This might be a good time to mentioned by all time favorite acoustic guitar strings – Silk & Steel by Martin!
Nope, it won’t warp immediately but after a time it isn’t going to do nice things to the neck. There is a heck of a lot of tension on the neck created by the strings and snipping the strings while they are in tune releases that tension way faster than you want.
Guitar manufacturers do not recommend cutting strings under tension. Note, that article was written by Martin Guitars and they put out ‘decent’ guitars.
Thankfully, I do all my own guitar work.
Slee
As do I and I change one string at a time. That’s what the owner of the guitar should do. I also teach people who choose to become guitar owners how to restring. I see many folks who own and play who have yet to learn how. When someone comes in to have a guitar restrung I often offer to change one for them and show them how to do it, recommending that if they should learn how.
My previous point was that a guitar tech who changes multiple sets a day doesn’t have time for that. I did *not * say I or our guitar tech recommends it. We recommend people learn to do it correctly themselves. We get customers who need it restrung and adjusted for a gig that night or the next day and don’t mind paying someone else. We also get customers who are just plain lazy. I said the poster who almost had a coronary over reacted and I still say so. The implication that a store is negligent or irresponsible for doing it that way is just plain wrong. If the strings being cut is the exception to the rule the guitar is undamaged. No one is suggesting the strings should be changed that way every few days.
Got it?
Goody for you.
There is a huge difference between classic or vintage instruments and the bulk of the instruments we deal with on a daily basis. You obviously know that not all guitars are created equal. It would be nice if we had time to nuture the $100 Fender squier and the Taylor 814 equally. Unfortunatly it is just not practical which is what I was trying to point out. You did say it was a cheap guitar in the other post right?
Assuming that our tech treats all instruments the same is also a mistake. You are welcome to your opinion but owning a couple of nice guitars doesn’t make it any more correct.
I thought you might be interested in the pratical side of dealing with dozens of instruments daily. evidently not. It’s okay.
No luthier, manufacturer, or tech worth anything would ever recommend changing strings the way your shop does. I’m sure it’s common practice, that also doesn’t make it right. Not being able to meet demand is not a good enough reason to resort to crude, unacceptable practices, cheap guitar or not.
Everyone, let’s remember that we’re in CS. Please do not make this thread into a personal battle. The OP was looking for assistance, let’s keep responses limited to that category.
In the 70’s I went to Matt Umanov’s shop in Greenwich Village to have some work done on my Martin (he was/is a respected guitar tech). He cut my strings off with a wire cutter. He advised against me doing it, but pointed out that he had to deal with a lot of guitars and he did not feel that doing it ocassionally did any damage to the guitar.
My battle is with shops or anyone who would cut strings without at least first loosening the tension. We’re talking about a matter of mere seconds that it would take to do this with a string winder. My advice to the OP would be to buy a whole new set of strings and change them according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Thanks to everyone for replying. Right now I don’t have time to say much, so I haven’t read all the posts yet.
One of the reasons that I haven’t changed the strings is that the bridge pins on the guitar are really worn out and I didn’t want to have to mess with them. When I did change the strings, I used pliers to get them out, but that wasn’t good for them. I figured that at some point I’d get the guitar looked at.
A few weeks ago I decided to try and look up what bridge pins were. I didn’t know they were called bridge pins, and I didn’t know they were interchangeable so I did some googling and figured it out. Then I added “get new bridge pins” to my mental to-do list.
Last thursday or so I happened to be at a music store, and I figured while I was there I’d ask if they sold bridge pins and the guy told me that they just gave them away. So as he was getting out six bridge pins I asked if there was some kind of tool or something to make getting them out easier, and he showed me these string winder things that they sold there for 2 bucks that could also be used to pull out bridge pins. It looked kind of gimmicky, but I bought it anyway since they were nice enough to give me the bridge pins.
So I have this strange string winder thing and the bridge pins. I just need to buy new strings and a new string cutter.
Check out this maintenance kit by Rogue. Something like this is worth its weight in gold.
I stand corrected. My mistake. You clearly say in your first post that he snipped them without loosening the tension first. You and our tech agree in principle and in practice. Even when doing multiple guitars he loosens the tension before snipping.
