"How To change your Strings"

It sounds like a straightforward thing. You take off the old ones and put the new ones on, but it's not that simple. Once you take the old ones off you then have to pick you new set of strings from the various different makes. There’s Ernie Ball strings, Elixir strings, Fender strings, Gibson strings, the list could go on forever. I find that Ernie Ball's are the best for most guitars but if you have a Fender guitar that came with bullet end strings then it is best to stick with them, the same applies for Gibson’s. If you have a Gibson then you may want to stick with Gibson strings to get a really full sound.

Once you have picked the make of strings you like you need to pick a gauge. The gauge of string is very important depending on what you want to do and how you play. If you are a lead guitarist that does allot of big bends then you may like to stick with a low gauge to make it easier to bend, also this will put less strain on your fingers. I would suggest gauge 8 strings for this. If you are a rhythm player then you don’t need the strings as thin. I use a gauge 10; this would be good for most players. As with all things in guitar, you have to just play about with different strings and different gauges to find the best for you.

If you have a Floyd Rose bridge on your guitar you may have to tighten/loosen the screws to get it the right height for a different gauge string as a higher gauge string will pull more than a lower gauge one. If you do not feel confident doing this yourself then take your guitar to your local guitar shop and they should be able to do it for you.

Once you have your new strings on you will need to stretch them to stop them from going out of tune randomly. To do this all you need to do is put your new strings on; tune them in, then give each string individually a little tug. Obviously you don’t want to pull too hard or else you will break your new strings. Just pull them until you don’t think they will go any more. Once you have done this, tune your strings again and from then on they shouldn’t go out of tune by themselves as fast.