretboard only. You’ll need a separate cleaning cloth if you decide to use it.
The first step is to tune down each of the old guitar strings. Simply tune each string down until there’s almost no tension, and no distinct pitch is produced.
When the old strings are removed, you have the opportunity to clean dust and gunk off parts of the guitar body fretboard that’s usually blocked by the strings. It’s amazing how much dust and grime can accumulate here in even a short amount of time!
Replacement And Insertion Of Nylon Strings In A Classical Guitar. Lesson For A Musician Stock Image
This is also a good time to clean other parts of the guitar body, which can get smudged up by your fingers or hands over time. A simple hot breath and wipe with your cleaning cloth should be all it takes!
Although not too serious, it’s a good idea to clean this area often to protect the finish. You can also wear a sleeve or protective cloth on your right arm to avoid smudging.
Another part of the guitar to clean once the strings are removed is the fretboard. Over time, finger dirt and grime can leave gunk on individual frets, usually surrounding the metal fret area.
How To Change The Nylon Strings On A Classical Guitar « Acoustic Guitar :: Wonderhowto
If you use lemon oil, make sure none of it gets on the body of the guitar as this can damage the finish! Make sure the fretboard is not too oily. Let the lemon oil sit for at least 30 seconds to dry out some before putting the new strings on.
Step two is tying the high E treble string to the bridge. Once all the old strings are removed and the guitar is clean, it’s time to open your new pack of strings.
I like to start by putting on each treble string completely one by one (high E string, B string, and G string). Each string should be labeled by the individual wrappers or by tags or stickers.
How To Restring Your Classical Guitar (nylon Strings)
Next, we’ll start by feeding the high E string through the first hole on the bridge. I usually push through 1.5-3 inches of excess string, which we’ll need for looping and tying.
Then, take the string tail and loop it to the right underneath the part of the string that’s above the bridge hole. When looping, you should be going in a clockwise direction if you’re facing the guitar.
As you pull the string tail through, make sure the it’s below the saddle (white part at the top the bridge with string divots).
How To String A Classical Guitar
Now you’re going to weave additional loops in the same direction, each one wrapping lower than the last one. This helps secure the nylon strings as they tighten.
For the E String, I recommend you perform two additional loops (three loops total) around the bridge portion of the string to secure it. For the B and G strings, just two loops total will be enough.
On the third loop of the E string, you’ll want to position the string on the underside of the bridge near the hole. The string is threaded through this way so it can be secured by the wrap of next string.
String Change Day! Trying These Hauser Strings On This Guitar For The First Time. Anyone Else Out There Actually Enjoy Changing Their Strings?
! This is how you wrap a nylon string on classical guitar! At this point you can move on to Step 3 to learn how to secure the high E string to the tuning peg. But for more info on how to safely secure the treble string tails, keep reading this section.
You’ll want to continue the same tying process above for the B and G strings. Just make sure that as you put more strings on, each string tail gets secured by the next string. The string tail needs to rest on top of the next string in order to be secured by it.
Why do we weave the nylon strings and tie them this way? Simply put, it helps secure the string as the tension increases during tuning. Tying the strings this way prevents what’s known as a “string whip” or a “string ding“.
Male Hands Changing The Strings Of A Classical Guitar Luthier Putting Nylon Strings On A Spanish Classical Guitar Stock Photo
String whips are most common on the high E string, which is why it’s a good idea to wrap it a third time. You can see the unsightly results of a “string whip” from a B string here:
Once you’ve secured the high E string at the bridge, take the string and feed it through the hole of the first tuning peg on the head of the guitar. Here’s a tip: if the hole on the peg seems inaccessible, you can always turn the peg to make sure the hole is facing the right direction.
From here you have two options to further secure the string: you can feed it back through the hole a second time, or you can thread the string through a loop you create.
How To Change Guitar Strings: A Step By Step Guide
The photo below shows what it looks like when you feed the string through the peg hole a second time. I find this to be the most effective method for securing the string to the
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