Dogwood Guitars

  • Home
  • About
  • Guitars
    • Dogwood Models
    • Guitar Galleries
    • Ordering your Dogwood Guitar
    • FAQ’s
  • Services
  • Lutherie Classes
  • Pictorials
    • Repairs
    • How to Correctly String a Guitar
    • Building A Monarch
    • Making a Spalted Maple Rosette
    • Pearl and Abalone Inlay
  • Articles
    • Technical
    • Viewpoint
  • Testimonials
  • YouTube
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Pictorials / How to Correctly String a Guitar

How to Correctly String a Guitar

When I went to lutherie school I discovered that, like many guitarists, I was stringing my guitars incorrectly. And judging from the inspections that I give to all the guitars that come into my shop, this is a very common problem. I can hear some players saying, “You’ve got to be kidding! I’ve been stringing up guitars since I was a teenager and I have managed to do just fine, thanks.” I held this same attitude… until I learned what incorrect stringing can do to a guitar’s bridge plate. This is the small piece of Rosewood or Maple inside of the guitar and located directly under the bridge. The ball end of the strings pull into place against this plate, preventing them from tearing through the soft spruce top when under tension. It is very easy to string a guitar correctly, and frankly there is no excuse not to. Failure to do so will, over time, wear the bridge plate holes to the point that an expensive and completely avoidable repair must be made.

The most important element of stringing correctly is aligning the ball ends of the string parallel with the body of the guitar, and seating them firmly against the bridge plate before you bring them to tension. It is poor technique to use the bridge pins to push the ball ends into the holes and then pull up on the string to seat the ball. Doing so literally uses the winding on the string like a miniature saw, ripping a groove into the plate that gets worse each time this is repeated. And allowing the ball end to sit perpendicular to the guitar body also eats away at the plate. When you see a guitar with the windings on the string ends protruding through the top of the bridge to the point they are nearing the saddle, you can know that the guitar’s bridge plate has been worn and needs a repair to save more damage. The good news is that a bridge plate will stay as good as new for decades if the simple steps in the video or photo gallery below are followed.

The video details correct stringing technique as well as showing the potential damage and repairs required by stringing guitars the usual way.

Also, check out this quick video showing the fast and easy way to install your strings on the peghead tuning posts:

[Show as slideshow]
tools
dscn1284
bend_1

bend_2
insert
insert_2

ball_1
length_1
wrap_1

wrap_2
wrap_3
ball_2

ball_3
dogwoodguitars_gibsonrepair_06

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No connected account.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to connect an account.

Guitar Build Class: Tom S.

"I recently completed a rewarding two week twelve day deep dive into guitar building. The course was taught by Greg Maxwell of Dogwood Guitars in Mt. Vernon Ohio. “Course” is inadequate to describe this skill and technique refining experience.  … [Read More...]

Gibson Side Crack

Gibson Artist Side Cracks This guitar was brought to me with some serious bass side damage- the owner had been keeping time on the side with his hand during a break and had cracked the side badly. The cracks ran from the shoulder all the way to … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonial: Gibson Setup

"I thought my new Gibson acoustic played pretty well until I had Greg set it up for me. Wow! I could tell a real difference in the action. Based on that experience I had him do a fret dress on an older Ibanez and again, I was surprised at how much … [Read More...]

1977 Martin D-18 Restoration

Older Martins often need substantial work to restore them to excellent playability. Recently a 1977 Martin D-18 was brought to me for evaluation. The guitar needed a neck reset, fret work, bridge plate repair, and cracks in the top repaired. A new … [Read More...]

Building a Monarch: Top and Back

The building of any guitar begins with selecting the woods to be used. A bookmatched set of Spruce or Cedar is selected for the top, and a back and side set is chosen for the body. Standard woods for the latter are Rosewood, Mahogany, or Maple. Many … [Read More...]

Customer Testimonial: Vintage Fender Jazz Bass

"Greg you are the man! This 1968 Jazz bass plays like butter. Greg has to be the premier luthier in Ohio, I wouldn't go anywhere else. I use to go to Columbus but not any more. Unlike going to the big city, Greg is most personable. And his shop is … [Read More...]

Visit us on YouTube…

Follow Dogwood Guitars

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Technical Articles

Voicing and Tap Tuning of Acoustic Guitars

Voicing and tuning are important elements of great tone. A great guitar has great tone, great playability, and great appearance, in that order. Fancy wood, a high gloss finish, and lots of Abalone inlay are visually beautiful but have … [Read More...]

More Technical Articles

Viewpoint Articles

Why Buy a Handmade Guitar?

There are a lot of choices out there for the prospective buyer of a fine guitar. It's no secret; a handmade instrument can cost a lot. For that matter, any of the better guitars purchased from a quality manufacturer is going to command what most … [Read More...]

More Viewpoint Articles

Copyright © 2021 Dogwood Guitars