Strings & Tuning
Fit a new set, get it in tune, and pick the right gauge next time.
Changing strings
Tuning
Gauges
One string at a time
Change strings roughly every three months of regular playing, or sooner if they sound dull or look corroded. Working one string at a time keeps the neck under even tension.
A string winder with a built-in cutter and bridge-pin puller turns this into a three-minute job. It is the cheapest tool worth owning.
Standard
Drop D
DADGAD
Using a clip-on tuner
Tuning the guitar to itself
No tuner and nothing to tune to? The guitar can tune itself. It will not be at concert pitch, but it will be in tune with itself, which is all you need to play alone.
String gauges
Lighter gauges are easier to bend and fret; heavier gauges give more volume and sustain.
Inches
Millimetres
Changing gauge changes the tension on the neck, so a big jump either way usually needs the truss rod and intonation resetting. Moving one step is normally fine; moving two or more is worth a setup.
Loosen the old string fully and remove it from the tuning peg and bridge.
Wipe down the exposed fretboard and body while the string is off.
Anchor the new string at the bridge — pin, through-body, tailpiece, or tied, depending on your guitar.
Feed the other end through the correct tuning post, leaving a few inches of slack.
Wind the string down, keeping light tension, aiming for 2–3 neat wraps below the post.
Trim the excess and move to the next string, one at a time so the neck stays under even tension.
Tune to pitch, then gently stretch each string and retune — repeat two or three times until it holds.
Bass strings and 12-string courses follow the same process — just budget more time for a 12-string, since you’re doing it twice per course.
Clip the tuner to the headstock with the display facing you, and switch it on.
Check it is set to standard pitch — most tuners show 440 or A4=440 somewhere on screen.
Play one string on its own and let it ring. The tuner names the note it hears.
If the letter is wrong, you are nearer a different note — turn the peg slowly until the right letter appears.
Keep turning until the needle sits in the middle and the display turns green.
Work through all six, then go round again. Tightening one string slightly loosens the rest.
5th fret, low E
matches the open A
matches the open D
matches the open G
matches the open B
matches the open high E
Get the low E right first from a tuner, a piano, or the reference tones above. Everything else follows it.
Hold the 5th fret of the low E and play it against the open A. Turn the A peg until the two notes stop fighting each other.
The B string is the exception — use the 4th fret of the G string, not the 5th.
Check it with a chord you know well. If something rings sour it is usually the B string.
Tap a string to hear the pitch it should sound. Play yours alongside it and turn the peg until the wobble between the two slows to nothing. Strings are numbered 6 (thickest) to 1 (thinnest).
Drop D only moves the thickest string — from E down to D. It puts a one-finger power chord under your hand on the bottom three strings.
DADGAD leaves the low D, A, D and G alone and drops the top two. Strummed open it rings as a suspended chord, which is why folk and fingerstyle players like it.
Do the same again: 5th fret of A against the open D, then 5th fret of D against the open G.
Back to the 5th fret for the last one: 5th fret of B against the open high E.
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