Strings

Changing Strings

You should be changing your strings at least every 2-3 months, more often if you play them a lot. Generally, it's a good idea to change them once a month. Many popular artists with dedicated guitar techs will put a new set of strings on after every show! New strings will stay in tune better, have longer sustain, produce a richer and brighter tone, and be easier to play. If you want to get more life from your strings, wash your hands before playing and wipe the strings down with some rubbing alcohol every now and then. You don’t want them to get covered in dirt and corrosive materials.

I like to remove two adjacent old strings at a time. It doesn't matter if you start with the thick or thin ones. I loosen the tension using the tuner until they are are completely flappy and loose. If there are still a fair number of winds around the tuning peg, I use the slack in the string to simply unwind the string around the peg, rather than keep turning the tuning peg. Once completely unwound, you should be able to pull the string through the tuning peg hole. If the string is tied onto the tuning peg hole, you will have to untie it or cut it to get it off. I don't recommend that you tie the strings onto the pegs - it's not necessary to prevent slippage.

Once the strings are removed from the tuners, it's time to remove them from the bridge. If you have a floating Floyd Rose style locking bridge, you will need to use an allen wrench to loosen the string clamps. Most other electric bridges use the ball end of the string to hold the string firmly in the bridge. For a Stratocaster type bridge, you simply push the strings near the bridge saddles, pushing the ball ends of the string out the rear cavity of the guitar. Most such guitars will have a cavity cover with holes for each string, and you should see the ball end protrude through. Once you can grab the ball end, use it to pull the rest of the string through the bridge and out the guitar.

With the strings off the guitar, you can really see and reach the areas that the string normally hovers over, including the pickups and the fretboard. This is a good time to clean these things off - mainly for cosmetic reasons. If you don't care about the look of the guitar or any fretboard funk, you can skip this step. I like to use tissue or rags with some rubbing alcohol on them - just enough to dampen the tissue or rags. If you're leaving large droplets or puddles of rubbing alcohol, that's way too much. Once you've cleaned the fretboard, you may want to use some oil on it to keep it from getting too dry and giving it a rich, lively look. My recommendation is Fret Doctor. One bottle will last a lifetime.

Now for restringing...

String Gauge

Most stock guitars come in standard E tuning with 9's (.009-.042). These are easy to bend and are good for lead work, but I find them a bit lacking if you want a heavy rhythm sound. Because they are relatively loose, you'll get a strong attack on them that quickly fades to a whimper. In my mind, that sounds kind of vintage, not modern and heavy. For standard E tuning, I prefer 10's (.010-.046). If you like to play in drop D tuning, you may prefer strings with a heavy bottom (.010-.052). The heavy bottom is nice, even if you don't play in a drop tuning - you generally don't need to make as strong bends on your thicker strings as you do on the thinner ones. Given that I'm a Petrucci nut, I basically use the exact same string gauges (Scroll down a little and there's a chart for all his tunings with the gauges used).

Also, thinner strings are easier to mute. This is mostly why I like them for lead work - you are less likely to have an unwanted string ring out. I find I sometimes like the sharper attack too, but not always. You will also have an easier time playing legato (hammer-ons and pull-offs) with thinner strings. I have two guitars tuned to standard E. One has 9's, the other 10's.

If you are tuning all your guitar strings down, you don't want 9's, or even 10's. I find I need at least 11's to play in standard D, at least 12's to play in standard C, and at least 13's to play in standard B. If you are additionally going to drop the 6th string a full step, I highly recommend getting a set of heavy bottoms. Again, see the chart on the Petrucci site linked above, or visit this website, which has a Java Applet to calculate string tension using gauges and tunings. Here are the values I use for most of my guitars: notice you can specify the scale length, tuning, and type of strings. The first is D'Addario EXL120's, then D'Addario EXL110's, then D'Addario EXL110-7's with an additional .080 nickel wound string (for my Ibanez RGA8 8 string). Notice the 8 string has a longer scale length, but I tune it down a half step, acheiving roughly the same string tension.

len 25.5" 
E4 .009" PL == 13.13#
B3 .011" PL == 11.01#
G3 .016" PL == 14.68#
D3 .024" NW == 15.77#
A2 .032" NW == 15.77#
E2 .042" NW == 14.77# 
total == 85.13#

E4 .010" PL == 16.21#
B3 .013" PL == 15.38#
G3 .017" PL == 16.57#
D3 .026" NW == 18.41#
A2 .036" NW == 19.54#
E2 .046" NW == 17.48# 
total == 103.59#

len 27" 
E4b .010" PL == 16.2#
B3b .013" PL == 15.36#
G3b .017" PL == 16.55#
D3b .026" NW == 18.38#
A2b .036" NW == 19.51#
E2b .046" NW == 17.46#
B1b .059" NW == 16.46#
F1 .080" NW == 16.55# 
total == 136.49#

Another point on string gauge - the thinner your strings, the less tension they'll have which means the more you'll stretch them when you pick them. This will cause them to go sharp initially and gradually lower their pitch until they find their natural sustaining volume. The harder you pick them, the sharper they'll go. For metal, where you often have to play fast and aggressively, picking hard will cause the initial attack to be sharper than the note you desire. This is another reason to use thicker strings for aggressive music like metal - otherwise, you can sound out of tune, even when you aren’t.

Lately much ado has been made about balanced tension between the strings - basically each string having near identical tension when tuned up. There's nothing wrong with unbalanced tension. Of course, a wide imbalance is going to feel awkward. I consider balanced tension a good ideal, but I find most commercial sets are close enough not to nitpick. D'Addario actually took notice and makes true balanced tension sets now, but the price is a bit too high right now for me to switch to them. Keep in mind also that the link above to the tension calculator is not perfect and should only be used as a rough estimate.

And a final point - thin strings are more likely to have fret buzz with the attack. As I just mentioned, they will stretch more and thus be more likely to slap against frets above the one you are fretting. This can sound kind of nice for blues work, where you aren't always picking aggressively - it really emphasizes when you do. For metal, where you are constantly picking quickly and aggressively, it will make your playing sound like noise; it will be near impossible to hear the desired note pitch. This also depends on your setup.