- Guitar String Names:
- Guitar Strings Names
- Step 1
- (How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
- Step 2
- (How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
- Part 1b : Guitar Neck Adjustment
- Step 1: Look down the neck of your guitar.
- Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
- How to Check Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
- Dead Straight Guitar Neck:
- Guitar Neck with Slight Relief in the Truss Rod:
- Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
- Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
- To Add Neck Relief to your Guitar:
- Step 1
- Step 2
- To Add Neck Relief:
- To Subtract Neck Relief (Straighten):
Guitar String Names:
Being able to immediately recall your guitar strings names is not only important for learning to play new songs (like in guitar tablature), but it’s also important for teaching guitar, and communicating with other musicians or band members.
There is a ton of stuff to memorize when learning guitar, but memorizing your guitar strings names is a great place to start. So I’ll make this very simple for you.
Guitar Strings Names
The Guitar Strings Names start with the thinnest being 1st and the thickest being 6th. (going from right to left in the diagram, the string names are as follows.)
6th String = E
5th String = A
4th String = D
3rd String = G
2nd String = B
1st String = e
Since there are two E strings. The 6th guitar string name is low E, always a capital E. The 1st guitar string name is high e, always a lower-case e. When sitting with the guitar on your lap, or wearing it with a strap, the E string (thickest string) will be the top string, and the e string (thinnest string) will be the bottom string.
How to Change Guitar Strings
The first step to any great setup is to change guitar strings. Having new guitar strings is vital to getting a proper guitar setup. Old guitar strings have bad tone, are dull sounding, rusty, grimey, and they can throw off your guitar intonation. It’s always best to restring your guitar first, and then you’ll know for a fact that your guitar setup is done well.
Step 1
(How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
Start with the new low E string, and string through the back of the body (if you have string-through body) or the bottom of your bridge (ex: Tone Pros Style)
Step 2
(How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
Once the string is through the bridge, run it up the neck to it’s corresponding tuning peg.
Step 3
(How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
Step 4
(How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
Repeat this process for the remaining strings.
Step 5
(How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
Now its time to tighten the strings by tuning them up. Turn each tuning knob clockwise until each string is tuned correctly.
Step 6
(How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
Once tuned, its time to stretch each string by pulling them outward from the guitar. This helps seat the wraps of the string around each post and will stabilize the overall ability to stay in tune.
Step 7
(How to Change Guitar Strings, Restring Electric Guitar, Guitar String Names)
Clip the ends off, leaving about 1/2 inch of string sticking out of the tuning posts. Don’t go to short or the strings will slip out of the posts.
Pro Tip 1:
When you are “stretching” your strings, you aren’t actually stretching the strings. They don’t stretch. What you are doing is seating the string as tightly as possible on the tuning post. You are removing the slack in the wraps.
Pro Tip 2:
Trim the string ends, so there is no string hanging off the headstock. The last thing you want is to poke you or anybody else. Those things are like needles.
Pro Tip 3:
Play the guitar for 5 minutes and retune. Play for another 5 minutes and tune again. After three times your guitar strings should be in a pretty stable tune.
If you have any confusion about guitar string tunings or the name of each string, you can visit wikipedia’s guitar tunings page.
Part 1b : Guitar Neck Adjustment
Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment
A lot of guitarists are afraid of the word “truss rod” and anything to do with adjusting it. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has heard horror stories. Perhaps one about how Billy Bob, from down the street, took a wrench to his Fender Strat’s truss rod, twisted it one too many turns and the truss rod popped right out of the neck, splitting the fretboard from the neck backing.
While this is possible, it is highly unlikely. You would need to keep cranking on that sucker way past the point that any reasonable person would have stopped.
If you just exercise a bit of caution and patience, and turn the allen wrench 1/4 turn at a time, you will be fine. Small adjustments here can make huge differences in the way your neck feels.
Its a wise idea to let the wood in the guitar settle into its new state after each adjustment. I personally will do up to a half turn in either direction and stop. I come back to it in twenty minutes and re-assess the straightness of the neck.
The best way to learn this skill, like many others, is to do it. You will be glad that you did. Keep track of the number of 1/4 turns you make. If you get frustrated, at least you know how to return the truss rod to its original state.
Step 1: Look down the neck of your guitar.
Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
If you’ve been to Guitar Center you’ve probably seen some guy holding the guitar up to his eye, examining the neck. There is a good reason for this. He is checking the bow of the neck for any twists or defects in the straightness of the neck.
How to Check Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
To check the neck, stand up and hold the guitar so that the headstock is pointed right at your head. Your left hand should help hold the body upright.
You’ll want to align the neck so that you can see from the nut all the way down to the bridge. The strings are your straight edge, compare the neck to the strings. Is there a slight bow? Is the neck dead straight?
If there is any degree of relief in the neck you will see it bending away from the strings. You can do this on both sides of the neck to check for a twist, but this is rare. Congratulations, you just did your first assessment.
Dead Straight Guitar Neck:
Are you a metal player that likes to play runs, sweeps, or a lot of lead work? If so you will probably gravitate toward a dead straight neck.
