Note: This guide assumes you are changing the guitar strings on a Dreadnought acoustic guitar. Electric guitars are slightly different, but many principles still apply.
Method 1 Remove Old Strings and Bridge Pins
1 Decide how to restring. There has been ongoing debate about whether to remove and replace each guitar string individually or to simply take all the strings off at once and put on all new strings. The method you should use will be up to you.
• Using the one-at-a-time method can retain most of the tension that the neck is used to, keeping the tension of the guitar strings balanced with the tension of the truss rod.
• Removing all the strings at once allows you to clean and wipe down the guitar fretboard without having to lift the guitar strings or clean around them. The fretboard will accumulate skin oils, skin, and dirt (which can weaken the guitar's tone and acoustics).
2 Remove the strings. Loosen the strings so they are no longer taut. You can then either cut them with pliers or continue to loosen them with the tuning pegs until they can be pulled out of the tuning peg holes.
• There is a cheap tool called a string winder that is very useful for changing strings, and you can find such products at any music or guitar store.
3 Remove the bridge pins. This knob-like object (usually white or black) holds the strings in place inside the guitar. You can use a bridge pin puller to remove the bridge pins; this product comes in various styles and is available at any music or guitar store. Bridge pins can be quite difficult to pull out, especially if they are new or if the guitar is new. You can occasionally try to pull them out with pliers from the outside. While this is an acceptable method if you are very careful, it is usually not necessary to go this far.
• Another method is to use a hard object like a coin to push the bridge pins out from inside the guitar. When you do this, you can push the strings further into the guitar, and sometimes this action can cause the ends of the strings to wrap and insert with the bridge pins, helping to push the pins out. Once the bridge pins pop out, you can pull the strings out of the bridge pin holes.
4 Pull the strings out of the bridge pin holes.
5 If you want, you can clean the guitar at this time. This includes cleaning the body, fretboard, back of the neck, and headstock. Use appropriate cleaners purchased from a guitar or music store whenever possible. Never use furniture polish, glass cleaning sprays, or other common household cleaners. If you have no supplies, you can simply slightly dampen a chamois cloth or a non-fuzzy cotton cloth and then clean the guitar. The oils from your hands will quickly accumulate on the guitar fretboard, forming a thick layer of gunk.
• If you must use water, you should pour a very small amount onto the cloth (it should be almost indistinguishable whether the cloth is wet). Too much water will damage unsealed wood.
Method 2 Change the Strings
1 Prepare new strings. Some string ends have a ball-shaped metal head to distinguish the pitch by color.
2 Decide your string changing order. There are many different theories about the order in which strings should be changed. Some guitarists start with the thinnest string and go to the thickest, while others start with the thickest and go to the thinnest.
• The most favored method is to first insert the thinnest string, then the thickest, and then alternate between the next thin and thick strings in the order of 1, 6, 2, 5, 3, 4. This alternating method will keep the tension on the neck more evenly from left to right, resulting in fewer tuning issues later, especially on older guitars.
3 Place the ball end of the string into the bridge pin hole, then reinsert the bridge pin. You will also need to hold the string at the same time. Pulling the string upwards towards the headstock is very useful, as this tension can prevent the bridge pin from falling out.
4 Stretch each string. Once each string is in its respective bridge pin hole, you can pull it up to the appropriate tuning peg and thread the end through the tuning peg hole. Remember, you will be tightening the guitar's tuning peg to the right. If the tuning pegs on your guitar are on the opposite side of the headstock, you can pull the string between the two rows of tuning pegs and pull it outward.
5 Thread the string through the hole and tighten it. You may need to leave a little slack in the string so that there is enough string to wrap around the tuning peg. Otherwise, you will quickly run out of string, and the string will loosen when you play the guitar.
• Unfortunately, this process requires trial and error, and each string is different. Just remember, if you have too much string left, you can cut it off, but you can never add back the string that has been cut.
6 Bend the string upwards (at a 90-degree angle to the guitar), then turn the tuning peg to wind the string around the peg a few times. You will need to wind a lot (a string winder is also quite useful in this step). As you tighten the string, make sure that each subsequent wrap sits underneath the previous one, and that the wound string coils do not overlap. This will ensure that the coils look neat, extend the life of the strings, and prevent the guitar from going out of tune.
• Never tighten the string to its normal pitch; instead, lower it by a few semitones. You must make it tight enough to hold its position and provide enough tension on the bottom tuning peg to prevent the peg from popping out, but it is not time to "tune" yet.
7 Repeat this process for the other strings.
8 You can now tune the guitar (see how to tune a guitar).
9 Use wire cutters to trim the excess string, leaving about 0.5 cm of slack. Cutting the string too short will cause the slack to retreat to the wound string and loosen it.
Tip
• To reserve the correct length for winding, you can insert four fingers between the fretboard (12th fret) and the string you are installing.
• Another method for removing bridge pins requires using a round old shoelace. Form a loop with the shoelace and wrap it around the bridge pin. Make sure the shoelace fits snugly in the space between the bridge pin and the bridge, and pull both ends to tighten the loop. With a little patience, the bridge pin will come out without causing damage like a bridge pin puller would.
• After changing guitar strings, you will need to tune more frequently for a while.
• Quickly pull the excess string tight with a guitar pick to avoid cutting the string. Hold the string between your thumb and the pick, placing the pick under your index finger, and then pull quickly. The string will curl without needing to be cut.
• Another useful tip for pulling out bridge pins is to use a small teaspoon. Place the teaspoon upside down on the bridge, with the tip of the spoon at the edge of the bridge pin for leverage. Apply slight pressure on the handle to lift the bridge pin. To be cautious, you can place a towel between the bridge and the spoon.
• If your bridge pins are very tight, you can cover the bridge pin you want to remove with a cloth and then try to pull it out with pliers. This will avoid leaving marks similar to being crushed from repeatedly using pliers to pull the bridge pins.
Warning
• You do not need to remove the bridge pins from inside the guitar. A bridge pin puller has a semicircular cutout that can slide under the bridge pin, allowing you to gently pry it out.
You will need
• Wire cutters
• Guitar strings
• Guitar string winder
• Non-fuzzy cloth
• Guitar