There’s only one reason why you are here. You want to know how to fix a broken guitar string, right? Well, what can I say? I can read minds! Impressive, huh?
A broken string, although it may seem like a trivial problem, will stop you from playing good music!
Guitars usually have six strings. Some custom guitars may have more than six. Bass guitars needs as little as four strings.
Imagine, if you break one, how many do you have left? You can do away with one less string. However, you will find it frustrating.
I bet you have tried playing with one string missing and you ended searching for a fix! Tada! Here’ you are!
I can help you with your problem! But first, let’s find out what type of strings you really need for your playing style.
Strings Gauge
Have you seen the label of guitar string in the market? They are usually marked with light, extra light, medium, heavy, and customs.
The label will give you an idea about the tension of the string. The heavy gauge string will require more pressure from you to pin it down on the fret.
This also means that heavy gauge strings are difficult to bend. Bending a heavy gauge string is not impossible.
However, it would be difficult to do full bends with it.
These heavy strings give pronounced bass and punchy trebles. They are more durable and is harder to break than the lighter gauge strings.
However, this may not be beginner friendly and can be painful for the fingertips when played for extended hours of practice.
The lighter gauge, however, is easy on the fingertips. You could easily achieve full bends, and even one and a half bends if you have strong hands!
They have chime-y or jingly sound compared with the heavy gauge strings. Although, the sound of extra light strings can be quite thin and may need accompaniment to render beautiful music!
Now, let me walk you through in changing your broken guitar string. Changing your strings won’t require advanced mathematics skill, so, don’t worry!
You only need to know how to measure your strings. Let’s go!
How To Fix A Broken Guitar String
There’s only one way to fix a broken string. You fix it by replacing it. You don’t want to solder broken guitar strings.
Trust me.
It will break as soon as you are tuning it (I learned that the hard way)! Now, the first thing you need to do is buy a guitar string.
You don’t need to buy the whole set especially your strings are less than 4 or 5 months old.
Some music store offers individually packed strings according to their number. Just buy what you need to save some money.
If you don’t like going to the music store often, buy a set of individually packed strings. Get some extra Ds and Gs because they break much more often than the others.
7 Steps To Repairing
Step 1: Remove the remains of the broken strings
Wear some protective gloves because the broken edges are sharp. You don’t want to hurt yourself.
Do not twist the machine heads when uncoiling that end. This will give unnecessary wear on your tuners. Uncoil the string manually.
It’s more comfortable, and it will preserve the health of your tuners.
Step 2: Remove the bridge pins
Sometimes, these are difficult to pull. There are inexpensive bridge pin pullers you can buy in the market.
If they are not available at the moment, you can tie a cord and pull it outward with substantial force.
Step 3: Insert the ball end of the string on the bridge and re-insert the bridge pins
Press the pin firmly until the shaft is all the way through.
Step 4: Pull the string up to the tuning peg
Measure about three inches past the tuning peg and cut the excess. This is enough length to give you the ideal coil on your tuning pegs.
Step 5: Insert the end of the string on the anchor point
Don’t insert it all the way through. About 2mm past the hole is enough to keep your string from sliding off.
Step 6: While turning your knobs, make sure that you are pushing the strings downward past the nut so that the strings will coil downward
This will give you the optimal string angle when you are done.
Step 7: Replacing Strings
Tighten the strings and tune it accordingly. Remember, a new guitar string needs to break in for a few hours before it gets its proper tuning.
Your new string will often be out of tune while it is breaking in. Don’t be frustrated, okay? All strings need to break in first before it gets its optimal tension.
Summary
There you go! It wasn’t so hard, right? Don’t forget to figure out how much tension you want for your strings.
Oh, and remember, you don’t always need to buy and replace your whole string set. Carefully follow this instruction and protect your hands at all times.
Your hands are critical in guitar playing, and you don’t want to injure them! Remove the broken strings first, then carefully install your new strings.
If you will be replacing all your strings, take this time to clean your fretboard too!
References:
https://www.guitarworld.com/lessons/everything-you-need-know-about-changing-guitar-strings
Very appreciative of the information given on how to change guitar strings.
I think I’ll have my guitar strings replaced professionally.