Of course you can change the strings on your guitar yourself, but have you ever noticed any of the following?

 

• A "click" or "metal" sound when you tune your strings?

• Do you have to retune the guitar often? Does it feel like your guitar keeps going out of tune?

• Do you have to retune the guitar after bending the strings or strumming too hard?

• Having to change strings frequently because they keep breaking?

 

If you have experienced any of the above mentioned then chances are that you are not stringing your guitar correctly. You need to have just enough of the string go around the tuner so that the string has enough integrity to hold its tuning, too little string and the string will break easily or "slip", too much string and the string will have an unbalanced tension over the neck. You also need to let the string keep hold of itself over the tuner, we do this by making using of an "over-under" technique, not only will this help the string keep its tuning under stress, but it will also help the string last longer than usual

 

We make use of a pencil or guitar grease to "lubricate" the nut on the guitar, this allows the strings to move more freely over the nut. Skipping this step can cause the horrible points mentioned above. What causes your strings to break more than anything else is an improperly set nut on the guitar. The string loses its integrity over the nut while you tune it causing it to develop a weak spot, you might think that the string breaks off at the back, but this is only where the string inevitably gives in, the bigger problem was most likely caused by the string "sticking" in the nut