I focused on the wrong thing. My apologies.
I’ll have to see when I can go over to a music store. The way I procrastinate I would be doing well if I got it this month.
Among the typical stuff in music stores are there any brands of strings I should avoid? How about other stuff like spray and strobe tuners, any brands I should look for or avoid?
I have no idea what I’d use the wrenches for. I’m not even exactly sure what the stringer crank thing is for- how is it better than just turning the tuning pegs myself?
It sounds like this guitar isn’t new and probably needs some TLC.
I assume that it needs a good cleaning. The following info is if you have a rosewood fretboard, which according to Google you probably do. If you have a maple neck do not do this. First take off the strings. Clean the neck with a little bit of water on a rag. Get all the grime off. If there is a build up of dirt that will not come off using a rag and water, buy some fine steel wool and lemon oil. Remove the strings and use the steel wool on the neck going with the grain until the grime is gone. Note, get fine steel wool (0000 is the gauge I think) and don’t over do it, you just want to get the gunk off. Check the frets. If they are gunky as well use the steel wool on the top of the frets to polish them. Once the gunk is gone put a small amount of lemon oil on a clean rag and wipe down the fretboard. A very small amount of lemon oil goes a long way and you want to make sure you get it all off, so after applying the lemon oil wipe down the fretboard really well with a clean rag. Don’t get the lemon oil on the finish of the guitar.
For the finish of the guitar it depends on how dirty it is. If it is pretty clean use a clean cloth and a small amount of water. If it is dirty, you can use naptha (lighter fluid*) on a clean rag to wipe down the body and neck. Before using naptha on anything check with Yamaha to make sure it will not damage the finish. It shouldn’t, but be sure to check. If you use naptha, use a little water (think more dry than wet) on a clean rag to wipe off the body and neck after cleaning it with naptha. Once the body is clean you can get some guitar polish to wipe down the body and neck. Be careful, some guitar cleaners and polishes have fine abrasives it in. You want straight polish. Martin has some good polishes and ceaners out. Once the body is clean, string it up.
When you finish playing it, use a clean rag to wipe down the neck and pinch each string in the rag and run it up and down the string a couple times. Sweat kills strings really quickly so you want to wipe it off after playing. Cleaning the strings after playing will increase the string life by a large amount.
When you finish playing use a rag to wipe down the back of the neck to remove the sweat.
My guitar kit has the following stuff in it:
Lemon oil.
Steel wool.
A clean cloth for the body of the guitar.
A clean cloth for cleaning the strings.
Wirecutters to cut off excess string.
Extra strings.
Tons and tons of picks.
A small wrench to handle the tuning pegs in case they come a little loose.
A couple small phillips head screw drivers for various stuff.
An allen wrench for the truss rod. Note, DO NOT adjust the truss rod unless you know what you are doing.
I don’t use a string winder. They are handy but I don’t change strings enough for it to matter. String winders make tightening/loosening the strings really fast but aren’t really required.
I cannot recommend a tuner. I think that it is best to tune by ear, it helps develop your ear. I use my keyboard to tune if I am recording. Strobe tuners used to be the best but I believe that digital tuners are now pretty good.
Which kind of strings to buy is pretty much a personal taste issue. The main issue is string coatings and materials as all string are made on the same machine. I get D’Addario strings because that is what I am used to. I got a three pack for $12 today.
Hope this helps.
Slee
When I was a youngster my guitar tech had some stuff that worked great on my guitar. I asked him what it was and he said ‘Naptha’. I asked him what that was ad he said ‘lighter fluid’ and I nearly freaked. He was a great tech and naptha is the bomb for cleaning my guitars.
Been watching this thread from afar, and just want to say that slee is the man here - good advice. I have nothing to add, except that I do use a string winder because I am always breaking strings (and I use .11’s on my electrics) and sweat a lot - so for one reason or another my strings rarely last long…
Thanks 
How often do you break strings? Do you do serious whammy stuff? I’ve always wondered why some people break strings when I don’t. I do some pretty serious bends all the time and I never break strings. I don’t think I’ve broken a string in 10 years. I do use a lighter gauge, 9 through 46.
