Changing Classical Guitar Strings

When To Change Your Strings

"When should I change my strings?"
I use to change mine when the basses lost their brightness.
They usually last about three weeks, but I play five to six hours every day.

"How do I know my strings are dead?"
At this point you'll see fret wear--black marks--on the strings and have difficulty tuning.
If they're really terrible, the basses will be corroded and the trebles scratched (worn rough where you pluck).

Players with sweaty hands can kill fresh strings in less time because of corrosion.
However, the typical hobbyist that washes their hands before practice and plays an hour a day can expect a month of decent tone out of standard strings.

D'Addario Pro Arté Composites, Extended Play Coated, last two or three times longer than standard strings.

EXP Strings Package

I was playing the Pro Arte before and they last quite a long time too:

Traditional String Changing Method

You will save a lot of time and energy usign the ultimate restringing tool. Unlike ordinary peg winders, the patented Pro-Winder is a high-quality peg winder with a built-in clipper and a bridgepin puller. The winder is designed to fit virtually all guitars.

Ergonomically designed with hardened tool steel wire cutters, the Pro-Winder with built-in clipper is the ALL-IN-ONE restringing tool.

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Removing Strings

Use the Pro-Winder to unwind the strings. It's faster than winding by hand.
Turn the winder counterclockwise to loosen the string and clockwise to tighten the string.

Don't remove all the strings at once. Instead, remove and install one string at a time. Removing all the strings traumatizes the neck and sound board.
How? The strings exert a total force of 75 to 90 pounds of tension on the sound board and neck. If you release all the tension, the wood flexes. After reinstalling the strings it takes several hours for the sound board to flex back to optimal shape. Thus, you'll notice a lost of volume and tone until the sound board returns to normal.

Attaching The String To The Bridge

Once you have removed a string, attach the string to the bridge as illustrated in the diagram:

Making Your Strings Last

D'Addario Pro Arté Composites, Extended Play Coated, last two or three times longer than standard strings.
They're worth paying twice as much to preserve tonal response and avoid frequent string changes.
Washing your hands before playing also has a major impact on string life. It is helpful to wipe your strings down with a micro fiber cloth.

Micro fiber picks up sweat and oil better than any other fabric.



The Planet Waves Micro-Fiber polishing cloth acts like a magnet for dust, dirt, and oils, and lasts considerably longer than ordinary cloths. Woven from microscopic fibers, the Planet Waves Micro-Fiber Cloth is 10 times finer than silk, up to 30 times finer than cotton, and 100 times finer than a human hair. The fibers are woven into masses of tiny "hooks & loops" which cut through stains, attracting and absorbing dirt, smudges, and microparticles that ordinary cloths cannot reachor remove.
Best of all, the Micro-Fiber polishing cloth needs only minimal polish or no polish at all when you clean your guitar!
http://www.planetwaves.com/pcaredetails.aspx?ID=6

Of course, the more you play, the faster you wear out your strings. That's a fact of life. Live with it.
However, the enjoyment of beautiful tone and wide dynamic response is worth a string change every month or even every week.

Good luck with your next string change!

Philippe Bertaud
http://www.PhilippeBertaud.com