A dead straight neck offers a more uniform string height over the entire length of the fretboard.
This allows for faster fingering of notes. The downside is that you may encounter dead spots or fret buzz at certain spots on the neck. Your note clarity may suffer a bit, but if you play with a lot of fuzz or distortion this may not be a problem for you. I prefer a dead straight neck on my Schecter Blackjack and Hellraiser FR.
Guitar Neck with Slight Relief in the Truss Rod:
Maybe you aren’t so concerned with speed. You play a lot of clean parts, and you are after the perfect tone. You want note clarity. If so, you’ll likely prefer a bit of relief in your neck.
I myself like a bit of relief on my G&L Telecaster. It makes it so much easier to use a capo. The notes ring clearer and I don’t need it to play fast.
Guitar Neck with a Back Bow
Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
This guitar neck is ideal for nobody. You’ll want to avoid this back bow in your guitar necks at all costs. It is nearly impossible to play cleanly with back bow, as the electric guitar strings will slapping the guitar frets about halfway down the guitar neck. The strings just bottom out on the frets, and your guitar strings will constantly buzz. If you have back bow in your guitar neck, you’ll need to adjust (loosen) the guitar’s truss rod before continuing with the setup.
Step 2: Truss Rod Adjustment:
Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
So, if you feel you need to change your guitar’s neck relief the process is simple.
To Add Neck Relief to your Guitar:
- Loosen guitar truss rod by 1/4 turn.
- Let set for 10 minutes. Recheck.
- Repeat until satisfied.
To Subtract Neck Relief (Straighten):
- Tighten guitar truss rod by 1/4 turn.
- Let set for 10 minutes. Recheck.
- Repeat until satisfied.
Guitar Neck Relief: Guitar Neck Adjustment, Guitar Truss Rod Adjust
1. How do you change guitar strings?
Step 1
Start with the new low E string, and string through the back of the body (if you have string-through body) or the bottom of your bridge (ex: Tone Pros Style)
Step 2
Once the string is through the bridge, run it up the neck to it’s corresponding tuning peg.
Step 3
Wrap the string counter clockwise around the post (minimum of two full wraps). At the end of the final wrap put the string through the whole in tuning post and pull tight.Step 4
Repeat this process for the remaining strings.
Step 5
Now its time to tighten the strings by tuning them up. Turn each tuning knob clockwise until each string is tuned correctly.
Step 6
Once tuned, its time to stretch each string by pulling them outward from the guitar. This helps seat the wraps of the string around each post and will stabilize the overall ability to stay in tune.
Step 7
Clip the ends off, leaving about 1/2 inch of string sticking out of the tuning posts. Don’t go to short or the strings will slip out of the posts.
2. How do you maintain stable tune on new guitar strings?
Once your new guitar strings are on, tune up. Then go to each string and pull it away from the guitar body by about 1/2 inch to an inch. Don't pull too hard or too far. You just want to help seat the the strings wraps around the tuning post.
Play the guitar for 5 minutes and retune. Play for another 5 minutes and tune again. After three times your guitar strings should be in a pretty stable tune.
3. How do you check a guitar neck for relief or back bow?
To check the neck, stand up and hold the guitar so that the headstock is pointed right at your head. Your left hand should help hold the body upright.
You’ll want to align the neck so that you can see from the nut all the way down to the bridge. The strings are your straight edge, compare the neck to the strings. Is there a slight bow? Is the neck dead straight?
If there is any degree of relief in the neck you will see it bending away from the strings. You can do this on both sides of the neck to check for a twist, but this is rare. Congratulations, you just did your first assessment.
4. How do you adjust a guitar neck?
First you'll want to ensure your guitar actually needs adjustment before you start adjusting anything. Assuming you already did that part, here are the steps.
To Add Neck Relief:
- Loosen truss rod by 1/4 turn.
- Let set for 10 minutes. Recheck.
- Repeat until satisfied.
To Subtract Neck Relief (Straighten):
- Tighten truss rod by 1/4 turn.
- Let set for 10 minutes. Recheck.
- Repeat until satisfied.
1. Step 1
Start with the new low E string, and string through the back of the body (if you have string-through body) or the bottom of your bridge (ex: Tone Pros Style)
2. Step 2
Once the string is through the bridge, run it up the neck to it’s corresponding tuning peg.
3. Step 3
Wrap the string counter clockwise around the post (minimum of two full wraps). At the end of the final wrap put the string through the whole in tuning post and pull tight.
4. Step 4
Repeat this process for the remaining strings.5. Step 5
Now its time to tighten the strings by tuning them up. Turn each tuning knob clockwise until each string is tuned correctly.
6. Step 6
Once tuned, its time to stretch each string by pulling them outward from the guitar. This helps seat the wraps of the string around each post and will stabilize the overall ability to stay in tune.
7. Step 7
Clip the ends off, leaving about 1/2 inch of string sticking out of the tuning posts. Don’t go to short or the strings will slip out of the posts.
Tools
- 1. Wire Cutters
- 2. String Winder (not absolutely necessary, but handy)
- 3. Chromatic Guitar Tuner
Material
- 1. New Guitar Strings