Oh, and here is the last thing I recorded. I need to fix it a bit, there is an odd resonance in the begining that I need to fix. This was two takes, split hard left and right. I’ll probably end up remixing to see if I can begining to get rid of that loud pedal tone resonance at the start. When I recorded it I was extremely shocked that I made it through on my first two takes without a glaring error that I just went with it.
Slee
Cool. I sure didn’t want to come off as being a stubborn smart-ass. My apologies if I seemed that way.
Yeh, what sleestak said.
I can break strings after 2 hours of playing them. What’s worse - guess which string? The freakin’ D string. I am, uh, a very aggressive rhythm player. Especially with a light, resonant-bodied guitar with P-90 soapbar pickups - I get a huge, huge, huge tonal difference between a light attack and a more aggressive attack.
I have checked my bridge saddles for burrs and that’s not it. Fortunately, I did find a great solution for my Les Paul-type guitars: it’s called “top-wrapping.” Instead of putting the strings straight thru the back of the tailpiece and then up over the bridge, etc., you put them into the tailpiece pointing to the bottom of the guitar (i.e., backwards) and then wrap them over the top of the tailpiece and string them up. Basically like an old 50’s Les Paul Special or Junior that doesn’t have a tune-o-matic bridge. Apparently Duane Allman did this with his guitars. All I know is that I get a shallower string-break angle over the bridge so there is less stress at the saddle. I break strings far less often and the shallower angle gives the strings a slinkier feel for bends, etc…
**slee ** - Beautiful tune, beautiful playing.
Add my voice to those endorsing sleestak’s cleaning advice. I usually change strings one at a time. When I intend to thoroughly clean one of my guitars, I take off all of the strings at once, and that’s the only time I use my string winder.
Slee, thanks a ton for the info (and everyone else, too!). I really should clean it like you said. It’s a lot of stuff though, now I’m wondering if I should just take it in for maintenace so they can clean it and do anything else that needs to be done. Or would they just do the same thing you’re telling me to do?
I’m a little uneasy about taking off all the strings at once, despite Clothahump’s experience (BTW, I should try the vinegar thing- thanks for the tip). My guitar isn’t in top shape and I might be slow with cleaning it. Is there a rule of thumb for how long it’s safe to have all the strings off?
After hearing that recording my motivation to change the strings went up more. I’m accustomed to how my guitar sounds now, but I’m starting to recall a time when it sounded nicer…
Taking it in would not be a bad idea. If the neck needs adjustment you probably ought to have a pro do it. Ask them to check the neck. I have adjusted truss rods but I still don’t like doing it, I have a good tech do it unless I have to have it done right away. Besides the truss rod, you should be able to do everything unless there is a problem with the guitar, like a bad nut or the frets need replacing/dressing. Ask the tech to give it a good checkup.
As far as taking the strings off, I do it regularly, not every time I change strings but every couple months. You should be fine as long as you don’t leave it for very long. It ought to take 10 or 15 minutes to clean the neck and the body under the strings. You don’t want to leave it unstrung for longs periods, like days.
I change my strings usually about once a week if I am playing alot. If I am not playing much then I get a couple weeks out of them. I can tell by the sound and the feel of the strings when they need changing.
Also, my old guitar tech recommend the book the Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine. I picked it up and it has tons of good info.
Crotalus, glad you like it. The tune just kind of popped out. I wrote and recorded it in like a day and a half. One of these days I’ll fix the mix.
WordMan, it is interesting about breaking the D string. I play pretty aggresively most of the time and have never had a problem with strings breaking. (Of course, having said that, I am going to start breaking strings) I pound on my guitar pretty hard when I am doing my metal god schtick. A good friend of mine did turn me on to a trick years ago that might have something to do with that. He had these great picks, he shaped them. Basically you take a basic cheap Fender heavy pick and trim it down then polish it up some. It makes the pick a shorter and the end of the pick has a lot less area. They are kind of like the little tortex picks at when you are done but they aren’t that annoying tortex crap. The shaped picks make playing fast way easier because there is less pick to move through the string. It also makes pick harmonics easier. These days I can barely play with a regular pick, which is a pain because shaping the picks takes some time and I always lose the damn things.
Slee