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 photo gallery below are followed.

For those who are interested, there is a video that goes into detail showing how to install strings correctly. This video is part of my online Setup and Repair Series, available through Robbie Obrien’s Lutherie Academy. Follow this link to access my class on installing strings, as well as many other topics.

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

1975 Gibson Hummingbird Restoration

While meeting with a customer and his daughter about designing a guitar for her, he showed me his Gibson Hummingbird that his daughter had been playing. Using the serial number and other identifying characteristics, I was able to date the guitar … [Read More...]

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...]

Location

Dogwood Guitars is located in beautiful rural Knox County Ohio, on state route 3 between Centerburg and Mount Vernon. Less than an hour from Columbus, Delaware, and Mansfield, we serve the entire central Ohio area with full-service setup and repairs. … [Read More...]

Fine Handmade Guitars

  Hi, and welcome to Dogwood Guitars of Kansas City, MO. My goal is to provide you with the best sounding and playing guitar possible. Whether this means setting up your current guitars to play their best, or working with you to build your … [Read More...]

Building a Monarch: Final Assembly

It is now time to assemble the guitar, dress the frets, install the bridge and pins, fit and install the tuners, make the nut and saddle, and set the final action. A pickguard is usually installed and the completed instrument is polishes and strung … [Read More...]

About Greg Maxwell

I've lived in central Ohio my entire life, and I've built things for as long as I can remember. I cut my teeth as a woodworker doing fancy interior wood trim for a custom home builder in the early 80's after deciding that performing music for a … [Read More...]

Visit us on YouTube…

Follow Dogwood Guitars

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Technical Articles

Why do old guitars sound better?

Why do some old guitars sound so good? Even inexpensive guitars can age into really good sounding instruments, and some old guitars attain legendary tone. Why is this? The answer can be found in one of three factors and the best … [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 © 2025 Dogwood Guitars